6-30 Booksigning: Lilita Zvejnieks Hardes’ “Biruta’s Story: A Memoir of Home, War and Finding Refuge”

DDR Books is thrilled to host eight authors with South Dakota ties for book signings this summer. Find the Calendar of Events on our website (ddrbooks.com), Twitter (@ddrbooks), Facebook (DDR Books), Instagram (DDR Books), and sign up for our email newsletter at ddrbooks@wat.midco.net.

Order your books in advance by calling us at 605.878.0418, emailing ddrbooks@wat.midco.net, or stopping in the store. Hours are M-F 10-5:30 & Sat 10-4. All events will take place at DDR Books, 7 S. Maple, Watertown.

What if the comforts and security of your childhood​​ were suddenly ripped away? Biruta lives an idyllic life in 1939 Riga, Latvia, with her nine-year-old twin sister and two physician parents when WWII breaks out. One of three independent Baltic states, Latvia attempts to remain neutral during the war. Yet the country is situated between two ruthless rivals: Stalin’s Communist Soviet Union and Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

As the Soviet Army occupies Latvia, the family flees to Germany during the last years of the war. In the Displaced Persons’ (DP) camps of Germany, Biruta comes of age, falls in love and finds somewhere to call home.

First-generation American Lilita Zvejnieks Hardes felt compelled to tell her mother’s story. Born and raised in South Dakota, she graduated from Aberdeen Central High School, the University of South Dakota, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Lilita was a therapist in the Milwaukee area for 36 years. She and her husband raised their two children in Wisconsin. Recently the couple moved to San Diego to be near grandchildren, and Lilita’s retirement made returning to the joys of the written word possible.

SUMMER 2021 BOOK SIGNINGS

Wed., JUNE 30       7-9p                    LILITA ZVEJNIEKS HARDES              Biruta’s Story: A Memoir of Home, War and Finding Refuge

Wed., JULY 7           7-9p                    STEPHEN HEIDENREICH                     Running to Win: Strategies to Triumph in Record Time

Wed., JULY 14        7-9p                  CHRISTINE STEWART-NUÑEZ       The Poet & The Architect and South Dakota in Poems

 Sat., AUGUST 7      1-2:30p            PEN PEARSON                                           Bloomsbury’s Late Rose

Sat., AUGUST 21     1-2:30p          KRIS AMUNDSON                                   81 Questions for Parents: Helping Your Kids Succeed in School

Be sure to check back after each signing for the details of the next event. DDR Books kindly asks that patrons wear a face mask for everyone’s safety, and social distancing will be implemented. All CDC recommendations will be followed. Refreshments will be provided.