Kimberley Smith - June 2

Neepawa author Kimberley Smith will be on hand on Saturday, June 2 from 2:20 to 4:00 PM to discuss and sign copies of her book "The Love Within A Smile: A Sister’s Memoir of a Brother’s Disability."

"The Love Within A Smile" is a memoir of one family’s journey through the world of disability as seen through a sibling’s eyes. The author, a sibling of a young boy who was born with severe mental and physical disabilities, details her family’s struggles and triumphs while trying to maintain a normal family life. The novel takes the reader through every particular milestone of the young boy from his birth until his premature death at the age of 17. The memoir also includes valuable information and resources on special education issues with particular emphasis on sibling relationships for parents, siblings and professionals who work with special needs individuals. Anyone who has lived with a special needs individual will empathise with the author of "The Love Within A Smile" as she shares her personal story full of emotional roller coasters and wonderful life lessons.

Store Summer Update

Only 64 days until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released! The street party plans are coming along nicely, but we are going to need some volunteers. If you are willing to help out for an hour or two, it would be greatly appreciated. If you can't, that's OK too, just make sure you come down and have some fun before we open the doors at 12:01 AM on July 21 (be here on the evening of the 20th for the party, just to be clear).

It's Brandon's 125th celebration this year and in order to mark the occassion a first-person history/memoir of Brandon's early years entitled "A Horseman and the West" has been reissued. Originally published in 1925, this book was written by a local horse trader by the name of Beecham Trotter. For an easy read about life in the Prairies as they were being settled be sure to pick up a copy. (The photo in this post is of the author circa 1886).

Finally, with summer now here, Pennywise Books is moving to summer hours. We will be closed on Mondays, but open until 9 PM on Thursdays. All other hours remains the same.

We're about to start looking for authors to visit the store for the next year, so if you have any requests, large or small, let us know and we'll do our best. Call us at 728-2665 with any of your questions, requests or orders.

Have a great summer and I hope to see you soon!

Paul Quarrington & Harry Potter

Paul Quarrington, noted Canadian writer, musician and filmmaker, will be at Pennywise on Saturday, May 5 at 3:00 to sign copies of his books.

Quarrington, whose works have been nominated for some of the most prestigious awards in Canada, will be in Brandon with his band Porkbelly Futures. This group will be performing two shows at the Music Studio that evening.

It is a true honour to host this signing, and I encourage you to hurry down to pick up a copy of one of his books (and I mean HURRY -- we're already down to only a few copies of three titles).

On another note: plans are coming together for our Harry Potter party. We have received permission to close the street in front of the store and have booked all sorts of entertainment and attractions. This party will take place on the evening of Friday, July 20 leading up to the opening of the store at 12:01 AM for the release of the final book in the Harry Potter series!

If you want to get involved in any way, or simply to ask more about anything happening at Pennywise, call us at 728-BOOK (2665) or email us at pennywise@westman.wave.ca.

Manitoba Book Week... and other stuff

Manitoba Book Week will be celebrated across the province from April 22 to 28. During this week, the focus is on celebrating Manitoba's locally published books. We will have our display of books out on the shelf in the next day or two, so be sure to drop in to check out a sampling of the quality books that are published in our province. Visit the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers website for more information.

For our part, we will be hosting an encore reading of "To the Grave" by the author, Mike McIntyre.

To the Grave is, undoubtedly, one of the hottest selling local-interest books of the past season. I know that we sold out repeatedly!

Now that many of you have read this book, I'm sure that you have questions you would like answered. Or, perhaps, you want to get your copy signed by the author. Maybe you don't even care about the signature, but you just want to meet Mike.

Mike will be at Pennywise Books on April 27 and will begin his reading at 7 PM. Let us know if you have any questions.

On another note, remember that on Sunday, April 22 at 7:00pm, Crocus Plains High School will host Mr. Stephen Lewis for a Community Evening in the Gymnasium.

All of Brandon 's citizens are invited to hear Mr. Lewis's passionate message and call to action against the devastating consequences of Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic. Mr. Lewis will also be the keynote speaker for the student conference on Africa on April 23. The conference will be the highlight of the school's year - long focus on local and global awareness and citizenship.

Tickets are $10.00 and are available in the Front Office of Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. For further information please contact Katie Bonk at bonk.katie@brandonsd.mb.ca.

If you would like to read Mr. Lewis' book "Race Against Time" prior to hearing him speak, we have plenty of copies in stock and will also be selling copies at the event.

Andrea Nair - March 29

On March 29 at 7:30 PM, former Brandonian and BU alumna Andrea Nair will be here at Pennywise Books to read from, discuss and answer questions about her book "Stripped Down Running" - a novel about Hannah, a young woman with a painful childhood that threatens to destroy her adult life.

Andrea, after teaching teenagers for a decade, has been studying the effects and recovery of traumatic experiences in childhood. She is passionate about helping children foster a love of learning, heal early wounds and regain self-esteem. She also guides parents to overcome their own challenges, therefore becoming more connected with themselves and their children.

If you have any questions about this event, please don't hesitate to call us.