Michigan
Great Michigan Read authors coming to East Lansing next week – City Pulse
Seven prestigious writers, including a National Book Award winner, will gather in East Lansing next week for an author reunion of the Great Michigan Read program, which has annually picked a book for the whole state to read starting with Ernest Hemingway’s “The Nick Adams Stories” in 2007.
I will moderate the Michigan Humanities event at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts’ Pasant Theatre at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24. It’s free but requires registration. (See box.)
The authors and their books are Bich Minh Nguyen (“Stealing Buddha’s Dinner: A Memoir”); Kevin Boyle (“Arc of Justice,” which won the 2004 National Book Award for nonfiction); Steve Luxenberg (“Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret”); Mary Doria Russell (“The Women of the Copper Country”); co-author Kekla Magoon (“X: A Novel”); Mona Hanna (“What the Eyes Don’t See”); and Angeline Boulley (“Firekeeper’s Daughter”).
Each of them brings a different orientation to their award-winning books, from a doctor, a journalist, a young adult author, a Vietnam War boat person, a history professor, an indigenous Sault Tribe member and an historical fiction writer.
Six of their books are based on real-life stories. The exception is Boulley’s thriller mystery, which draws from her personal experiences of reservation living as a member of the Sault Tribe of Sault Ste. Marie.
Nguyen tells the intimate story of an immigrant family from Vietnam that escapes the ravages of war and grows up in the Grand Rapids area.
Russell, a noted sci-fi and historical fiction author, writes passionately about “Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc, who at 25 led the 1913 copper strike in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
In another memoir, Luxenberg tells the emotional story of another immigrant family, this time in Detroit. His account reveals a deeply held family secret of mental illness and special needs.
In an unusual departure, Magoon, who partnered with Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcom X’s daughter, gives a creative nonfiction interpretation of X’s life as he comes of age in Lansing, Harlem and Boston.
In her startling debut novel, Boulley creates a complex teenage protagonist who gets caught up in a murder that takes place against the backdrop of Indigenous life in the heart of Michigan’s Indian country.
Two writers, Boyle and Hanna, delve into true-life tales that read like fictional thrillers.
Boyle drops back in history to mid-1920s Detroit and retells the dramatic story of Ossian Sweet, a physician who was tried with 10 other African Americans for the murder of a white man who had joined a mob protesting Sweet’s crossing the color line to live in an all-white neighborhood. The story is told against the backdrop of the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration and a family’s desire to join the American dream of home ownership. Boyle’s deft skills are at work here, and the outcome of the trial is never a given as it comes to a dramatic denouement led by defense lawyer Clarence Darrow.
Hanna’s contemporary memoir is a day-by-day retelling of the Flint Water Crisis and the lead poisoning of the children of Flint in 2019. Hannah, a young pediatrician, became a crusader in bringing the nation’s attention to this horrific contemporary disaster, all the while standing up to the medical political establishment.
The next Great Michigan Read book will be announced at the program’s end. Michigan Humanities is a statewide organization headquartered in Okemos that is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. It is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“I have been impressed how timeless these books are and how people relate to the books on a personal level,” Jennifer Rupp, Michigan Humanities’ president and CEO, said. “Since the launch of Great Michigan Read, more than 300,000 people have read or listened to the books on audio.”
For each book, Michigan Humanities prepares a reader’s guide to help lead to “deeper conversations,” Rupp said.
Regional committees propose and review books leading to the selection. The books then become the focal point for book club discussion groups, with author appearances across the state.
“It’s been amazing to see standing room only at author events,” Rupp said.
Michigan
In Michigan, Arab Americans weigh the power of a vote : Code Switch
This presidential election is likely to be a squeaker, decided by a handful of votes in some key swing states. We visited one of them — Michigan — in order to speak to some of the most influential and misunderstood voters in the country: Arab Americans in Dearborn. The Dearbornites we met said that the war in Gaza is one of the key issues weighing on their minds as they consider how to cast their ballots in a couple of weeks. But what that will mean in the voting booth is still a complex question. Will they go for Kamala Harris? Donald Trump? A third party candidate? No one at all? What these voters ultimately decide could have huge consequences for the whole country.
This story was reported by Gene Demby and Colin Jackson from Michigan Public. Our engineer was James Willetts.
Michigan
Harris campaigns in Michigan, works to shore up support with Black men
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Michigan
Recruiting: Michigan Football battling Deion Sanders, Colorado for 4-star linebacker
Roughly a month and a half ahead of National Signing Day, Michigan football looks to continue to bolster its 2025 recruiting class, the first for head coach Sherrone Moore.
The Wolverines are trending for their top target in the class, five-star Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley Northwest offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, and are also locked in a battle for another of their top priorities. Michigan linebacker coach Brian Jean-Mary has been fighting hard for four-star Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng for months, but another challenger has thrown its hat in the ring for the Top 75 prospect.
According to On3 Sports’ Hayes Fawcett, Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes have emerged as a top school for Owusu-Boateng. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder had previously narrowed his ‘Top Group’ to six schools: Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Florida, USC and Texas, prior to this recent surge from Colorado.
Owusu-Boateng visited Colorado this past weekend for the Buffaloes’ home game against Kansas State, and came away impressed according to On3’s national recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong. The four-star linebacker was in Ann Arbor over the weekend of Sept. 21 to witness Michigan’s 27-24 win over USC at the Big House. He’ll also take an official visit to Texas on Nov. 23 when the Longhorns host Kentucky. The early signing period for the 2025 recruiting class will open on Dec. 4, and Owusu-Boateng indicated on Twitter that he’ll be making his college decision on that date.
According to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, Owusu-Boateng is considered the No. 76 overall prospect, No. 10 linebacker and No. 11 player in the state of Florida in the 2025 class. He is the top uncommitted linebacker left on the board in the class, and has garnered a whopping 44 scholarship offers from FBS programs (per 247Sports).
Here’s what 247’s director of scouting Andrew Ivins had to say about Owusu-Boateng:
“Speed-and-space linebacker that can hawk down ball carriers and spy quarterbacks. Tips the scales at just over 6-foot, 200 pounds and appears to still have some growth potential with his lean, muscular build. Started prep career off in the DMV before arriving at IMG Academy where he emerged as a team leader in advance of senior season. At his best in chase mode, but has shown over the years that he’s willing to attack blockers or play around them. Tends to strike opponents when the opportunity presents itself. Has proven to be rather effective against the pass as he’s athletic and agile enough to mirror tight ends underneath or down the seam. Should be viewed as a potential impact player at the Power Four level. Might lack the payload at this stage to hold up against a true down-hill run game, but sideline-to-sideline range could lead to plenty of success on Saturdays.”
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