The events for Clinton County Reads 2017 have been set at local libraries and the General Denver Hotel, starting March 2 and culminating April 6 with a dinner, presentation, and question-and-answer session with Amy Stewart, the author of this year’s choice, “Girl Waits with Gun.”
Copies of the 2017 Clinton County Reads book choice are available at the event’s sponsoring locations: the Blanchester Public Library, the Sabina Public Library and its New Vienna branch, the Wilmington Public Library and its Clinton-Massie branch, and locally owned booksnmore.org.
“Girl Waits with Gun” is a novel based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs, Constance Kopp. After a belligerent and powerful factory owner runs down Kopp’s buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats, Kopp is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared.
“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.
Events surrounding the Clinton County Reads choice of “Girl Waits with Gun,” all open to the public, are as follows:
• A March 2 book discussion at 7 p.m. at the Blanchester Public Library, 110 N. Broadway St.
•A March 6 kickoff/discussion at 7 p.m. at Jen’s Deli, 28 W. Main St. in Wilmington.
• A March 14 presentation at 6:30 p.m. at the Wilmington Public Library entitled “A New Woman for a New Century: Ellen C. Wright and the Women’s Experience,” by Ruth Brindle. Brindle is the curator of the Quaker Heritage Center at Wilmington College.
• A March 16 program, “When Women Became People,” by Kimberly Hamlin at 7 p.m. at Blanchester Public Library. Hamlin is the director of American Studies at Miami University, and she will talk about the changing role of women near the beginning of the 20th century.
• A March 21 program, “The Role of a Female Chief Juvenile Probation Officer,” by Deanne Whalen at 6 p.m. at the Sabina Public Library, 11 E. Elm St. Whalen began her career with the Clinton County Juvenile Court system in 1990 as a college intern, and has worked for more than 27 years with school administrators, families, and students.
• A March 23 book discussion at 10:30 a.m. at the Sabina Public Library.
• An April 5 book discussion at the Wilmington Public Library at 6:30 p.m. Dependent upon travel, Amy Stewart may attend this discussion.
• An April 6 dinner will be held at 6 p.m. at the General Denver in Wilmington, 81 W. Main St. The evening will feature author Amy Stewart in person, with books available to be signed. Reservations for the dinner are required by April 2; call 383-4141. The $15 per-person cost will include dinner, beverage, dessert, and gratuity.
