This Spring for Adults!

Peter Gould's Red Nose Girl: a new novel for young adults!

Writer, actor, and teacher Peter Gould will read from his brand new novel for young adults, Red Nose Girl, on Tuesday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. in the Parker Ladd Community Room. The Galaxy Bookshop will be on hand with copies of the book for sale!

Lettie and Trevor are best friends in tenth grade, somewhere in Vermont. Lettie is a White girl who wears a red nose. Trevor is Black and gay; he wears theatrical costumes to school. They’re making a movie. They drink a lot of coffee. Red Nose Girl is Lettie’s story about how their Advanced Placement U.S. History research project led them to confront the For-Profit Prison system in Vermont and, actually, everywhere. For Lettie, it’s personal. For Trevor, it’s way more than that.

Community Book Group Reads + Discusses Nobody's Girl

Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre is the basis for a three-session community book group in partnership with AWARE. The discussions will be held at the Jeudevine on Tuesday, April 14, 21, and 28 from 5:30-7 PM. Registration to attend is through AWARE at awareyouth@vtlink.net

The first 10 people to register will be offered a FREE book, supported in part by Vermont Humanities. Purchasing your own copy from the Galaxy Bookshop means 20% of the purchase price will go to support AWARE.

This book includes themes of sexual violence. Participants are encouraged to care for themselves in whatever way feels right. This is not a therapy group. However, support and resources are available. Open to community members, allies, and survivors.

All-ages, Anything Goes! All-Acoustic Poetry Slam
with Slam Master Geof Hewitt

Verse Village and the Jeudevine Memorial Library invite not just poets, but musicians, magicians, jugglers, barbershop quartets, and others to an All-ages Anything Goes! All Acoustic Poetry Slam on Saturday, April 25, at 6:30 PM in the Parker Ladd Community Room . Also invited are those who love to hear spoken-word performances of poems, music and other surprises as performers take the stage for up to five minutes in hopes of wooing the judges (chosen at random from the audience) for bragging rights as Anything Goes! Slam Winner at Verse Village 2026.

This acoustic slam invites full-voice, “unplugged” performances. Slam master Geof Hewitt, resident of Calais and Vermont's reigning poetry-slam champion, will emcee the show. "Sign up at the door," he advises. "The slam begins at 6:30 PM, so those who wish to perform should register at 6:15. Performers have up to five minutes and may present original work or, unlike traditional poetry slams, 'covers,' because anything goes!" Group performances are also welcome, and all ages are welcome to participate.

All About Beavers!

Do you want to learn more about beavers and how communities can live alongside them? Join the Jeudevine and the Town of Hardwick for a lively presentation on the lives of beavers and the strategies people are using to coexist with them.

Beavers are built for the water and cannot live without it. That is why they are so dedicated to building dams to hold water in place. As beavers move upstream and downstream, creating new ponds, the areas they leave behind gradually become meadows and shrublands. These changing landscapes provide important habitat for many plants and animals, from moose to mink. Because of this, beavers are considered a "keystone" species—one that plays a critical role in supporting many other species.

This presentation will explore beaver ecology, the benefits beavers bring to watersheds, and the tools communities use to reduce conflicts while allowing beavers to continue creating valuable wetland habitat.

Patti Smith is a naturalist with the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center in Brattleboro.

Skip Lisle is a biologist, founder of Beaver Deceivers International, and a leading expert on beaver management and beaver-related ecosystems.