Shunning Sarah

A novel by Julie Kramer August 7, 2012. Hardcover. $23.99. Atria/Simon & Schuster. August 7, 2012. ISBN: 9781451664638.

“Remember Witness—that truly thrilling movie with Harrison Ford in his heyday?  Shunning Sarah is an even better suspense story filled with horse-driven buggies and folks in black hats.”
—James Patterson

“Shunning Sarah is a compelling novel chock full of all the elements readers of crime fiction crave—a heinous unsolved crime, a complex storyline with the depth we’ve come to expect from Kramer and a heroine you will find yourself cheering on from the top of your lungs.   Riley Spartz is a very human heroine—and a force to be reckoned with.  You will remember her and this story long after you have finished the book—and anxiously await the next installment.”
—Linda Castillo

Shunning Sarah is the next book in Julie Kramer’s bestselling series about TV reporter Riley Spartz.

Credit: Garrett Young

Minneapolis’s star investigative reporter Riley Spartz is constantly in search of her next TV sweeps piece. When she hears that a young boy is trapped at the bottom of a sink hole, she smells ratings. Little does she know just how big the story will be—not only does it involve a tragic murder, but the local Amish community also.  Once Riley is on the case, she quickly realizes solving it will be anything but easy.

Flyer
Shelf-talker
Author photo
Book jacket

Julie Kramer is a freelance network news producer.  She formerly ran WCCO-TV’s nationally award-winning investigative unit in Minneapolis.  Her debut thriller, Stalking Susan, won the Minnesota Book Award and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best First Mystery, was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Awards, and is also a finalist for the Anthony Award.  She lives with her family in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Publicity Contact: Mellony Torres, Mellony.Torres@SimonandSchuster.com.

Spirit of the Ojibwe: Images of Lac Courte Oreilles Elders

Nonfiction by Sara Balbin, James R. Bailey, and Thelma Nayquonabe. June 30, 2012. Perfectbound with full-color illustrations. $28.95. Holy Cow! Press. ISBN: 9780982354506. Distributed by Consortium.

“These extraordinary portraits of Ojibwe elders convey the warmth, the kindness, the humor, and the ongoing endurance of our people. What a thoughtful celebration.”–Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), recipient of the Nelson Algren Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction

In the 1740s, a group of Ojibwe Indians left Madeline Island, in Lake Superior, and traveled south to Odaawaa Zaaga’igan, the place where they found the dead Ottawa. Like other tribes and bands in the area, these people, who became the Lac Courte Oreilles Band, had most of their land taken by legal chicanery and were relegated to a reservation. Many found work in the burgeoning lumber industry, but after the virgin forest was cut down, they fell upon hard times. And this was not all that they encountered. Facing the detrimental attitudes of the time, and with their children forced to attend off-reservation boarding schools, the Ojibwe were told that their elaborate culture was of no account and that their ancient language was worthless. Confronting this challenge, the thirty-two elders whose stories are told here, and many others, with courage and quiet determination, maintained their traditions and rebuilt their heritage. It is to tell their story that this book was written.

Publicity contact: Jim Perlman, holycow@holycowpress.org.

Book jacket
Author photo
Flyer
Shelf-talker

Locally Grown: Portraits of Artisanal Farms from America’s Heartland

Nonfiction by Anna Blessing. July 10, 2012. Paperback with full-color interior $22.95. Agate Publishing. ISBN: 9781572841291.

This beautiful book by writer and photographer Anna H. Blessing introduces readers to the story of the modern heartland farm. The book explores how sustainable practices–and close ties to high-profile chefs and restauranteurs–have propelled the “locally grown” culinary movement into a central feature of life in major cities like Chicago. Blessing lays out the rich histories of 25 Midwestern farms through beautiful photography, fascinating anecdotes from farmers and chefs, and up-close looks at what makes each farm so unique.

Looking at esteemed chefs like Charlie Trotter and Paul Kahan, who scour farmers markets for natural ingredients and develop personal business relationships with small-time farmers, Locally Grown shows how both long-standing and newly founded farms, along with urban farms and metropolitan nonprofit organizations like Growing Power and City Provisions, are boosting the sustainable food movement throughout Chicago and its neighborhoods.

Anna Blessing researched, wrote, and photographed 14 editions of the eat.shop book series in addition to being a regular contributor to many other print and online publications, including Lucky, for which she was Chicago editor for six years. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.

Publicity contact: Doug Siebold, seibold@agatepublishing.com.

Book jacket
Author photo
Press kit
BLAD