Former First Lady of Michigan, Helen Wallbank Milliken died today. Wife of Michigan's longest-serving governor, William Milliken, Helen Milliken was a strong advocate of women's rights and environmental issues. In a 2006 interview by the Associated Press she said, "Nobody ever saw anybody burn a bra; they're too expensive, but the myth has survived. There have been excesses, but the goal has always remained the same: equal opportunity for women." Ms. Milliken is survived by her husband, William and son, William, Jr.

Has your book group tried our Book Club in a Bag kits? Each kit has 8 books and a resource guide with book discussion questions, author information, and articles relating to the book. To reserve a Book Club in a Bag kit for your group, contact Adult Reference Desk at (734) 397-0999.

Prodigal summer: a novel [kit] by Barbara Kingsolver

The red tent [kit] by Anita Diamant

Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism by Nona Willis Aronowitz and Emma Bee Bernstein

This unassuming book is a fascinating peek into a roadtrip of two young women who travel across the United States with no other goal than to connect with other women. They met and spent time with women of varying ages and experiences and this book contains their thoughts, commentary and photographs. Local note: Aronowitz and Bernstein spent time in several Michigan cities: Detroit, Flint, and Ypsilanti.

If you enjoy mysteries set in another time and place and featuring a strong woman character, try Shirley Tallman's Sarah Wolcott series.  Sarah is a 27 years old, single, lawyer living in Victorian San Francisco in the late 1890s. Against her family’s wishes, she has opened her own San Francisco law firm, only to find that clients---paying clients, that is---are wary of allowing a woman to manage their legal affairs. With the assistance of her friend Robert Campbell, an attorney she met while briefly employed at a prestigious law firm and her brother, Samuel Wolcott, Sarah always solves the case.

On this day (February 19) in 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, a call for   women to achieve their full potential. Her book generated an enormous response and revitalized the women's movement in the U.S.