In "Lighting Their Fires: How Parents and Teachers Can Raise Extraordinary Kids in a Mixed-Up, Muddled-Up, Shook-Up World," Esquith expands on the techniques presented in his New York Times bestseller, "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire," to show that any child can become extraordinary. Rafe Esquith has taught at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles for 24 years. He is the only teacher to have been awarded the president's national Medal of the Arts.

"The Lost Cyclist" is the story of adventurer Frank Lenz, a young man who pedaled off from his home in 1892 with the dream of cycling around the world on a new-fangled "safety" bicycle (the modern prototype). David V. Herlihy is a historian and freelance writer. For the past decade, he has researched extensively the invention and early development of the bicycle. His work has been featured on National Public Radio and Voice of America and in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, and Historic Preservation.

Ex-astronaut Bonnie Dunbar, president and chief executive of the Museum of Flight, moderated this 2010 Summer Reading Program event.

As part of the 2010 Summer Reading Program, The Seattle Public Library offers more than 500 free programs all over the city for children, teens and adults.

A "Festival of Classic Short Short Stories" was presented by The Seattle Public Library Fiction Department: "The Open Window," by Saki; "The Romance of a Busy Broker," by O Henry; "John Mortonson's Funeral," by Ambrose Bierce; "The Story Teller," by Saki; and "Revolt of the Gods," by Ambrose Bierce.

Rosner is a bestselling author ("The Boss's Survival Guide" and "Working Wounded") and a regular contributor to the Today Show and CNBC.

Featured panelists included library consultants Joan Frye and George Needham, customer service expert Robert Spector and Starbucks' senior vice president of Global Design Tim Pfeiffer. Virginia Anderson moderated the panel discussion.

With extraordinary behind-the-scenes access to the Obama administration, and exclusive interviews with the president himself, Alter explores the progress and setbacks experienced during President Obama's first year in office. Jonathan Alter is a senior editor at Newsweek, where since 1991 he has written an acclaimed column on politics, history, media, and society at large. He is also an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News.

Rosner is a bestselling author ("The Boss's Survival Guide" and "Working Wounded") and a regular contributor to the Today Show and CNBC.

Rosner is a bestselling author ("The Boss's Survival Guide" and "Working Wounded") and a regular contributor to the Today Show and CNBC.