Book Discussion

Paul Robeson: Ballad of an American

Paul Robeson -- Ballad of an American is an excerpted reading in performance of Sharon Rudahl's beautiful work Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson (2020), edited by Paul Buhle and Lawrence Ware. Interspersed with Robeson's own music and words, beginning with an eleven-minute excerpt of his compelling interview before HUAC (House Un-American Activities Commitee), it uses the frank, direct writing, and imagery of Rudahl.

Finding Me: A Musical Children's Book

Have you ever heard a student say they went to a school where they didn’t feel seen, heard, confident, loved, or like they truly belonged? Jr. has felt that way at his many schools. But things begin to change when he stumbles upon a magical classroom and peeks through their window. With the help of a teacher named Mr. Rise, he sees a handful of students who are shown just how special they are every day! Will Jr. be too afraid to reveal himself to them? Will they let Jr. join their team? Only time will tell if he’s found the community he’s needed for a very long time.

Finding Me: A Musical Children's Book

Have you ever heard a student say they went to a school where they didn’t feel seen, heard, confident, loved, or like they truly belonged? Jr. has felt that way at his many schools. But things begin to change when he stumbles upon a magical classroom and peeks through their window. With the help of a teacher named Mr. Rise, he sees a handful of students who are shown just how special they are every day! Will Jr. be too afraid to reveal himself to them? Will they let Jr. join their team? Only time will tell if he’s found the community he’s needed for a very long time.

Finding Me: A Musical Children's Book

Have you ever heard a student say they went to a school where they didn’t feel seen, heard, confident, loved, or like they truly belonged? Jr. has felt that way at his many schools. But things begin to change when he stumbles upon a magical classroom and peeks through their window. With the help of a teacher named Mr. Rise, he sees a handful of students who are shown just how special they are every day! Will Jr. be too afraid to reveal himself to them? Will they let Jr. join their team? Only time will tell if he’s found the community he’s needed for a very long time.

Finding Me: A Musical Children’s Book

Have you ever heard a student say they went to a school where they didn’t feel seen, heard, confident, loved, or like they truly belonged? Jr. has felt that way at his many schools. But things begin to change when he stumbles upon a magical classroom and peeks through their window. With the help of a teacher named Mr. Rise, he sees a handful of students who are shown just how special they are every day! Will Jr. be too afraid to reveal himself to them? Will they let Jr. join their team? Only time will tell if he’s found the community he’s needed for a very long time.

Odd Wisconsin: True Tales and Folklore from the Badger State

Join us for an illustrated talk on “Odd Wisconsin: True Tales and Folklore from the Badger State" by author Michael Edmonds. He’ll share sketches of some of the strange people who lived here before us and tell authentic stories about folk characters like the lumberjack hero Paul Bunyan. Along the way he'll explain why the Wisconsin Historical Society wanted to publish brief lives of obscure eccentrics and discuss how researching and sharing history has turned upside-down in recent years.

Book Discussion: Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.