Join our Writer's Salon to hear Sheila O'Connor read from her new middle grade novel, Until Tomorrow Mr. Marsworth. She'll answer audience questions, discuss writing and reading, and sign books.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sheila O’Connor is the author of three novels for adults, Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions (October 2019), Where No Gods Came, and Tokens of Grace. Her novels for readers (10+) include Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth, Sparrow Road, and Keeping Safe the Stars. Awards for her books include the Michigan Prize for Literary Fiction, Minnesota Book Award, International Reading Award, and Midwest Booksellers Award among others. Her books have been included in Best Books of the Year by Booklist, VOYA, Book Page, Bank Street, Chicago Public Library, and Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Sheila O'Connor has been awarded Bush Fellowships (2003. 2009), Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowships (2004, 2015, 2019), and a McKnight Artist Fellowship in poetry. She is a professor at Hamline University in the Creative Writing Programs where she serves as Fiction Editor for Water~Stone Review.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, one young girl is determined to save her brother from the draft--and gets help from an unlikely source--in this middle-grade tale, perfect for fans of The Wednesday Wars When eleven-year-old Reenie Kelly's mother passes away, she and her brothers are shipped off to live with their grandmother. Adjusting to life in her parents' Midwestern hometown isn't easy, but once Reenie takes up a paper route with her older brother Dare, she has something she can look forward to. As they introduce themselves to every home on their route, Reenie's stumped by just one--the house belonging to Mr. Marsworth, the town recluse. When he doesn't answer his doorbell, Reenie begins to leave him letters. Slowly, the two become pen pals, striking up the most unlikely of friendships.Through their letters, Reenie tells of her older brother Billy, who might enlist to fight in the Vietnam War. Reenie is desperate to stop him, and when Mr. Marsworth hears this, he knows he can't stand idly by. As a staunch pacifist, Mr. Marsworth offers to help Reenie.