For the second time in a week, children's literature has lost a beloved author. Jean Craighead George died yesterday in Valhalla, NY.

Ms. George, who published her first book, Vulpes, the Red Fox, in 1949, won the Newbery Medal for her classic story, Julie of the Wolves, 1972. In this perennial favorite, young Julie runs away from her Alaskan home and becomes lost on the North Slope where she is rescued and raised by a pack of wolves.

Thirteen years earlier, Ms. George was a Newbery Honor winner for My Side of the Mountain. In this adventure tale, 12-year-old Gribley, another runaway, escapes to the Catskills where he befriends a weasel and a peregrine falcon.

She began her writing career as a journalist, working as a reporter for the Washington Post and as one of the first women White House Press Corps reporters.

Ms. George, who was 92, died of complications from a stroke.

Carlos Fuentes, Mexico's most famous novelist, died today in Mexico City.

His first novel, Where the Air Is Clear (1960), was a blistering examination of Mexico's wealthy millionaires.

He was quickly joined by several other well-known Latin American authors, such as Colombian novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Peruvian author, Mario Vargas Llosa.

Fuentes' novel, The Death of Artemio Cruz (1964), was an examination of modern Mexico's political life after the Mexican Revolution.

Fuentes' last essay was published today in Reforma, a French newspaper, in which opined about France's change in presidents.

Fuentes was 83.

Today (May 14, 2012) is the deadline for the GLEQ Business Plan competition. In this competition, Michigan entrepreneurs submit executive summaries for new business ideas and business plans for emerging companies in the quest for cash awards totaling over $210,000. The awards for the winning emerging company plans are: 1st Place - $25K, 2nd Place - $15K, and 3rd Place - $10K. The awards for the wining new business ideas are: 1st Place - $5K, 2nd Place - $2.5K, and 3rd Place - $1K.

There is also a $100K SmartZone award. In 2000, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation began the Michigan SmartZone Network, a statewide strategy to accelerate and build entrepreneurial talent. Ann Arbor Spark is a business incubator in the SmartZone Network.

Awards will be presented at an event on June 12, 2012 in the James B. Henry Center on the campus of Michigan State University. Last Fall, Ann Arbor's Menlo Park Software LLC took third place in the new business idea competition.

Are you curious about what it takes to start a small business? If so, you'll find these resources helpful.
- 2012 Small Business Start-Up Kit
- Small Business for Dummies
- How to speak money: the language and knowledge you need now
- Small Business & Job Search Toolkit

Joining a recent crop of fictional biographies of famous women and their little-known love affairs such as The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and Romancing Miss Brontë is Rosie Sultan's Helen Keller in Love.

No doubt we are all familiar with Helen Keller's early education as depicted in The Miracle Worker, a play by William Gibson (which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960, and adapted into an Oscar-winning feature film in 1962), but we are less likely to remember her for her strong interest in women's rights, universal suffrage, and social activism. Very little is written about her private and emotional life.

This debut novel imagines a 30-something Helen's love affair with Peter Fagan, a brass young journalist hired to step in as her secretary when Annie Sullivan was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Their daily sensual interactions of signing and lip-reading with hands and fingers quickly set in motion a liberating, passionate, and clandestine affair, which was met with stern disapproval from her family and Annie. Helen is caught between the expectations of the people who love her and her most intimate desires.

"Richly textured and deeply sympathetic", it vividly depicts Helen's inner life and her feelings of utter dependence and loneliness and her desperate desire to be treated as a woman.

Rosie Sultan (website), winner of a PEN Discovery Award for fiction, has taught writing at Boston University, the University of Massachusetts, and Suffolk University. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Eva Nine has never met another human before. Then out of nowhere a teenage boy descends from the sky in a rusty old airship and whisks her and Rovender, her non-human guardian, away to New Attica, the hidden human city. Has Eva finally found her home in this technology-managed paradise? Why aren’t there any non-humans in the city? And why does her new friend Hailey seem like he is hiding something from her?

A Hero for WondLa brings us back to Orbona, a wild and wonderful world born from the ashes of a dormant planet. Tony DiTerlizzi, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, mixes a quirky cast of characters, beautiful illustrations, and the "girl in a strange land" formula to create a story reminiscent of L. Frank Baum's famous Land of Oz series combined with The City of Ember.

A Hero for WondLa is the second book of a trilogy. The WondLa series has garnered some hot buzz, and rumour has it that a film adaptation is already in the works!

The Avengers (PG-13) is based on the Marvel comic series by Stan Lee, first published in 1963 and remains a bestseller. A Super Hero team featuring iconic Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow must face an unexpected enemy that threatens global safety and security. With Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (PG-13) follows a group of British retirees who decide to “outsource” their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past. The script is based on a novel by Deborah Moggach, previously published in the UK as These Foolish Things.

Starring Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, and Maggie Smith, it is my pick for our girls' night out.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting (PG-13) is adapted from Arlene Eisenberg's (written with her daughters Heidi Eisenberg Murkoff and Sandee Eisenberg Hathaway) perennial bestseller. It is a hilarious and heartfelt big screen comedy about five couples whose intertwined lives are turned upside down by the challenges of impending parenthood. Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker complete the cast.

I have done nothing in the last 2 days except immersing myself in Beatriz Williams's Overseas, a rather puzzling title (the connection will be revealed in due course) for this most appealing romantic fantasy (or is it a paranormal romance?).

Independent, ambitious, smart Kate Wilson, an analyst at Sterling Bates (Bear Stearns, you think?) catches the eyes of British billionaire hedge fund mogel (and a 5-star client) Julian Laurence. The chemistry is undeniable and the flirty emails promise a whole lot more. Then Julian begs off. Kate is crushed. Months later, they finally connect, after a timely rescue at Central Park. (You get the picture, no violins but some nice Chopin, courtesy of Mr. there-is-nothing-he-can't do).

Of course disaster strikes, fast, furious, but not entirely out of the blue, though Julian did! Kate finds out that Julian is actually Julian Laurence Ashford, aristocratic WWI hero/poet, supposedly killed in 1916 in France. Now a mysterious and malevolent force is out to destroy them. It seems like Kate, with her 21st century sensibility and toughness is the only one who could travel back in time, reverse the course of history to save them.

This debut novel which won two Romance Writers of America awards already, is poised to become the sizzling read this summer. Comparison is being made to Diana Gabaldon and Anne Fortier. Fans of the movie Pretty Woman will delight in the frame of the novel - the Cinderella storyline, the Manhattan glitterati (a ruby necklace made an appearance here as well), and sometime, if we are lucky, love could rescue us.

Readers interested in the scenes set in World War I Amiens might check out historical notes at the author's website. The character Julian Laurence Ashford is actually based on biographical details from a number of historical figures. Amiens is also the setting for Sebastian Faulks' "intensely romantic yet stunningly realistic" Birdsong, recently adapted into a PBS Television Masterpiece Classic.

* = starred review

If you're in line for a Library telescope but not all that familiar with the night sky, consider attending one of the public open houses scheduled twice a month at Peach Mountain. Hosted by the University Lowbrow Astronomers, these open houses are a great way to learn what there is to find in the night sky with experienced observers and powerful telescopes. In addition to looking through members' scopes, you can also look through the 24-inch McMath telescope located on site, or simply gaze in awe at the silhouette of the 26-meter radio dish.

Public open houses are scheduled twice a month at Peach Mountain, 16 miles northwest of Ann Arbor, off North Territorial Rd in Stinchfield Woods. Guidelines, parking information, and a map are here. Open houses will be cancelled if conditions are unusually cold or if it's cloudy. If in doubt, call (734) 975-3248 after 4 p.m. the day of the event to determine the status.

The remaining open house dates through this season are: May 19, June 16, June 23, July 14, July 21, August 11, August 18, and September 15.

Notable dates for the week of May 15 to May 21

May 15 Straw Hat Day

May 16 Biographer’s Day

May 17 Trent Reznor celebrates his 47th birthday

May 18 National Pizza Party Day. Where should we order pizza from? Hello Faz, College Inn, Cottage Inn, or make one ourselves?

May 19 Mike the Headless Chicken Day

May 20 Eliza Doolittle Day

May 21 American Red Cross Founder’s Day