April 21, 2026
Robey Memorial Library invites members of the community to Virtual Author Visits in June with authors of the 2026 All Iowa Read book selections: Kate Messner, Allen Eskens, and T. L. Simpson.
Virtual Author Visits are open to all ages. While reading the book in advance is encouraged, it is not required. These programs are part of a statewide initiative sponsored by the State Library of Iowa, designed to give Iowans the opportunity to hear directly from All Iowa Reads authors about their work, creative process, and to engage in a live question-and-answer session.
Tuesday, June 9 @ 1:30 pm
Join author Kate Messner, whose book The Trouble with Heroes has been selected as this year’s Kids All Iowa Reads title, for a special virtual conversation alongside Janeé Jackson-Doering, Youth Services Consultant with the State Library of Iowa, and Josie Nabhan-Warren, Iowa’s 2026 Student Poet Ambassador.
About The Trouble with Heroes: One summer. 46 mountain peaks. A second chance to make things right. Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn’s about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now. Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady’s headstone. But it turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog, and they can call it even. In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.
Tuesday, June 16 @ 6:30 pm
Join author Allen Eskens, whose book The Quiet Librarian has been selected as this year’s All Iowa Reads title, for a special virtual conversation alongside Mike Jorgenson, All Iowa Reads Committee Member.
About The Quiet Librarian: Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared. Thirty years before, Hana was someone else: Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia—until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family bef-*```--+ore her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend—the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head. Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price, leaving her eight-year-old grandson in Hana’s care. To protect the child without revealing her secret, Hana must again become the Night Mora—and hope she can find the killer before the past comes for them, too.
Wednesday, June 24 @ 3 pm
Join author T.L. Simpson, whose book Strong Like You has been selected as this year’s Teen All Iowa Reads title, for a special virtual conversation alongside Janeé Jackson-Doering, Youth Services Consultant with the State Library of Iowa, and Josie Nabhan-Warren, Iowa’s 2026 Student Poet Ambassador.
About Strong Like You: Walker Lauderdale hasn’t cried once since his daddy went missing. And even though everyone says he’s dead, Walker won’t give up hope. He knows his father is out there, somewhere, cutting a wild trail through the Ozarks like always. But when a relative threatens to kick Walker and his momma out of the family home, Walker realizes he has no choice but to look for his daddy—a search that leads him straight to a drug-addled and dangerous man named Lukas Fisher. While attempting to balance life as a normal fifteen-year-old boy and star player on the football team, Walker begins a desperate search across the hills of the Ozarks for the man who, for better or worse, taught him everything he knows about strength.
About All Iowa Reads
Established in 2003, the purpose of All Iowa Reads is to foster a sense of unity through reading. Iowans are encouraged to come together in their communities to read and talk about a single book title in the same calendar year. All Iowa Reads consists of three programs, each with one title chosen per year: adults, teens ages 12-18, and kids ages 8-12.
All Iowa Reads is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of Iowa.