Tuesday May 28, 2013: 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Join the Purple Rose Theatre Company for a concert reading of "Miles & Ellie" by Don Zolidis.

Miles and Ellie are two American teenagers in love when a youthful misunderstanding breaks them apart. Flash forward 20 years and a divorced and disenchanted Ellie has come home to lick her wounds. Is it possible to get a second chance at your first love?

Purple Rose Artistic Director Guy Sanville will lead an audience talk-back session after the reading. Come see the cast in action, then stay and offer your opinions. Purple Rose wants to know what YOU have to say about this new play!

Employees of the Ann Arbor District Library are signing up to participate in the 2013 Commuter Challenge. Have you signed up yet?? The Commuter Challenge is a fun, free commuting competition where you can win prizes for trying alternative commuting -- walking, biking, busing, carpooling, vanpooling, using the Park & Ride, telecommuting, or moped/motorcycling. For starters, every person who logs just one commute on the Commuter Challenge website during May will receive a coupon for free ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy! There are also lots of great ways for you to win additional prizes by logging commutes, submitting photos, and more. Interested? Get yourself to letsmakeamove.org and join in the fun.

What a rare opportunity for anyone who has small children in the family or teachers and caregivers who work with small children. Jim Gill is coming to Ann Arbor to give a workshop and a family concert.
The workshop will be at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at the Downtown Library. The concert will follow at 7:00 p.m. At the workshop he will talk about how music plays such an important part in children's development. You will learn a lot but you'll also be entertained.
A Jim Gill family concert is fun for the whole family.
Don't miss these great events that are a part of our Children's Book Week celebration.

Justina is an award-winning novelist for young adults, with her most recent book, Return to Me, called an "uplifting story" by Publishers Weekly.

North of Beautiful was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and was given a starred review from Booklist. It tells the story of Terra, a sensitive, artistic high school senior born with a facial port-wine stain, struggling with issues of inner and outer beauty with the help of her Goth classmate Jacob.

In addition, she co-founded readergirlz a cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens, which won the National Book Award for Innovations in Reading. She lives in Washington with her two children, and you can visit her online at justinachenheadley.com.

Justina Chen is also a Judge for this year's It's All Write short story writing contest for teens.

The panel of 11 judges will look at the finalists in three grade categories of 6-7-8 (Middle School), 9-10 (High School) and 11-12 (High School) and select the winners who are announced at an Awards Ceremony on May 11, with A. S. King as guest speaker.

Sunday May 26, 2013: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm -- Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room AB

It's a Mario Kart Wii Tournament for kids, teens and adults!

Wednesday May 15, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

PBS-featured author and life-long Michigan resident Doc Fletcher returns to the Library for a delightful discussion of Michigan canoeing and kayaking.

Among the rivers featured for this event will be Pere Marquette, the subject of Doc's new book Michigan's Pere Marquette River: Paddling Through Its History.

The event includes a book signing and copies of Doc's books on canoeing and kayaking in Michigan and Wisconsin will be for sale.

Saturday May 25, 2013: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Here's your chance to learn how scientists provide explanations about the world and universe! The Ann Arbor Science & Skeptics present their second annual Scientists Fair at AADL.

Scientists from the University of Michigan and other local institutions will explain the scientific concepts of the Big Bang theory, particle physics, climate change, nuclear power, and exploring Mars.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 9 and up).

Saturday May 25, 2013: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm -- Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room AB

Visit Wuhu Island and the Wii Sports Resort! Bring friends, parents, grandparents to play your way through the Resort's twelve awesome games. Prizes for the winners!

This event is for all ages.

Ever wanted to find out the price/earnings ratio of a stock? Find growth or income mutual funds for your retirement account? Read a concise synopsis of the quarterly performance of various industry sectors?

Learn to use the Morningstar Investment database, a service provided by the Ann Arbor District Library. Morningstar is a respected and reliable source of independent investment analysis for all levels of fund and stock investors, ranging from inexperienced beginners to sophisticated experts.

Join us Tuesday, May 14th at 7pm in the Downtown Training Center located on the 3rd floor. We'll go over the basics of looking up a stock or mutual fund, create screens to find specific categories of stocks or mutual funds, and take a look at Morningstar's portfolio planning tools.

No registration necessary.

Friday May 24, 2013: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room AB

Up to four players can battle each other using characters from various Sony franchises such as God of War, PaRappa the Rapper and Sly Cooper, as well as third-party franchises like BioShock!

This event is for teens (grade 6 and up) and adults.