Author Event: Amanda DeWitt with Erin Baldwin

Join us for an evening celebrating local author Amanda DeWitt's newest book, The Underwood Tapes! Amanda will be in-conversation with another local favorite, Erin Baldwin. Q&A and books signing to follow.

ABOUT THE BOOKS:

The Underwood Tapes:
A captivating and profoundly moving novel with hints of supernatural intrigue, blending We Were Liars and Your Name into a can’t-miss read for fans of You’ve Reached Sam.

Thirty years ago, Grace’s mom left her hometown of Hermitage, Florida and never looked back—which is exactly why Grace thinks it’s the safest place to spend her summer now. Since her mom died in a car crash, Grace has been desperate to get away from the memories and reminders of her loss. Spending the summer transcribing cassette tapes for the Hermitage Historical Society might be boring, but boring is just what Grace needs.

Until she hears the voice of Jake Underwood—the boy who first recorded the cassette tapes back in 1992. When Grace realizes he can hear anything she records, despite thirty years of time between them, they strike up an impossible conversation through the tapes.

But the past isn’t any simpler than the present, and a mystery has haunted Hermitage through the generations. In the 1970’s, a hurricane made landfall and resulted in the tragic death of Jake’s uncle Charley. In a town as suffocatingly small as Hermitage, it’s impossible not to notice how no one talks about that storm, or Charley, and as the mystery unfurls, Grace can’t help but realize a worse truth: No one talks about Jake either. 

A beautifully written exploration of grief and what happens when untreated wounds bleed into future generations, The Underwood Tapes is the perfect read for anyone in need of a good, cathartic cry.

Wish You Weren't Here:
"A masterclass of a sapphic romcom. Filled with hate-to-love perfection, swoony moments, and off-the-charts chemistry." -Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl All's fair in love and Color War.

Juliette doesn't hate Priya Pendley. At least, not in the way teen movies say she should hate the hot popular girl. They don't do cat fights, love triangles, or betrayal. To survive their intertwined small town lives, they've agreed to a truce. They complete group projects without fighting, never gossip to mutual friends, and stand on opposite sides of photos so it's easy to crop each other out. Priya seems to have everything during the school year-social media stardom, the handsome track captain boyfriend, and millions of adoring fans-and Juliette is at peace with that. Because Juliette has the summer, and the one place she never feels like "too much": Fogridge Sleepaway Camp. But her hopes for a few Priya-free weeks are shattered when her rival shows up at Fogridge on move-in day... as her cabinmate, no less. Juliette is determined to enjoy her final summer, even if it means (gag) tolerating her childhood rival, but everything that can go wrong, does. If Juliette can't find something to like about her situation-and about Priya-she risks hating the only home she's ever had, right before she says goodbye to it forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Amanda DeWitt:
Amanda DeWitt is an author and librarian, ensuring that she spends as much time around books as possible. She also enjoys Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragon-ing, and even more writing—just not whatever it is she really should be writing. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a master’s in information and library science. She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her two dogs and a very small cat.

Erin Baldwin:
Erin Baldwin was born in the Philippines, raised in Jersey City, NJ, and now lives in Colorado (where, tragically, there is no good pizza or Filipino food). One childhood Christmas morning, she peeled back gold wrapping paper to reveal Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and she's been an avid reader and writer ever since. Though her first love is fantasy, these days she's much more interested in finding the magic and whimsy her goofball characters can create in everyday life. Wish You Weren't Here is her debut novel. You can find Erin and her ever-changing carousel of hobbies at erinbwrites.com and on social media as @erinbwrites.