Hillsboro native Jessica Penner will be reading from her new novel, ?Shaken in the Water,? at two area bookstores later this month.
Penner will be at Pages Books & Cafe, 605 N. Main St., Newton, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24. Then will read and have a book signing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, at Eighth Day Books, 2838 E. Douglas, Wichita.
Penner, currently living in Virginia, sets her novel in western Kansas, where a Mennonite woman gives birth to a daughter in 1903. The child bears a birthmark known in Low German as Tieja Kjoaw, the Tiger?s Scar, which portends either greatness or tragedy.
Penner grew up in Hills?boro, attended Eastern Mennonite University, and earned her master of fine arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College.
Her book is published by Foxhead Books, which describes itself as ?a writer-owned and operated co-operative publishing house (that) publishes America?s best writing without mediation or compromise.?
Penner?s essay, ?Mustard Seed,? was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2012.
