Delta City Library
76 North 200 West
Two Big Events
Oct. 6, 2011, 7:00 pm
Director of the Provo City Library, Gene Nelson, will give a book talk for adults and children. A former member of the Caldecott Award committee, Nelson will inspire you with the latest in what’s available in children’s and adult literature.
Gene Nelson is a desert rat at heart, being raised in Arizona and raising his own kids in Las Vegas. After changing his major in college a half a dozen times, Gene returned to his first love, books and reading. Finally recognizing his need to be nerdish, he received his M.L.S. degree in Library Science from BYU. Now celebrating his 32th year in the library business, Gene has worked in elementary school, middle school, college, and public libraries. In his career, Gene has built three libraries, including the renovated Provo City Library at Academy Square.
In his spare time, Gene has participated on many local, regional, and national committees. Membership on the Randolph Caldecott committees in 2000 and 2010 are career highlights that Gene cherishes. He also teaches children’s literature classes at BYU and Emporia State University. Gene is the father of six, grandfather of seven, and husband of one.
Oct. 20, 2011, 7:00 pm
Young Adult author Matthew Kirby will discuss his books Icefall and Clockwork Three. Book sale and signing follow.
Matthew Kirby has been making up stories since he was quite small. He was less small when he decided that he wanted to be a writer, and quite a bit larger when he finally became one. His father was a doctor in the Navy, so his family moved frequently. Matthew went to three different elementary schools and three different high schools, and he has lived in Utah, Rhode Island, Maryland, California, and Hawaii, which means that while growing up he met many people, and had many wonderful experiences.
In college, he studied history and psychology, and he decided that he wanted to work with children and write stories for them. So he became a school psychologist, a job he truly enjoys. He is the author of the acclaimed middle grade novel, The Clockwork Three, and the forthcoming middle grade novel, Icefall (October, 2010). Matthew currently lives in Utah with his wife, where he still works with children and continues to write stories for them. You can visit him at his website: www.matthewjkirby.com
Icefall: Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. A malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, and a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another. Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig and her siblings survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he succeeds in destroying a kingdom?
Clockwork Three
Three ordinary children are brought together by extraordinary events. . .
Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician from Italy, who was sold by his uncle to work as a slave for an evil padrone in the U.S. But when a mysterious green violin enters his life he begins to imagine a life of freedom.
Hannah is a soft-hearted, strong-willed girl from the tenements, who supports her family as a hotel maid when tragedy strikes and her father can no longer work. She learns about a hidden treasure, which she knows will save her family -- if she can find it.
And Frederick, the talented and intense clockmaker's apprentice, seeks to learn the truth about his mother while trying to forget the nightmares of the orphanage where she left him. He is determined to build an automaton and enter the clockmakers' guild -- if only he can create a working head.
Together, the three discover they have phenomenal power when they team up as friends, and that they can overcome even the darkest of fears.