michigan books

Angeline Boulley’s debut young adult novel opens with a heart-pounding scene: a girl stands frozen in the woods, staring down the barrel of a gun.

Over the course of the book, Michigan author Boulley revisits this dramatic scene, each time adding just a little more context and gradually unraveling the novel’s mystery. The result is an elegantly-paced, emotionally complex thriller called Firekeeper’s Daughter. It’s making a splash with teen and adult audiences alike — and it hasn’t even hit the shelves yet.

Every year, the Library of Michigan releases a list of Michigan Notable Books, which features books that are about or set in Michigan — or that were written by authors from the state. But in 2020, the selection committee faced a unique challenge: compiling a list of notable works published in a year like no other.

Today on Stateside, an Ann Arbor bookstore is racing to come up with a way to do business online after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close its storefront. Plus, Michigan’s Teacher of the Year gives advice on how to teach kids from home.

Today on Stateside, we step back in time to the summer of 1963, to hear how Martin Luther King Junior set the stage in Detroit for the March on Washington later that year. Plus, we go over this year's list of Michigan Notable Books, which includes everything from new fiction to gripping history.

Now that winter is feeling a little more, well, wintry, it’s a good time to hunker down inside with a book. If you’re looking for something new to read, the Library of Michigan has a few suggestions. Its 2020 Michigan Notable Books list was announced on Sunday. 

Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice is the title of a new anthology showcasing regional poets laureate. Our reviewer John Freeman walks us through this new collection of poetry.

Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice is an anthology that acknowledges old questions about whether poetry can affect social change.

Award-winning Michigan poet Jack Ridl has a new collection out called "Saint Peter and the Goldfinch." Our reviewer Keith Taylor says the West Michigan wordsmith explores a necessary, but often overlooked, subject: Getting old.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Alex McKnight mystery series, and author Steve Hamilton is still turning out new books.

His most recent, the 11th in the series, is Dead Man Running. 

Hamilton joined Stateside’s Cynthia Canty to discuss this new novel and his surprising journey to becoming an award-winning writer.

She brought us the stories of Great Girls in Michigan History. Now, writer Patricia Majher is focusing on the boys.

Her new book is Bold Boys in Michigan History.

In it, Majher tells the stories of Michigan boys who did remarkable things before they were 20. These bold young men include a filmmaker, musicians, inventors, athletes, a politician, and more.

From 2005-2007, Patricia Clark was the poet laureate of Grand Rapids. Now, she's a poet-in-residence and professor in the Department of Writing at Grand Valley State University.

Clark is also the author of five volumes of poetry, including her most recent work titled The Canopy.

Listen above to hear writer John Freeman's review of the collection.  

When was the last time you heard about a politician who realized she or he needed to change to help the country – that former ways had to be put aside to foster bipartisan cooperation for the good of the country? 

A U.S. senator from Michigan, Arthur Vandenberg, was such a person.