Read Together PBC Finale

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE READ TOGETHER FINALE

Monday, November 18, 2024 - 6:00 p.m.
Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth

Featuring Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures
This event is free of charge, but donations are suggested and reservations are required.

About the Author
Shelby Van Pelt

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family. Remarkably Bright Creatures is her first novel. She is a longtime flash fiction and short story writer, and has had several collections published by independent presses.

About Remarkably Bright Creatures

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a luminous debut novel about a widow's unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium-and the truths she finally uncovers about her son's disappearance 30 years ago.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in the Puget Sound over 30 years ago.

As she works, Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine, but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight tentacles for his human captors-until he forms an unlikely friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. As his affection for Tova grows, Marcellus must use every trick his old, invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.
Charming, compulsively readable, and full of wit, Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a beautiful exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope - a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.