This week, a debut author brings her story of survival into the light; an actor-turned-author celebrates her debut; Hena Khan attends a Washington Wizards pregame; and author-illustrator Ben Clanton makes new friends.

No Longer Hidden

Shyima Hall (center), author of Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave (Simon & Schuster), appeared on the Dr. Oz Show on March 7 to speak about her experience of becoming enslaved by a wealthy family in America when she was eight years old. Joining Hall and Dr. Oz (l.) was Hall’s fiancé, Daniel Eurquidez.

Shoot for the Moon

Author Karyn Parsons (r.) launched her debut novel How High the Moon (Little, Brown) at Books of Wonder in New York City on March 12. Parsons, formally an actor on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, spoke in conversation with Glory Edim, author of Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves (Ballantine).

Hoop Dreams

Hena Khan signed copies of her first book in the basketball-themed Zayd Saleem series, Power Forward (S&S/Salaam Reads), at a Washington Wizards “WizKidz” pregame program for kids on March 3. Wizards point guard John Wall joined Khan in signing books for readers. Khan describes Wall as being “basically a character in the book since Zayd dreams of playing like him!”

A Token of Friendship

Ben Clanton, author-illustrator of the Narwhal and Jelly series (Tundra), recently visited [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, N.J., to sign copies of Narwhal’s Otter Friend, the fourth book in his early graphic novel series. One attendee gave a special gold coin to Clanton as a show of appreciation and friendship.