Friendship, Loyalty, Love and Magic

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Photo by Keith Weber

The middle school years are often difficult for teens to navigate and a common, yet unfortunate, result of this tumultuous time is the shifting and sometimes painful ending of friendships. In Mequon resident Jane Kelley’s newest middle-grade novel, The Book of Dares for Lost Friends, two long-time friends begin to drift apart when one joins the A-team, a group of popular girls that are known shoplifters. When they enter sixth grade, New York City kids Val and Lanora, a longtime inseparable duo, begin to go their separate ways following Lanora’s parent’s separation. 

Val, who is desperate to restore their relationship, unexpectedly hooks up with an unusual and clever boy. With the help of a sassy cat named Mau and a little magic, she decides to cast an ancient spell upon her friend. Throughout this engaging book, Lanora and Val demonstrate the quintessential traits of friendship, loyalty and love. This heartfelt story is filled with creative characters that tell an uplifting story of the universal struggles of growing up.

The Book of Dares for Lost Friends is Kelley’s fourth book, following on the heels of Nature Girl, The Girl Behind the Glass and The Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya. She will appear at the Frank L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon-Thiensville for a talk entitled “The Story of a Book” on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

Book Happening:

Robin Pickering-Iazzi

7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17

Boswell Book Co.

2559 N. Downer Ave. 

The Mafia in Italian Lives and Literature: Life Sentences and Their Geographies, a new book by UW-Milwaukee professor Robin Pickering-Iazzi examines the lives of Italian mafia from 1990 to the present through a multi-disciplinary lens in conjunction with first-hand testimonies and authentic cultural documents. Pickering-Iazzi is a professor of Italian and Comparative Literature in the Department of French, Italian and Comparative Literature.