Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series: Eleanor Davis

What is Art? It's widely accepted that art serves an important function in society. But the concept falls under such an absurdly large umbrella and can manifest in so many different ways. Art can be self-indulgent, goofy, serious, altruistic, evil, or expressive, or any number of other things. But how can it truly make lasting, positive change? In Why Art?, acclaimed graphic novelist Eleanor Davis (How To Be Happy) unpacks some of these concepts in ways both critical and positive, in an attempt to illuminate the highest possible potential an artwork might hope to achieve.

Eleanor Davis's bike tour from Tucson, Arizona to Athens, Georgia is a quest of epic proportions - not just geographically, which it surely is, but inwardly as well. While facing off formidable headwinds, drivers with reckless abandon, and screaming knee pain, the author confronts an even greater challenge - her own mind. Life on two wheels teaches her many lessons, and she narrates them with keen observation and self-deprecating candour through a series of funny, touching vignettes. Companionship from fellow travellers and the generosity of colourful strangers propel Davis along the open road. A tale of serendipitous encounters, surprising friendship, perseverance, and tenderness, Eleanor Davis's You & A Bike & A Road reveals the power, and truth, of the most efficient mode of human transportation - a bicycle.

Super-smart Julian Calendar thinks starting junior high at a new school will mean he can shed his nerdy image-but then he meets Ben and Greta, two secret scientists like himself! The three form a secret club, complete with a high-tech lair. There, they can work to their hearts content on projects like the Stink-O-Meter, the Kablovsky Copter, and the Nightsneak Goggles. All that tinkering comes in handy when the trio discovers an evil scientist's dastardly plan to rob a museum. Can three inventors, armed with their wacky creations, hope to defeat this criminal mastermind?