Shelby Van Pelt •

Event and Book

Please Note: This event is at Lars Hockstad Auditorium, not the City Opera House. We also have a high-quality livestream option if you’d like to watch from anywhere in the world.

NWS welcomes Shelby Van Pelt to Traverse City to discuss her hit novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures. The book follows Tova Sullivan and after her 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 Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

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 arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

“Shelby Van Pelt has done the impossible. She’s created a perfect story with imperfect characters, that is so heartwarming, so mysterious, and so completely absorbing, you won’t be able to put it down because when you’re not reading this book you’ll be hugging it.” — Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

TICKET INFORMATION
This is a modified book bundled event, meaning each ticket comes with a hardcover copy of Remarkably Bright Creatures (or opt for a two-ticket package with ONE book), available for pick-up at Horizon Books. You can also choose to have the book shipped to you. Tickets do not include fees.

IN-PERSON TICKETS FOR LARS HOCKSTAD AUDITORIUM (ticket fees not included):
General Admission:
One Ticket plus one book: $42.50
Two tickets with ONE book: $59.50

Virtual Tickets (ticket fees not included):
Virtual Ticket plus book: $37.50
(Virtual ticket is $12)

STUDENT TICKETS: (Books are not included)
Student Tickets: $10

Why do I have to buy a book with my tickets?
NWS will often include a book with every ticket (or two tickets). We sometimes bundle a book with a ticket to lure a high-profile author to our fine small town. This is now a common practice with authors on book tours—their publishers require the bundle, not only to introduce the author to his or her readers, but also to sell books. Please note, all books are 20 percent off.

Is this event kid friendly?
Most of our events are not appropriate for children.

When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t writing, she’s herding cats and wrangling children. Her debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ecco, 2022) was an instant New York Times Bestseller and a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. In 2023, she was awarded the Heartland Prize for Fiction and the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer’s Center. Remarkably Bright Creatures has sold over a million copies. It has spent, in aggregate, a year-plus on the NYT Hardcover Bestseller list. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby lives in the Chicago area with her family.

Beth Milligan is a journalist and head writer for the Traverse City Ticker. She recently served as marketing chair on the board of directors for LGBTQ+ advocacy group Up North Pride and has worked in marketing and PR roles for numerous community organizations including the Traverse City Film Festival, Traverse Connect, Traverse City Winter Comedy Arts Festival, National Writers Series, and Porterhouse Productions. She currently serves on the marketing and outreach committee for the Leelanau Conservancy and on the advisory board for Northwestern Michigan College’s Extended Education Services. Beth lives on a small hobby farm called Stone Hill Farm on Old Mission Peninsula with her partner, Joe Beyer, with whom she produces community concerts and other programming as part of the farm’s nonprofit mission.