Do you love comics? Saturday, June 22nd and Sunday, June 23rd the Ann Arbor District Library invites you to a totally free event: Kids Read Comics!  Learn, draw, meet cartoonists!  Can't make it to KRC?  Check out these great graphic works by some of KRC's featured artists:

Why do we love zombies?  They're smelly, they're slow (most of the time), and they bite.  But...zombie stories remind us of our humanity.  These stories aren't about the end of the world, they're about survival in the face of devastating tragedy.  

Are you a Pinterest user? Then check out our Connect Your Summer Pinterest boards. There's a board for every badge with ideas, materials suggestions and activities.
Follow all the library's Pinterest boards, or click for badge-specific boards. Check back often as we'll be adding content all summer long.

Animal Lover
Back in Time
Be Creative
Be Well
Chow Down
Curtains On
Game On
Green Thumb
Geek Out
Love It
My Mitten
Sleuth It

This Special Collection was created as Detroit prepared to celebrate its 300th birthday, a year-long event that was marked by a host of festivities and events. The history of the city is broad enough and rich enough, though, to warrant a continual presence and periodic updating as one of the library's special online resource collections. As we celebrate the city's 312th birthday, check the books, websites and other materials listed here to discover more about the Motor City and its colorful past.

History of Detroit

Celebrating 300 Years of Detroit Cooking, 1701 to 2001 edited by Marguerite J. Humes: A "historical cookbook" presenting information about Detroit's social setting and cooking history from 1701 to 2001. Includes original recipes handed down by Native Americans and immigrants alike, as well as some developed by native Detroiters.

Detroit, 1860-1899 by David Lee Poremba: Venture back in time to Detroit in the mid to late 19th century with this fascinating book.

Detroit: A Motor City History by David Lee Poremba: A concise and highly readable history by the acting manager of the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library.

Detroit: Across Three Centuries by Richard Bak: Bak introduces readers to some of the epic names and events from the city's past.

Alden B. Dow: midwestern modern by Diane Maddex

Art Deco in Detroit by Rebecca Binno Savage and Greg Kowalski

Art in Detroit public places by text by Dennis Nawrocki ; photographs by David Clements

Buildings of Michigan by Kathryn Bishop Eckert

Artists of early Michigan: a biographical dictionary of artists native to or active in Michigan, 1701-1900 by compiled by Arthur Hopkin Gibson ; research assistants, Beverly Bassett and Jean Spang

Marshall M. Fredericks, sculptor by edited by Suzanne P. Fredericks ; introductory essay by Edgar P. Richardson ; foreword by Sammuel Sachs II ; researched and compiled by Marcy Heller Fisher ; with contributions by Barbara Heller ... [et al.]

Enslaved by ducks by Bob Tarte

The amphibians and reptiles of Michigan: a Quaternary and Recent faunal adventure by J. Alan Holman

Birds of Detroit by Chris C. Fisher, Allen T. Chartier

Michigan turtles and lizards: a field guide and pocket reference by James H. Harding and J. Alan Holman ; photography and illustrations by James H. Harding, except where otherwise credited

Fish of Michign field guide by David Bosanko

The wolves of Isle Royale: a broken balance by Rolf O. Peterson

Fowl weather by Bob Tarte

Michigan has a rich history of ethnic diversity. Early European explorers were met by the most populous Native American tribes of the Ottawa, Potawatomi, and the Ojibwa (or Chippewa) people. Later, in the 17th century, the French voyageurs explored and settled in Michigan. These included Etienne Brule, Jacques Marquette, and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of the city of Detroit. However, over time large populations of various European, Middle Eastern, and Asian ethnicities have emigrated to our state. Find out more about the people who have contributed to Michigan's growth and culture.

Arab Americans in Metro Detroit: a pictorial history by Anan Ameri ; Yvonne Lockwood

Arab Americans in Michigan by Rosina J. Hassoun

Chaldeans in Michigan by Mary C. Sengstock

Looking for Przybylski by K.C. Frederick

Detroit breakdown by D.E. Johnson

Say nice things about Detroit by Scott Lasser

Grand River and Joy by Susan Messer

Trigger man: more tales of the Motor City by Jim Ray Daniels

See what I see by Gloria Whelan

Sparks by Laura Bickle

The dollmaker by Harriette Arnow

Detroit breakdown by D.E. Johnson — Detroit, 1912.

The Detroit electric scheme by D. E. Johnson — Detroit, 1910.

The expeditions: a novel by Karl Iagnemma — Michigan Territory, 1844.

Grand River and Joy by Susan Messer — Detroit, 1967.

Looking for Przybylski by K.C. Frederick — Detroit, mid-1970s.

The mercy killers: a novel by Lisa Reardon — Ypsilanti, 1967.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides — Detroit, from Prohibition to the present.

The burning of Rachael Hayes by Doug Allyn

Company man: a novel by Joseph Finder

Eden Springs: a novella by Laura Kasischke

Freshwater boys by Adam Schuitema

The river swimmer: novellas by Jim Harrison

Ford Road by Amy Kenyon

Say nice things about Detroit by Scott Lasser

Check out some of these tunes that mention Michigan or its cities:

Beyond the windswept dunes: the story of maritime Muskegon by Elizabeth B. Sherman

Deadly voyage: the S.S. Daniel J. Morrell tragedy by Andrew Kantar

Gales of November: the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Robert J. Hemming

Many a midnight ship: true stories of Great Lakes shipwrecks by Mark Bourrie

Mighty Fitz: the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Michael Schumacher

Ships and men of the Great Lakes by Dwight Boyer

Ships gone missing: the Great Lakes storm of 1913 by Robert J. Hemming

Michigan's motto declares: "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you." With that in mind,  take some time to explore the natural beauty and wonder of our great state with the resources listed below. For more ideas explore the Pure Michigan website.

Of woods and water: a photographic journey across Michigan by Ron Leonetti and Christopher Jordan ; foreword by Dave Dempsey

The paddler's guide to Michigan by Jeff Counts

Hiking Michigan by Roger E. Storm, Susan M. Wedzel

Belle Isle to 8 Mile: an insider's guide to Detroit by edited by Andy Linn, Emily Linn and Rob Linn

Twelve classic trout streams in Michigan: a handbook for fly anglers by Gerth E. Hendrickson ; fully revised by Jim DuFresne

Michigan by David Lee Poremba

Bold women in Michigan history by Virginia Law Burns

State of war: Michigan in World War II by Alan Clive

Bath massacre: America's first school bombing by Arnie Bernstein

Lives and legends of the Christmas tree ships by Fred Neuschel

Eyes on fire: witnesses to the Detroit Riot of 1967 by edited by Heather Buchanan, Sharon Stanford, Teresa Kimble

The Way-Back Room: A Memoir of a Detroit Childhood by Minock, Mary

A desira

Michigan remembered: photographs from the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information, 1936- 1943 by edited by Constance B. Schulz ; with introductory essays by Constance B. Schulz and William H. Mulligan, Jr

Father Abraham's children: Michigan episodes in the Civil War by Frank B. Woodford ; new foreword by Arthur M. Woodford

A drive down memory lane: the named state and federal highways of Michigan by LeRoy Barnett

The Potawatomis, keepers of the fire by R. David Edmunds

Picturing Hemingway's Michigan by Michael R. Federspiel

Lumberjack: inside an era in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by William S.

Michigan is home to many noted authors. Whether native born or longtime residents, writing fiction, nonfiction or poetry, the following authors have produced a remarkable body of work.

Visit the Pure Michigan site and earn your My Mitten badge by visiting or exploring one of the numerous vacation spots in our great state. From bike trails to museums to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, you're sure to find something to do this summer!

The legacy of music in the state of Michigan is truly impressive. From classical to rock and everything in between, our state can lay claim to hundreds of noteworthy musicians. Here are but a few:

History is full of days and years which have special meaning. 1492? Columbus discovered America. 1776? America declared its independence. 1929? The stock market crashed. We all learned about these significant dates in school. However, these are just some of the years in history worth remembering - for better or for worse. Check out the following list for more:

69 A.D.: the year of four emperors by Gwyn Morgan

The year 1000: what life was like at the turn of the first millennium: an Englishman's world by Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger

1066: the year of the conquest by David Howarth; illustrations to chapter headings by Gareth Floyd

Read about some of the many noteworthy individuals who have made their mark on our great state!

Life with Mae: a Detroit family memoir by Neal Shine

The Dodge brothers: the men, the motor cars, and the legacy by Charles K. Hyde

William G. Milliken: Michigan's passionate moderate by Dave Dempsey

Empire builders: how Michigan entrepreneurs helped make America great by Burton W. Folson, Jr

Detroitland: a collection of movers, shakers, lost souls, and history makers from Detroit's past by Richard Bak

The situation in Flushing by Edmund G. Love