Meet the Author at Paragraphs

Saturday, December 7th- 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.

“WHISPER YOUR NAME into MY EAR”

a memoir of survival and resistance.

By Marguerite Levy-Feibelman

Join us for an afternoon of intimate conversation with Marguerite Levy-Feibelman at Paragraphs on Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island. The program features converstion, readings of selected excerpts, a question and answer period, book signing with tea and coffee.  Marguerite is making her 4^th visit to Paragraphs and is looking forward to share her story with you.

Marguerite, a strong-willed and idealistic French Jewish teenager immersed in the tradition of liberty, equality and fraternity, was determined to be treated like everyone else and live free and independent as her country was overtaken by Nazi soldiers. With the help and advice of a passeur and the Jewish Scout movement, she tweaks her parents’ and her own papers and the Levy family assumes the risks to live with false identities in the French Alps. There, they blend in with the population, do not bring attention to themselves, and try to live outwardly as normal a life as possible.  An anonymous phone call at the tobacconist’s: “Can you come into the mountains and do some typing for two or three days? We’ll take good care of you!” is the start of Marguerite’s activities in the Resistance.

Whisper Your Name into My Ear shows the French Alsatian Albert Levy family from their beginnings in Alsace, then Mannheim (Germany), to Paris, into the Exodus and beyond, throughout the War. The memoir weaves a vivid tapestry of World War II in France, highlighting the contradictions, the split loyalties of the population and the opportunities arising out of the difficulties of living under hostile authorities.

Teachers and students will find this event especially interesting as Marguerite embodies this period of history.

This is free and open to the public.

Paragraphs On Padre Boulevard, 5505 Padre Blvd. South Padre Island, TX

For information call us at 956-433-5057 or www.paragraphsbooks.com

Meet the Author Series at Paragraphs

“The Padre Pandemic”

Book signing and reception with author, David Harry

Saturday November 30th, 2013

1-3 PM

David brings us his fourth book in the Padre series, “The Padre Pandemic”, a Jimmy Redstone / Angella Martinez thriller.

Angella and Jimmy are drawn into a drug investigation when a parachute carrying a dead man lands on the beach. Their investigation brings them face to face with a killer from their past on the squalid docks of Buenos Aires where prescription pharmaceuticals are being loaded on an Iranian ship for transport to the United States. Imposters, impersonators and double agents abound in this international thriller that pits nations against each other with the United States helpless to intervene.

David Harry is a Texas transplant, originally from Pittsburgh, he was introduced to South Padre Island in 1992. He now lives on the island with his wife and their dog, Hydra.


All are welcome! This event is free and open to the public.
We look forward to seeing you and appreciate your support of our local Texas authors.
Copies of all his Padre books are available.

Paragraphs Books, 5505 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island, TX –Phone 956.433.5057

Upcoming Events at Paragraphs

The next few days will be busy and we hope you can make one of several events we have scheduled.

Thursday, August 8, 1-2:   David Harry will be here to discuss the fourth book in his Padre Puzzle series, "Padre Pandemic."

Saturday, August 10, 1-2:  Steve Hathcock will give the second of three lectures on treasure hunting using a metal detector.

Sunday, August 11, 1-2:  David Calvillo will be here to sign and discuss his debut book which is published by Ave Maria Press and has an introduction by bishop Daniel E. Flores.  "Real Men Pray the Rosary" is a practical guide to a powerful prayer.

Monday, August 12:  El Paseo Arts Foundation will be holding tryouts for their fall melodrama.

Saturday, August 17, 1-2:  Children's author Maria Stout will join us again to read and sign "Saturday at Grandma's House."

Valley International Poetry Festival

Be part of the audience at readings in Mission, McAllen, Edinburg, Elsa, Pharr, Weslaco, Harlingen, Brownsville, San Benito, South Padre Island, and Matamoros, Tamaulpas, (Mexico) in the Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas!!

VIPF is the only known poetry festival with concurrent readings in two countries!

Paragraphs is proud to be the South Padre Island venue for this international event. I hope some of you can stop by and hear some wonderful poetry read by some talented performers.


Saturday, April 27, Afternoon Workshop: 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.

Workshop by: Katie Hoerth
Topic: Prepping your work for publication—an editor's advice
Note: Open to the public as space allows.


Saturday, April 27, Poetry Readings 3:45—4:45 p.m.

M.C.: Linda Romero
Readers: Lupe Méndez, MaryAnn Escamilla, Katie Hoerth, Linda Romero, Rachel Udow, Edward Vidaurre, José Chapa, Daniel García Ordaz, James (Grizzy) Griswold, Rudy García, Bryan Nichols

Welcome Bikers!!

10th annual Beach N Biker Fest

April 19-21, 2013

South Padre Island, Texas

Start the summer off right with a concert and a good beach read.  Bring in your ticket from any of the Summer Kick-Off Concerts for 25% any purchase at Parargraphs.

Meet the Author Series - Joyce Faulkner

Book signing, discussion and reception with author, Joyce Faulkner

“Windshift”
Saturday – January 19th 1-3 PM

Shirley Maxwell is a troubled young woman facing a complicated personal life, a culture that restricts female options, and a world at war. Yet, together with friends -- Emmie, Delores, and Mags -- she joins Jackie Cochran's Women's Air Service Pilots program (WASP) and participates in the adventure, challenges, and tragedies of the 1940s with determination and courage.

Shirley and her friends know what they are tackling will be hard, but they do it anyway and relish the effort. In the process, they change what is possible in the minds of young girls everywhere.

Lively and moving, "Windshift" inspires and educates. Appropriate for history buffs interested in the World War II era, students of social change, those who love tales of derring do and those who just love airplanes.
My one word description of what this book is about is "Overcoming."

"I began writing to amuse myself when I was a tubby adolescent. I love the whole process -- planning, researching, writing -- and the many hours of editing that turns a lump of clay into a layered, cohesive story. As a reader, I appreciate the work that goes into plotting, characterization, and background. People often ask me if I write about myself. Of course, all authors ideas, thoughts, perspectives appear in their books. I'm in my books by the very topics that I choose to write about." -- Joyce Faulkner

This event is free and open to the public.
Paragraphs On Padre Boulevard, 5505 Padre Blvd. South Padre Island, TX

For information call us at 956-433-5057

World Book Night 1013 - Spreading the love of reading, person to person!

World Book Night is an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person.  Each year on April 23, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. go out into their communities and give a total of half a million free World Book Night paperbacks to light and non-readers. The date was chosen because it is the UNESCO International Day of the Book, as well as Shakespeare’s birthday! It was also chosen in honor of Miguel de Cervantes, who died on April 23,1616 (the same day as Shakespeare). In the Catalan region of Spain, the day is celebrated by giving a book and a flower to a loved one.  World Book Night was first celebrated in the UK and Ireland in 2011; in 2012, it was also celebrated in the USA and Germany.
  
The goal of World Book Night is to seek out adult readers wherever they are, in towns and cities, in public settings or in places from nursing homes to food pantries, low-income schools to mass transit, to encourage reading in the adult population, especially those who may not have access to printed books for reasons of means or geography.

The 30 books selected to be given away are:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My Antonia by Willa Cather 
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (also available to be given away in Spanish)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (also available to be given away in Spanish)
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson
Population: 485 by Michael Perry
Good Omens by Terry Patchett and Neil Gaiman
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Favorite American Poems; Large Print edition

If you would like to be a book giver you can apply now at www.worldbooknight.org now through January 23, 2013 by providing answers to several questions and picking a book title to give out from the above list. We are excited to again be selected as a book pick-up location.

Dolphin, Baby! - A Paragraphs Pick

Swim with a baby dolphin as he learns to survive — and play — in an engaging story splashed with facts and buoyed by bright illustrations.

Pop! Tail first, head last, Dolphin is born into the blue. He’s brand new, but helped by his mother, he swims up, up, up to take his first breath.

Readers are invited to join the baby calf as he follows his mom and discovers all there is to know about life under the sea, from catching his first fish to learning how to say his name with his very own whistle. Nicola Davies’s lyrical narrative and intriguing facts are accompanied by Brita Granström’s colorful illustrations, pulsing with the energy and movement of dolphins in their natural habitat.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Born tail first, a baby dolphin swims immediately to the surface to breathe, then follows his mother, nursing, learning her call, gradually exploring his world, playing, learning and developing his own personal whistle. Zoologist Davies has long experience writing about nature for young readers. Here, she describes the first six months of a bottlenose calf's life through the story of Dolphin and Mom. A sentence or two of narrative description appears on each page, with additional facts in a smaller, italic text. She chooses appropriate information--appearance, breathing, diving, feeding and communication--and constructs her story to demonstrate the calf's increasing independence. Her facts are accurate, and readers looking for specifics will appreciate the index and page numbers. An afterword identifies the particular species and reminds readers that caring for oceans will help ensure dolphin survival. Granström's acrylic paintings are beautiful. Spreading across two pages, they emphasize the blues of the dolphin's environment. The pink of their rostrums is occasionally and gloriously echoed in the sky.

This is an absolutely beautiful book and will make a wonderful addition to any young person's library.  It will be a great resource providing a child with some additional factual material augmenting the learning experience of any of our Island dolphin watch trips. The additional notes about dolphins, provided in a smaller font, on each page are a helpful tool for parents reading the narrative to the littler ones. And most of all it is just a lovely story with beautiful illustrations.

This book was HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by Amy E. Parker, Lower School Assistant Librarian, The Kinkaid School, Houston, Texas, in her review for Library Media Connection.

Don't Forget to Vote

Early Voting Schedule

Voting will be held at the South Padre Island City Hall, 4601 Padre Blvd., for multiple elections on the designated days and hours below:

For the SPI City Election: October 22 - November 2, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 5p.m. (Note: Extended hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. will be offered Thursday, October 25, 2012 and Thursday, November 1, 2012)

For the Laguna Madre Fresh Water District Election: October 22 - November 2, 2012 and Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all days.

For the Cameron County Election: October 22-26, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Note: One Week Only)

* Cameron County Election Voting will be held in Port Isabel October 22 - November 2, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bennie Ochoa County Annex Building, 505 Highway 100.