Author and Playwright Plan January Visits to the Scarsdale Library

Author Helen Wan will discuss her debut novel about a young Chinese-American woman lawyer at the Scarsdale Public Library on Saturday, January 11, at 3 pm, in a program co-sponsored by library and the Chinese Book Club of Westchester. "The Partner Track" describes the travails of the young Chinese-American woman who is competing for partner at a prestigious corporate law firm. The book describes the difference – and gender, race and class politics—that complicate the lives of talented young women and men on their way up the American corporate ladder. The Wall Street Journal called the Partner Track an "engaging and suspenseful debut novel" saying Win "dissects the tokens of status in this work in a manner reminiscent of Tom Wolfe."

Deborah Zoe Laufer, an award-winning playwright, will discuss her career, the life of a playwright, how to write dialogue for any genre and more when she speaks at the Scarsdale Public Library on Monday, January 13, at 7:30 pm. The program is part of the Scarsdale Library Writers' Center Professional Series, sponsored by the Writers' Center, a group that provides resources and support for local writers. The presentation is free and open to the public. Laufer is a recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and a Lilly Award. Her work has been produced nationally and internationally at many prestigious theaters including the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, Florida Stage in Manalapan, Florida, the Vineyard on Martha's Vineyard, the Seattle Public Theater in Seattle and many others. Her play, "Leveling Up" is scheduled to open at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in February.

Not Your Kids Bookclub for Adults: The monthly book club for adults interested in what young adults are reading will held on Wednesday, January 8, between 1 and 2 pm at the Scarsdale Public Library. "Not Your Kids Book Club for Adults" will again be hosted by Scarsdale resident Sheela Chari, whose debut children's novel, VANISHED, was a 2012 APALA Children's Literature honor book, an Edgar Award nominee for best juvenile mystery and was featured on the Today show with Al's Book Club for Kids.
The group will discuss Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. In this historical young adult thriller, a young female spy "Verity" is captured in Nazi-occupied France and writes a confession of her activities in exchange for clemency from the Gestapo. What she writes will determine her fate as well as those of her best friend and their covert pilot mission for the Resistance. The book was an Edgar Award winner and a Printz Honor book.
To register and reserve a copy of the book go to the library website, www.scarsdalelibrary.org, or call the Reference Desk at 914-722-1302.