The Shiawassee Arts Center is the exclusive sales location for the Cottonwood novels by author Gary Slaughter.
LAUNCH for GARY SLAUGHTER'S NEW NOVEL
Please join Gary to celebrate the national launch of Cottonwood Summer '45
At the Shiawassee Arts Center on Sunday, May 20th at 2 pm.
Book signing and reception follow Gary's new Fifth Cottonwood talk.
Cottonwood Summer '45 is an entertaining, richly-detailed reminiscence of home-front America during the summer of 1945. The last days of World War II have a profound impact on America as witnessed by the citizens of Riverton, Michigan, and Nashville, Tennessee, the settings of this fast-paced and witty story.
Two young heroes, Danny and Jase, are totally obsessed with protecting their neighborhood, their hometown, and their country from the bad guys. True to form, another fresh crop of villains arrives on the scene only to be vanquished swiftly in a humorous fashion by the pair of precocious and clever defenders of the flag. John Seigenthaler, the host of public television's A Word on Words, refers to these two protagonists as "this generation's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn."
The public is invited to hear Gary's Fifth Cottonwood talk at:
- Shiawassee Arts Center - Sunday, May 20th at 2 pm
- Corunna Library - Monday, May 21st at 10 am
- Shiawassee District Library (Owosso) - Monday, May 21st at 7 pm
- Shiawassee District Library (Durand) - Tuesday, May 22nd at 3 pm
- Books & Beans, (downtown Owosso), - Wednesday, May 23rd, at 2:30 pm.
Gary will also speak to members and their guests at the following:
- Durand Rotary Club - Tuesday, May 22nd at 11:30 am
- Owosso Rotary Club - Wednesday, May 23rd at noon
- Trinity United Methodist Church - Monday, May 21st at 2 pm
(Hosted Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee County in Fellowship Hall)
Gary's novels can be purchased at the Shiawassee Arts Center or from any member of Beta Sigma Phi.
NEWS RELEASE
For
Immediate Release
June
26, 2009
For
More Information Contact:
Joanne
Fletcher
E-mail: jfletcher@fletcherhouse.com
Fletcher
House
Cottonwood Summer Approved as Textbook
for Owosso High
School and Lincoln
High School
On
Monday, June 22, 2009, Owosso’s Board of
Education approved a plan for making Cottonwood
Summer an official U. S. History textbook for ninth-graders in Owosso High School
and the county-wide Lincoln
High School beginning in
the fall of 2009.
Cottonwood Summer is the first of four Cottonwood novels by Owosso native Gary Slaughter. The stories are
set in Riverton, Michigan,
a fictionalized version of Owosso.
This series spans the four seasons of the last year of World War II beginning
with the D-Day invasion in early summer of 1944 and ending with V.E. Day, the
surrender of Germany,
in late spring of 1945.
The
agreement between Slaughter and the Owosso Public School District (OPS) calls
for him to donate a personal soft-cover copy of Cottonwood Summer to each member of incoming ninth-grade
class of approximately 300 students. A copy will be inscribed to each student
and autographed by the author. After the year’s use as a textbook, this
first class of ninth-grade students will keep their copies of the book.
In
addition, Slaughter will donate 300 hard-cover Cottonwood
Summer books to OPS for the use of incoming ninth-grade classes in
2010 through 2019. Slaughter will also donate 50 hard-cover copies of Cottonwood Fall, of Cottonwood Winter, and of Cottonwood Spring to OPS for establishing
a 30-Cottonwood book reference library in each of the five social studies
classrooms at the high schools.
The
teachers will utilize a study guide developed by Joanne
Slaughter, wife of the author. The guide will serve as a
springboard for students to obtain a greater understanding of their community
history, as well as Michigan
and American history during the World War II era. The guide comprises four
parts including Study Guide Questions, Additional Study Guide Questions,
Individual or Group Enrichment Activities, and Community Outreach.
Slaughter
will visit the schools in the early fall to address the students and to sign
their books. At that time, he will also meet with Kevin Moore, Chair of the
Social Studies Department and his department members.
When
asked to comment, Slaughter stated, “Joanne and I have worked with Greg
Gray (former OPS superintendent) and Susan Wooten (interim OPS superintendent
and curriculum director) on this project for nearly four years. We had to
ensure the addition of Cottonwood Summer
to the curriculum maintained its alignment with the Michigan Department of
Education’s Michigan Merit Curriculum
and the High School Social Studies
Organizational Chart. This was no small task, especially for Susan.
“Once
this was accomplished, we were fortunate to win the approval of the members of
the District of Excellence Council and finally the Board of Education. I
can’t tell you how grateful we are for their commitment to this project
which allows us to present this gift to Owosso’s
ninth-graders and their teachers. Cottonwood
fans will understand when I say this is a proud day for old Jase.”
