Friday, February 22 / 6 p.m. | Steve Marantz will sign Citizen Akoy: Basketball and the Making of a South Sudanese American (University of Nebraska Press, $ 26.95). Akoy Agau led Omaha Central High School to four straight high school basketball state championships (2010-13) and was a three-time All-State player. One of the most successful high school athletes in Nebraska's history, he's also a South Sudanese refugee. At age four, Akoy and his family fled Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War. The challenge to assimilate culturally was particularly steep, and basketball provided a sense of belonging and an avenue to realize his potential. He landed a Division 1 basketball scholarship to Louisville for a year and a half, then played at Georgetown before he graduated in the spring of 2017. With remaining eligibility, he played for Southern Methodist University while pursuing a graduate degree.
In a fluid, intimate, and joyful narrative, Steve Marantz relates Akoy's refugee journey of basketball, family, romance, social media, and coming of age at Nebraska's oldest and most diverse high school. Set against a backdrop of the South Sudanese refugee community in Omaha, Marantz provides a compelling account of the power of sports to blend cultures in the unlikeliest of places.
Saturday, February 23 / 10 to 11:30 a.m. | Saturday Storytime at The Bookworm. Teachers from local schools will read their favorite books. Readers this Saturday will be Tamira Jensen at 10 a.m., Cynthia Heller at 10:30 a.m., and Pat Mathews at 11 a.m. Please join us.
Saturday, February 23 / 1 p.m. | Mary Pipher will sign Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age (Bloomsbury, $27.00). Women growing older contend with ageism, misogyny, and loss. Yet as Mary Pipher shows, most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic, and wise people they have always wanted to be.
In Women Rowing North, Pipher offers a timely examination of the cultural and developmental issues women face as they age. Drawing on her own experience as daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, caregiver, clinical psychologist, and cultural anthropologist, she explores ways women can cultivate resilient responses to the challenges they face. "If we can keep our wits about us, think clearly, and manage our emotions skillfully," Pipher writes, "we will experience a joyous time of our lives. If we have planned carefully and packed properly, if we have good maps and guides, the journey can be transcendent."
Sunday, February 24 / 1 p.m. | Blake Ursch and Kristine Gerber will sign Nebraska Craft Beer – A History and Guide to Beer Made Here (Omaha World-Herald, $19.95). Omaha World-Herald reporter Blake Ursch explores the history of Nebraska craft beer from the early breweries that satisfied the thirst of working immigrants to the craft brewery movement of today. The book features current and archival beer stories, historic and current photographs of Nebraska’s breweries and beer memorabilia from Nebraska collectors. Each craft brewery in the state is listed and an illustrated foldout map by Matt Haney makes it easy to visit and drink the great craft beer being made here.
