Nicholson Baker, "Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids." 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12. Talk, signing. Rhodes Hall, 1516 Peachtree St., N.W., Atlanta. 404-681-5128, acappellabooks.com/pages/events/23/nicholson-baker-book-signing. Following a year as a substitute teacher in a Maine school district, Baker presents a deconstruction of public schooling in America.
Joby Warrick, "Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS." 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13. $15. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. atlantajcc.org. Warrick traces how the strain of militant Islam behind the Islamic State first arose in a Jordanian prison and spread with the unwitting aid of two U.S. presidents.
Makeda Lewis, "Avie's Dreams: An Afro-Futurist Feminist Coloring Book." 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13. Talk, signing. Suggested donation: $5. Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-0304, charisbooksandmore.com. Part activity book, part surrealist poem, Lewis' illustrated book focuses on a young black girl growing up.
Rosalind Wiseman, "Queen Bees & Wannabes." 7 p.m. Sept. 13. Sutton Middle School, 2875 Northside Drive N.W., Atlanta. 404-486-0307, eagleeyebooks.com. Wiseman takes readers inside the secret world of girls' friendships, and how cliques play a role in every situation.
Thomas Mullen, "Darktown." 7 p.m. Sept. 13. Talk, signing. $10. Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-814-4150, atlantahistorycenter.com/programs/tom-mullen-darktown. Mullen ("The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers") sets his procedural in 1948 Atlanta, when the Atlanta Police Department hires its first black officers.
Joseph Lelyveld, "His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt." 7 p.m. Sept. 14. Lecture, signing. Free. Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, jimmycarterlibrary.gov/events. Lelyveld looks at Roosevelt's final months, when he was determined to be re-elected, deal with Stalin, and bring World War II to a successful conclusion.
Craig Johnson, "An Obvious Fact." 7 p.m. Sept. 15. Talk, signing. $10. Margaret Mitchell House, 979 Crescent Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-814-4150, atlantahistorycenter.com/programs/category/author-programs. Sheriff Walt Longmire investigates after a young biker is run off the road at the world's largest motorcycle rally — and then things start to get complicated.
Sonny Seals and George Hart, "Historic Rural Churches of Georgia." 7 p.m. Sept. 15. Talk, signing. Free. Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, .jimmycarterlibrary.gov/events. Seals and Hart have documented some of Georgia's most historic and architecturally significant rural churches.
Deborah Mantella, "My Sweet Vidalia." 1 p.m. Sept. 17. Reading. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events. The spirit of a woman's unborn daughter narrates her mother's journey through troubled pregnancies, poverty, spousal abuse and betrayals.
