Happy New Year! Here is a (very long) list of events to look forward to in the first weeks of 2015.

Tonight, January 8th, at 5:00 pm, join the Odyssey Bookshop for a mermaid party to celebrate the release of Jennifer Donnelly's Rogue Wave, the second entry in her Waterfire fantasy saga.

The Writers' Loft kicks off its series of regular writing critique and think tank groups:

• Picture Book Crit Group: tonight, January 8th, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm


• Nonfiction Think Tank: Thursday, January 9th, 10:00 am - 11:30 am


• Scribe & Snack Monthly Friday Write-In, Friday, January 16 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm


• Query Support Group: Saturday, January 17th, 9:00 am - 10:00 am


• YA Think Tank: Saturday, January 17th, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm


• Middle-Grade Morning Critique Group: Thursday, January 22nd, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm


• Picture Book Crit Group: Thursday, January 22nd, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm, Odyssey Bookshop welcomes YA authors Chris Lynch and Jason Reynolds will discuss and sign their latest books (Killing Time in Crystal City and Boy in the Black Suit). They will also appear for a similar event at the Peabody Barnes & Noble on Saturday, January 10th, at 2:00 pm.

Also on Saturday the 10th, beginning at 2:00 pm: the Writers' Loft will host a (free and open to the public) launch party for Loft member Anna Staniszewsk's The Gossip File, the third book in her Dirt Diary series.

Learn about the Simmons College Graduate Study in Children’s Literature satellite program at The Carle Museum on Sunday, January 11th, at 10:30 am. Email childrensliterature@simmons.edu for more information.

GrubStreet's Young Adult Novel In Progress class begins Tuesday, January 13th, and meets every Tuesday from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm for ten weeks. Instructor Mary Sullivan will lead class participants in discussion of "what works and what doesn’t, focusing on character, point of view, dialogue, and plot/conflict" as well as critique of manuscripts in progress. Class fees are $455 for GrubStreet members, $480 for nonmembers.

Holly Black will sign her new YA novel The Darkest Part of the Forest at launch party events at the Odyssey Bookshop (Tuesday the 13th at 7:00 pm) and the Brookline Public Library Teen Room (Wednesday, January 14th, at 7:00 pm).

The Writers' Loft will hold a brainstorming meetup to discuss potential programing for writers of adult fiction and nonfiction on Tuesday, January 13th, at 7:00 pm.

The R. Michelson Galleries' 25th annual Children’s Illustration Exhibit closes on Thursday, January 15th.

GrubStreet's six-week "Realist Children’s Literature" class begins Thursday the 15th from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Instructor Ursula DeYoung will cover classic children's realistic novels from 1910 to 2005. Tuition is $305 for members, $330 for nonmembers.

Puppeteer Matthias Kuchta presents an adaptation of “Snow White” at The Carle Museum with showings on Saturday, January 17th, and Sunday, January 18th, at 1:00 pm. Ticket prices are $7.50 for Carle members, $8.50 for nonmembers.

On Saturday the 17th at 11:00 am at The Blue Bunny, David J. Smith will discuss concepts from his new book If: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers.

NESCBWI members and "anyone interested in children’s books — authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, agents, editors, readers" — are invited to a social meet up at Aprile's European Restaurant in North Chelmsford on Tuesday, January 20th, from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm.

Instructor Jane Kohuth will lead a GrubStreet class on writing for children for six Thursdays, beginning Thursday, January 22nd, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Class members will examine "extensive examples from contemporary children’s literature" and participate in class writing exercises and writing critique. Tuition is $305 for GrubStreet members, $330 for nonmembers. Classes will be held at the Newton JCC.

Kate Axelrod (The Law of Loving Others) and Wendy Wunder (The Museum of Intangible Things) will discuss and sign their books at Porter Square Books on Friday, January 23rd, at 7:00 pm.

Geoff Edgers will talk about his recent biography Who Is Stan Lee? and discuss writing and editing in a presentation for students in grades 4-8. The event will be at the Concord Free Public Library's Fowler Branch on Saturday, January 24th, at 11:00 am.

Also at 11:00 am on Saturday the 24th, Peter H. Reynolds and Susan Verde will celebrate the publication of their picture book You and Me at The Blue Bunny.

On Saturday the 24th at 1:00 pm, The Writers' Loft will host an "All-Star Nonfiction Author" panel discussion with nonfiction writers Sarah Albee, Leslie Bulion, Loree Griffin Burns, Susan Goodman, and April Jones Prince. A book signing will follow the discussion. $5 donation; Loft members free.

Sarah Mylnowski will be a special guest at the Odyssey Bookshop's “Just like Frozen” party on Saturday the 24th at 2:00 pm. Mylnowski will read from Whatever After: Cold As Ice (which, like Frozen, is inspired by "The Snow Queen"), and there will be a Frozen costume contest and a “Let it Go” sing-along.

Also on Saturday the 24th at 2:00 pm, Book Ends Winchester welcomes Elisabeth Wolf to read from and talk about her intermediate novel Lulu in Honolulu.

Brandon Sanderson will discuss his new book Firefight (second entry in YA series Reckoners) at Brookline Booksmith on Wednesday, January 28th, at 7:00 pm.

Author/illustrator Mary Lundquist will discuss and sign her debut picture book, Cat & Bunny, at Porter Square Books on Thursday, January 29th, at 7:00 pm.

GrubStreet's "What Kind of Kids’ Writer Am I?" class, taught by author Beth Raisner Glass, will take place on Friday, January 30th, from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. The workshop "will finally help you determine what kind of children’s book you want to write (or have written) from picture books to YA." Class fees are $55 for GrubStreet members, $65 for nonmembers.

In GrubStreet's "Young Adult Writing: Finding and Developing Your Ideas" seminar, instructor and author Holly Thompson will "introduce techniques for gathering YA story ideas and developing them into creative works of powerful fiction." The six-hour seminar will be held Saturday, January 31st, from 10:00 am to 5 pm; cost is $110 for GrubStreet members, $130 for nonmembers.

Author Jen Malone will discuss creative marketing strategies in her "Thinking Outside the Box to Market Your Book" presentation at the Writers' Loft on Saturday the 31st at 10:00 am. Cost is $20 for Writers’ Loft Members, $30 for nonmembers.

Graphic novelist George O’Connor will discuss Ares: Bringer of War, the seventh book in his Olympians series, at the Odyssey Bookshop on Saturday the 31st, at 4:00 pm.