What does it truly mean to "become the best version of yourself?" To find meaning, to overcome obstacles?

In Ann Arbor author Omar Hussain's debut novel, A Thousand Natural Shocks, a charismatic figure offers a unique solution: Don't try to overcome trauma, but excise every trace from the conscious mind. To "detonate the past" you must "liberate the future," but only the most devout followers will access this obliterating salvation.

Dash, a reporter intent on forgetting no matter the cost, is determined to rise through the ranks of the faithful. But who will he be when he comes out the other side of his altered history, and how will Dash cope with the revelation of the cult's true purpose?

Under Hussain's pen, Dash's narration is frenetic, rich with ripe anxiety, and fractured by our hero's sleep deprivation, self-medication, and general mind-destroying tactics in his pursuit of erasure. From the very first pages, it's clear how the cult's mantra would resonate with a man in his state: "God is love. God is life. God is a bomb."

I spoke with Hussain about A Thousand Natural Shocks, which he is reading and signing at Literati on May 13, and his work with Defy, the communications company he co-founded.

Best friends don't always have exactly the same interests, but it can be especially fun when what excites one pal complements the thing the other enjoys most.

For Batcat and Al the Ghost, one literally feeds the other: Al loves to cook and Batcat loves to eat. What happens, though, when their favorite hobbies take on a competitive edge?

Batcat: Cooking Contest!, the third volume of Meggie Ramm's early middle-grade graphic novel series, finds the colorful residents of Spooky Island testing their respective skills as part of a local festival.

The book is fun and cute, and it explores Big Emotions.

Ramm will launch Batcat: Cooking Contest! with a signing session at Vault of Midnight in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 26, 4-6 pm. (They will also be at Sidetrack Books in Royal Oak on April 19 and at Constellation Cat Cafe in Lansing on May 2.)

I spoke with Ramm about the latest book, the origins of Batcat, and what they hope kids and parents will take away from volume three.

We all need a hero sometimes. To be inspired, to remind us what's important.

For Ann Arbor writer Jeff Kass, the colorful heroes of Marvel Comics shaped his outlook, worldview, and identity as they swung or rocketed through his childhood.

True Believer, named for one of iconic creator Stan Lee's famous phrases, is Kass' latest collection of poetry, arriving from Michigan-based publisher Dzanc Books.

The lyric and narrative poems of True Believer cover a plethora of characters and themes from across the Marvel universe, from the quiet tragedy of the Thing to the bombastic Starlord. Kass also relates the characters and stories to his own life, and recounts significant comics-related events he's experienced, including reading key issues of Daredevil and Black Panther, and the joy, brotherhood, and cacophony of attending a Marvel Comics Convention in the '70s:

The floor buzzed
like a giant wasp, loud and chaotic, a thousand
glistening tables and ten times that many people.

Throughout the collection, Kass uses soaring, heroic language to bring his poetry into the four-color world of Silver Age comics.

Kass, who teaches at Pioneer High School. and I spoke by Zoom about True Believer, its secret origins, the influence of early hip-hop on his writing, and why hope and heroism are vital at this moment in history.

What happens when the goal you've spent an eternity working toward is finally within your reach, but then you encounter something you want even more?

And what if forsaking your long-sought goal also came with an impossible price?

In At the End of the River Styx, Zan needs only one more soul to fulfill his obligation to the terrifying Ferryman of delivering 500 souls in 500 years, but the latest soul to walk through his door is unusual. First, this boy, Bastian, does not seem to be entirely dead; and what's more, he sees something in Zan beyond a grim harbinger of doom. 

"At the End of the River Styx is a book about grief and about love, about two boys finding themselves at the edge of Death," says Ann Arbor author Michelle Kulwicki about her debut young adult novel. "I think it's really about conquering grief and learning to love again, learning to love yourself, learning to love other people around you."

I spoke with Kulwicki about At the End of the River Styx and other creative pursuits.

"Ripped from the headlines!" is a dramatic tagline frequently used for gritty police procedurals. But it can, perhaps increasingly, also be applied to broad slapstick comedies.

Inspired by real events in a small town Up North, Jeff Daniels' Office Christmas Party Grinch in Fight with Rudolph Police Called (styled without punctuation) imagines the chain of events leading to the title bout between Whoville's most notorious thief and the most famous reindeer of all. Directed by Daniels and starring Ryan Carlson, Paul Strolli, Henri Franklin, Juji Berry, and Ruth Crawford, it is playing at The Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea through December 22.  

Office Christmas Party Grinch in Fight with Rudolph Police Called, which writer, director, and Purple Rose founder Jeff Daniels describes as "the longest title of anything I've ever written," takes place in the aftermath of the titular skirmish. Wally Wilkins Jr., the third-generation head of Middletown Fudge Company, berates employees Jerry Cornicelli, a.k.a The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Lamar Johnson, wearing a homemade Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer costume, about the mayhem that ensued after a disagreement about the tempo of "Silent Night." Wilkins' daughter Bernice is thrilled that their company is part of a viral moment, but Wilkins himself fears the negative attention may sink his already struggling business. The gang is offered a holiday miracle, of sorts, from a sleazy media company offering big money for a Grinch/Rudolph rematch—now the challenge for Wilkins is convincing the would-be pugilists to get back in the ring for the "Fight Before Christmas."

It's tough being the new kid in school in eighth grade. But in Linus and Etta Could Use a Win, Linus' situation as new kid is made even more fraught thanks to an ill-advised crush, a new friendship that may not be what it seems, and complicated family dynamics in response to his identity as a transgender boy. What to do? Well, Linus dives into his new life in Ohio head first by running for student council.

We spoke with Ypsilanti author and educator Caroline Huntoon about Linus and Etta Could Use a Win, working heavy topics into light reading, and what's coming up next for the prolific writer. 

The Fall spooky season is always a great time to revisit the macabre stories of Edgar Allan Poe, and this October the Penny Seats Theatre Company brings to life a stage adaptation of one of the author's most haunting tales.

Based loosely on The Fall of the House of Usher, Michigan playwright John Sousanis's Usher finds the last two heirs of a once-great family reunited with an old friend within their crumbling mansion. Penny Seats' production is directed by company Artistic Director Julia Garlotte, and stars Brittany Batell as Madeline Usher, David Collins as Roderick Usher, and Jonathan Davidson as the unnamed Visitor.

This year marks Garlotte's first season as artistic director of Penny Seats, though she has previously worked with the company as an actor and sound designer. Staging Usher, as with the other Penny Seats performances for 2024, was selected by previous artistic director Joseph Zettelmaier, though Garlotte was in conversation with him throughout the decision-making process. "We both decided that it would be a cool addition to the season," Garlotte says. Zettelmaier had seen Usher during its original run in 2007, and Michigan playwright John Sousanis rewrote the script for Penny Seats. 

"We had some stuff we wanted fleshed out and questions answered," Garlotte says, "and he was willing to take another stab at it. So we have a really great script."

As to what appeals to her about Usher, Garlotte says she is "always a sucker for drama and tragedy, which is a strange thing to say when sometimes the state of the world calls for something a little more light-hearted."