In-Person Event: October Local Author Showcase

Join Anderson’s Bookshop for a Local Author Showcase with Karen Skerrett (Growing Married), Mistie Psaledas (The Truth About the Tooth), Tracie Main (Hailey Unicorn's Magic Words), and Kevin Patrick Kenealy (Neighborhood Watch) on Sunday, October 2nd at 2pm CT at our Downers Grove bookshop. The authors will speak about their new books and then there will be a signing line. 

This event will be held in our Downers Grove store location (5112 Main Street, Downers Grove, IL), and pre-registration is required as space is limited.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS & BOOKS

Growing Married by Karen Skerrett

Have you ever wondered how you can develop as a person and grow a relationship, or if it’s really possible to create a marriage that works over the long haul?

Growing Married offers a powerful approach to uncovering the positive potential within your relationship from the unique perspective of lifecycle change. Weaving together cutting-edge thinking, research and practical strategies, Karen Skerrett explains why creating stories that emphasize a “We” attitude is key to both navigating change and flourishing across a lifetime of togetherness. Looking at growth from the perspective of the relationship and what to pay attention to at particular points in time helps you focus on what matters most.

Growing Married highlights the experiences of courageous couples who share the ways they built and nourished resilient love stories. They teach us that the real power lies in your partnership itself. They also teach us how the pursuit of meaning and purpose can help override different rates of partner change and help a relationship thrive in the face of challenges.

This book is for:

• Those stuck in the pain of hopelessness, self-blame and uncertainty about the course of their life together.
• Those eager to chart a long-term relationship and want to understand the unique dilemmas and opportunities specific to certain phases of life.
• Those who want to build the team attitude so essential to individual and relationship resilience.

Filled with illuminating and relatable stories, reflection guides and exercises that prompt you to consider your own patterns and habits of relating, Growing Married is a wise, compassionate resource for partners trying to shape a lifetime of meaning, integrity and love together.

About the Author

KAREN SKERRETT, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and registered nurse with over 40 years of experience as a clinician, academic, and author who specializes in strength-based approaches to healing and change across the lifecycle. She is the author of Growing Married, co-author of Positive Couple Therapy, co-editor of Couple Resilience, and author of the memoir Tell Me Again How I Know You?  

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The Truth About the Tooth by Mistie Psaledas

Do you ever wonder what children all over the world do with their lost teeth? Or what tooth fairies actually look like?

In this delightful, educational book, tooth fairies reveal their secrets and share what happens to children's lost teeth around the world. The Truth about the Tooth is a story about the diversity, creativity, and imagination of different tooth fairy legends—one from which the entire family can take inspiration.

About the Author

Mistie grew curious about Tooth Fairies years ago when her oldest lost a tooth late at night.  Luckily the Tooth Fairy still made it before sunrise, and Mistie wanted to learn more about them.  While doing her research, she created Wiggle: Tooth Fairy Registries and discovered their amazing world, and how each fairy delights us and becomes what we imagine!

During the pandemic, while Mistie was home with her three daughters, she wrote and sketched the layout of this book, and is extremely proud and thankful that you are reading it today.

Mistie owns a Personal Training business and loves rescue animals, working in the past for Hinsdale Humane Society in special events and fundraising. Although from New Hampshire, she now lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her three daughters and two rescue cats.

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Hailey Unicorn's Magic Words by Tracie Main

About the Author

Award-Winning Children’s Book Author Tracie Main has released a series of fun, interactive children’s books that help build confidence and self-belief in kids. Tracie attended the University of Iowa as a Theatre Arts Major and later moved to Los Angeles, where she landed several roles on television and became an active member of the SAG/Aftra Union. Tracie has always been a writer at heart and has written many published and unpublished works. She learned at a young age from her father, John Amico, beauty industry leader and educator, about the power of self-belief. She currently resides in a suburb of Chicago with her husband and two boys. Tracie’s on a mission to teach every kid the magic words of self-belief and is available to conduct storytimes, author visits, and character building workshops at your school or event.

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Neighborhood Watch by Kevin Patrick Kenealy

"Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale," Kirkus Reviews

When the Caseys move into affluent Ridgeport, Ill. in search of a better life for their newborn Scott, they are surprised to find a book entitled, Ridgeport Welcomes You: Procedures and Guidelines for Happy Living. The book is full of rules and ordinances that citizens must abide by in order to live in their happy neighborhood. Although mom Loretta Casey is hesitant to live by Ridgeport's strict rules, all that changes when she meets her neighbor Sue Ellen Norris.

Sue Ellen serves on the Neighborhood Watch Committee, overseeing the safety of the town, and Loretta becomes engrossed in Sue Ellen's addictive personality. But as Loretta's son Scott and Sue Ellen's son Matt grow, they discover that Ridgeport is not as perfect as their moms make it out to be. As Scott and Matt form their band of friends, their journeys into the neighborhood woods prove to be much more than just a place of refuge.

About the Author:
Kevin Patrick Kenealy is in his seventh-year teaching AP Literature, English, and Journalism to high school students. Before that, he wrote for Chicagoland newspapers, where he had the privilege to interview several famous people including Barack Obama, former Illinois governors Jim Edgar, Rod Blagojevich, and Pat Quinn. He also has published two books of poetry, 20 Something and Faith Journey, and the horror novel, Life and Death.