David Roediger @ 57th St. Books

David Roediger, author of Working Toward Whiteness, reads tonight at 57th St. Books. Roediger examines "how American ethnic groups that are considered white today, such as Jewish-, Italian-, and Polish-Americans, once occupied a confused racial status in their new country." He also discuss how those groups weren't considered white until immigration laws became more restrictive. The free reading begins at 7pm, 1301 E. 57th St. Call 773-752-4381 for more information.

Wendy McClure @ Barbara's Bookstore

Chicago author and blogger Wendy McClure appears tonight at the Barbara's Bookstore in Oak Park to promote her brand-new book I'm Not The New Me. Come by and see if she's got that book-signing robot yet. The event starts at 7:30, and is free and open to the public. Barbara's Bookstore: 1100 Lake Street, Oak Park. (708) 848-9140.

Guy Maddin, The Lonesome Organist @ Music Box Theatre

The Movieside Film Festival celebrates its 4th anniversary with two programs of short films tonight. The first program, at 7:00 PM, will consist of local and international short films, and will feature music by The Lonesome Organist. Tickets for this first program are $5. The second program starts at 8:15 PM, and features an appearance by Canadian director Guy Maddin, who will be discussing his career and showing a selection of his short films (including his recent film The Heart of the World, which received a lot of attention, and the intriguingly-named Sissy Boy Slap Party). Tickets for this second program are $9.25. See the Movieside site for further details. Music Box Theatre: 3733 N. Southport. (773) 871-6604.

Chicago SummerDance

The ninth annual Chicago SummerDance festival of public dancing continues tonight in the Spirit of Music Garden in Grant Park (601 S. Michigan, between Harrison and Balbo). This evening's entertainment: Tito Rodriguez and Truco y Zaperoko, playing Plena, Cuban Songo and Guaguancó. SummerDance features one hour of dance lessons, followed by two hours of live music and dancing. Tonight's show runs from 6:00 to 9:30, and SummerDance runs at the park Wednesday-Sunday nights (weather permitting) through August 28. See the SummerDance site for a complete schedule.

Powell's North Reading Series

New reading series, Powell's North, will continue tonight at 7pm at Powell's Bookstore at 2850 N. Lincoln. Each reading pairs an established poet, fiction, or non-fiction writer from around the nation with one or two emerging writers in an event that exposes the community to a dynamic variety of work from writers at different stages in their career.

Tonight's reading includes poetry from Carina Farrero and Chris Bower, and features poet Suzanne Buffam. Buffam's poetry has appeared in various journals in the United States and Canada (including Saturday Night, Books in Canada, Poetry, The Denver Quarterly, Prairie Schooner and The Colorado Review) and in numerous anthologies. Her first book, "Past Imperfect" (House of Anansi Press) was published this spring. She is currently Visiting Poet at Columbia College. Powell's North is sponsored by the Writing Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Powell's Bookstore. Call (773) 248-1444 for more information.

Finding Your Chicago Ancestors

Tonight at 6pm, Grace DuMelle, genealogy researcher and author of Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide to Family History in the City and Cook County, will give a talk on using Chicago's and Cook County's historical records to track your ancestors. She will discuss basic and well as obscure genealogy sources and records. The talk is free and open to the public at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St. The book is available for purchase in the Newberry's A.C. McClurg Bookstore; call 312-255-3700 for more information.

GB staff member AM will be at this event.