CANTON, MI—Journalist and bestselling author Jeffrey Zaslow will speak Thursday, February 23 at 7:00 PM at the Canton Public Library. Zaslow’s newest novel, The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for our Daughters, debuted in January and recounts the hopes, dreams and transformations of thousands of women who visit Becker’s Bridal Salon in Fowler, Michigan.

He is also the author of The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and Friendship and coauthor of The Last Lecture with Randy Pausch, and more recently, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope with Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists twice named Zaslow the best columnist in a newspaper with more than 100,000 circulation. In 2008, he received the Distinguished Column Writing Award from the New York Newspaper Publishers Association.

Did you know that our Copy Station not only offers a place to print documents, but also has the resources to staple, hole-punch or cut your documents? A stapler, hole-punch and scissors are available at the Copy Station during regular library hours. If you come to the library to work on a project, you may make use of our Social Zones to put your project together, but you must bring any additional supplies.

Breaking Stalin's nose by Eugene Yelchin — a gripping story about a seldom covered historical era — Russia, or the then Soviet Union, under Stalin's rule. Ten-year-old Sasha begins a 24 hour period in a state of utter elation, the day has finally arrived for him to join the Young Pioneers. At last he will be able to serve the Communist Party and Comrade Stalin, just as his father does who works for the secret police in State Security. But poor, niave Sasha soon finds his whole world spiraling into an abyssmal black hole. His father is arrested in the middle of the night leaving him homeless. He accidentally breaks the nose off of a bust of Stalin at school and knows he could be arrested, too, if anyone reports him and he will never be able to join the Young Pioneers.

Canton Leisure Services' Village Theater wants to take you to a play. On Saturday, February 11 at 11:00 AM, The Village Theater presents Are You My Mother? based on the classic children's book by P.D. Eastman. Adapted for the stage by playwright and lyricist Greg Gunning and composer Richard DeRosa, Are You My Mother? is an enchanting musical about Baby Bird’s journey — an adventure that overflows with love, dedication, and friendship — and shows children and adults alike how loss can be turned into empowerment; and how Baby Bird ends up finding more than she is looking for. The Village Theater will be giving away two family packs of four tickets to the show. Come to the staff desk in the Children's library and enter the drawing today! Drawing takes place on February 10. Tickets will be held at the Village Theater will call box office the day of the event.

Winner

Where things come back: a novel by John Corey Whaley

Honor Books

Why we broke up: novel by Daniel Handler

Jasper Jones: a novel by Craig Silvey

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

When was the last time your book group read a classic? These five titles were made into films. All received Oscar nominations in one category or other.

Arrowsmith; Elmer Gantry; Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis

Far from the madding crowd by Thomas Hardy

One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey

Zombie felties: how to raise 16 gruesome felt creatures from the undead by Nicola Tedman & Sarah Skeate

Who doesn't love a cute zombie? This book has a whole cast of the adorable undead, from the Thrilla, Classic, and Bunny Zombies seen on the cover to zombie kitties, babies, brides, and many more. These crafts are easy to make and a lot of fun besides. Find more about zombie felties on Facebook.

Belly Dance is a beautiful dance form which draws on dances from around the Middle East. In the Middle East, the term for this dance form is "raqs sharqi" in Arabic and "Oryantal Dans" in Turkish. The correct translation into English for both of these terms is "dance of the East", or "Oriental dance". Come join us for a Belly Dance workshop that we are offering as part of our multicultural fitness initiative. Our instructor Pauline Costianes/Ghalia is an experienced artist, choreographer and instructor. The program will be in our Community Room on Saturday, February 18th at 2:00 PM. No registration required.

1493: uncovering the new world Columbus created by Charles C.

Connie Willis, the prolific science fiction author, has won the prestigious Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for 2011. The award is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and celebrates lifetime achievement in science fiction or fantasy. The library owns many of her titles, including Blackout/All Clear, which won the Hugo Award for 2011.

We invite you to visit the Children's Library to tour Turner Town, a Turner Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities Awareness Campaign, during the month of February (Turner Syndrome Awareness Month). This collection of doll houses is an interactive self-teaching traveling exhibit that depicts the everyday challenges of a girl with Turner Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities from birth and through her later teenage years. It has already been displayed in Livonia libraries, the Plymouth District Library and the Detroit Children's Museum. We are excited to have it visit us as well! Turner Town will be on display for the month of February.

For more information please visit Turner Town's website and the Turner Syndrome Society.

Sylvan Saturdays are back Saturday, February 11th, from 1:00-5:30 PM. Teens can attend this workshop, an introductory ACT Prep course that will give students some tips and strategies for scoring higher on the ACT. It will also include a full length practice test with scoring. You must attend the entire session. Registration required.

Arc of justice: a saga of race, civil rights, and murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle — is the 2012 Great Michigan Read, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words:

DVDs

Eyes on the prize. Vol. 1, [videodisc]: America's civil rights movement by Blackside

February 22, 6:30-8:45 PM join us for our monthly meeting of the Animanga Club! We've got all sorts of zaniness in store from a raffle to trivia to our always popular "mystery anime." What is it this month? Sorry, no hints. Drop by and let your inner otaku run free.

The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association has announced the nominees for the 2012 Dilys Award. This award is given to the mystery titles booksellers most enjoyed selling throughout the year. The winning novel will be announced at the Left Coast Crime Convention in Sacremento on March 31. This year's nominees are:

Faithful Place: a novel by Tana French

Wicked autumn: a Max Tudor novel by G.M. Malliet

Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos — justly deserved winning the Newbery. It is an entertaining as well enriching read set in 1962 Norvelt, Pennsylvania — a real place. Indeed, the story is partly autobiographical which is why the main character's name is Jackie Gantos. Jackie is grounded for the summer for doing a couple dumb things. He ends up having to be the "hired hands" for an arthritic elderly neighbor, Miss Volker. As he transcribes the obituaries for the local paper, a sinister pattern begins to emerge — far too many of the town's elderly are dying in rapid succession by bizarre causes. Zany characters and wild escapades are intermixed with fascinating historical facts about not only Norvelt, but renowned figures in world history.

Guess what? Our beloved mitten state is celebrating a major milestone Thursday — 175 years of Statehood! Time does fly, doesn't it? We've seen both good and bad events in our historical journey through time, plus we have given birth to numerous famous people. On this date in 1837, President Jackson signed the bill that officially made us the 26th state in the union. There are lots of ways you can celebrate this momentous occasion including baking a cake shaped like Michigan, take pictures of your neighborhood, write what you love about our great state, or check out some of our wonderful materials on Michigan.

Into board games like Settlers, Carcassonne, or Puerto Rico? Drop by Saturday, February 4 between Noon and 5:45 PM for our monthly Board Gaming League of Canton meeting. Play some of the hottest games and meet some new folks!

I'm talking about the book and also the horses…

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is about killer horses. Magical, man-eating, maiming-people-within-the-first-few-chapters horses from the sea. And people who ride them. Don't roll your eyes at me. I'm serious. And, it's brilliant. Stiefvater somehow pulls off this strange mix of horror and horses and romance. Yes, it's also a love story. It's also a broken people finding each other story. A turning to animals when others let you down story. The animals just happen to be man-eating horses from the sea. The result is nothing short of beautiful. Check it out.

The American Library Association has announced the winners of the 2012 Youth Media Awards. Here are the winners, with special mentions below:

Winners

Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos — Newbery Medal.

A ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka — Caldecott Medal