BOOK READING AIMS TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER
Organizers chose “Towers Falling” (by Jewell Parker Rhodes) for its breadth of themes and the conversations it could spark.
… the book also offers conversational fodder beyond 9/11. Its protagonist lives with her family in various homeless shelters around New York City. Her father is mentally ill. The organizers of this project saw the book as an opportunity not just to connect the community through a shared past, but to talk about issues that members of the Jackson community face today.
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VALLEY AUTHOR PENS “ZOOT SUIT” NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Seventy five years ago this month, the streets of Los Angeles turned violent in an event that came to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots. The cause is still unclear, but we know this: for 10 days in 1943, white service members attacked young Latino men on the streets of Southern California, while police turned the other way. The attacks are the subject of a new young adult novel by acclaimed children’s author Margarita Engle.
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AUTHOR GETS INTIMATE: ACCLAIMED HAITIAN-AMERICAN WRITER TALKS HOT-BUTTON TOPICS AT P’HEIGHTS LIBRARY
A celebrated Haitian-American author (Edwidge Danticat) will discuss how such polarizing issues as immigration and terrorism influence her craft during a free lecture at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central branch.
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BOOKEXPO AND BOOKCON 2018: AUTHORS EXPLORE THE MULTIPLICITIES OF DIVERSITY
Moderator Cristina Arreola (l.) led a discussion between authors Diana Lopez, Sarai Gonzalez, Daniel José Older, and Rafael López that touched upon the complexities and multiplicities of Latinx cultures.
After Arreola noted that Esperanza Rising, the 2000 historical YA novel set in Mexico by Pam Muñoz Ryan, was the only novel with LatinX characters and themes available to her during her childhood, Older said that, growing up Cuban, there were no books reflecting his experience—which motivated him to become a writer. “I had to ‘translate’ characters,” he said. “I don’t want that happening to anybody else.”
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2001 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winning Title for Older Children
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ERIC CARLE MUSEUM HONOREES INCLUDE ‘WHEELS ON BUS’ ARTIST PAUL ZELINSKY
Andrea Davis Pinkney, an award-winning author of numerous books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, works of historical fiction and nonfiction, will host the awards ceremony that celebrates both individuals and organizations for their contributions of children’s literature.
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HARVARD LIBRARY IN NEW YORK AND THE FUND FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF NEW YORK’S SECOND ANNUAL YOUNG READERS PRIZE WITH GUEST SPEAKER JACQUELINE WOODSON
“For the second consecutive year, the Harvard Library in New York has recognized middle school students purely for their love of reading, a pursuit that helps young people embark on a lifetime of learning,”
Guest speaker, author Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, attended the event and read from her award-winning book Brown Girl Dreaming.
