WILMINGTON — A witty tale of mystery and suspense in the early 1900s, “Girl Waits With Gun,” based on the real-life events of the Kopp sisters of New Jersey, has been named the 2017 choice for Clinton County Reads. The month-long, county-wide reading program starts in early March and culminates with an April 6 dinner at the General Denver, which this year will feature the book’s author, Amy Stewart, who will travel to Wilmington for questions about the Clinton County Reads selection.
“Girl Waits With Gun” is Stewart’s first novel, although she has also written six nonfiction books about the natural world, including four New York Times bestsellers: “The Drunken Botanist,” “Wicked Bugs,” “Wicked Plants,” and “Flower Confidential.” Stewart has published a second installment in a series about the Kopps called “Lady Cop Makes Trouble.”
“Girl Waits With Gun” was named a “best book of the year” by the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, National Public Radio, and BookPage, as well as a “must read” by People magazine, USA Today, and the New York Post.
“The Kopps are the stars of Stewart’s new zippy, winsome novel,” wrote Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times. “Filled with historical detail without being weighed down by it, the novel is a cinematic story of the women, the siege instigated by their powerful enemy, and their brave efforts in the face of real violence.”
Stewart lives in Eureka, California, and owns a bookstore called Eureka Books with her husband Scott Brown, a rare book dealer. Stewart has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers and magazines. She is the co-founder of the popular blog GardenRant.
The Clinton County Reads steering committee selects titles for the ballot based on literary merit and themes that lend themselves to programming and conversation throughout Clinton County. The committee times the announcement to allow ample opportunity to read the selection prior to the Clinton County Reads events in the spring.
Clinton County Reads is sponsored by the Blanchester Public Library, the Sabina Public Library and its New Vienna branch, the Wilmington Public Library and its Clinton-Massie branch, and BooksNMore.org. Copies of “Girl Waits With Gun” are available at each library location.
Serving on the Clinton County Reads 2017 steering committee are chairwoman Nancy Ehas, Eileen Brady, Joy Brubaker, Peggy Dunn, Chris Owens, Bonnie Starcher, Marla Stewart, Joni Streber and Mary Thomas Watts.
