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The Great American Nerdfighter Tour with John and Hank Green

For more than a year and a half, award-winning YA novelist John Green ("Looking for Alaska," "An Abundance of Katherines," and his new book "Paper Towns") and his brother Hank, founder and editor of EcoGeek.org, have been communicating through videoblogs. Together, they are the vlogbrothers -- one of the most popular channels in the history of YouTube. What began as an experiment in bringing long-distance siblings closer has become a sprawling community devoted to books, social activism, and the love of all things nerdy. The Green brothers have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and on NPR, Fox News and BBC Radio. John and Hank's videos have now been watched more than 12 million times, by tens of thousands of loyal viewers who call themselves Nerdfighters. This event includes a book signing, with books for sale courtesy of Borders.

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Sunday Edition Local Author Series: American Book Award-Winner Thomas Lynch

Michigan author and American Book Award winner Thomas Lynch will discuss his newly-released book, 'Booking Passage: We Irish and Americans,' in which he reflects on his journeys to Ireland and the binding ties of family, language and home place. It is a mixture of reminiscence, cultural portrait and meditation on what it means to be Irish, American and Irish-American.Thomas Lynch won the American Book Award for his 1997 book, 'The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade' (the book was also a finalist for the National Book Award) and has published three volumes of critically-acclaimed poetry. He is a funeral director in Milford, Michigan, and has made numerous journeys to his ancestral country, Ireland.

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Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Lecture: On Becoming Chinese American with Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

Growing up the child of immigrants, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang was both part of and slightly outside of Chinese culture and mainstream American culture. What does it mean to be Chinese American? Ms. Wang's discussion will touch on issues raised by this year's theme, China and America: Bridging Two Worlds, and the selected book, The Eighth Promise: An American Son's Tribute To His Toisanese Mother, by William Poy Lee. As acting editor of IMDiversity.com Asian American Village, Ms. Wang has written extensively on issues of identity and culture as process rather than simply one moment in time. She will share the stories of the different ways she has wrestled with identity and culture through her life, including during childhood, as a young adult, and as a parent.

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Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Event: Working Together: the Arab and Jewish Women of Ann Arbor's Zeitouna

Zeitouna is a local group composed of six Arab and six Jewish women from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. All are American citizens. They are a dialogue group and, over the past two years, have found ways to discuss the Middle East, including their own personal stories and the politics of peace. They named their group Zeitouna, Arabic for olive - both the fruit and the tree.Zeitouna's stated mission is "to embody and promote the peaceful and just coexistence of Arab and Jewish peoples through connection, trust, empathy and actions focused on the creation of a sustainable future for Palestine and Israel. At this special program, members Wadad Abed, Irene Butter, Huda Karaman, and Laurie White discuss their own stories as well as Zeitouna's challenges and achievements.Come learn how this powerful local group has made inroads in dialogue and understanding of cultures.Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Reads is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing a common book.Library, University and community representatives from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti have modeled the read after the previous two reads which focused on the books Abraham Lincoln's DNA (in 2003) and 'Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race (in 2004). In 2005, the program will encourage readers of all ages to explore the Cultural Treasures of the Middle East - its many shared and diverse histories, memories and traditions of creative expressions.A selection committee of community leaders, students and educators in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area chose Amin Maalouf's Leo Africanus, translated by Peter Sluglett, as the focus of Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2005. This is the first time a work of fiction has been chosen for the Read. Written in the form of a memoir, Leo Africanus explores Islam and Christendom through the fictional adventures of a real-life Arab traveler and geographer. Copies of the book are available at all Ann Arbor District Library sites and at area bookstores.For more information about Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads, check out the website at www.aareads.org.

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2008 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Event: Author William Poy Lee Discusses "The Eighth Promise"

Acclaimed author William Poy Lee will make a special appearance as part of Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads. His book, "The Eighth Promise: An American Son's Tribute To His Toisanese Mother," has been chosen as the focus of the 2008 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program. Mr. Poy will discuss his book and his perspective on the Chinese American experience. A book signing will follow, with books for sale at the event, courtesy of Borders.This appearance is a key event for the 2008 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti reads program, which this year focuses on the theme China and America: Bridging Two Worlds.