This week, creators promote Black American excellence in literary spaces; Scholastic commemorates LGBTQ+ reads all month long; Liara Tamani tours the digital realm for her second novel; and Tara Altebrando has a thrilling launch.

Celebrate Black Stories

Last Friday, June 19, marked the first-ever Juneteenth Book Fest, a free virtual event that seeks to uplift Black American voices in literature and publishing. More than 30 Black authors and publishing professionals participated. Pictured here (clockwise from top l.), author L.L. McKinney (The Nightmare-Verse series), who co-founded the festival with publicist and The Bronx Is Reading founder Saraciea Fennell, talks with K. Ancrum (The Weight of Stars). Imprint associate editor Weslie Turner moderated the discussion, which covered Marvel, anime, craft, and their respective roads to publishing.

Same Love

In honor of Pride Month, Scholastic has been hosting weekly virtual panels, moderated by editorial director and author David Levithan, as part of its inaugural Read with Pride Book Fest. Pictured here is the June 11 evening session, co-hosted on Zoom by PRINT: A Bookstore in Portland, Maine. More than 120 guests tuned in to attend the virtual conversation among Leah Johnson (You Should See Me in a Crown), Bill Konigsberg (The Music of What Happens), Alice Oseman (Heartstopper), and Lucas Rocha (Where We Go from Here). The fourth and final installment of the series will air tonight, June 25, at 7 p.m., on the I Read YA YouTube channel. Co-hosted by The Center for Fiction, the lineup features Sabina Khan (The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali), Rosiee Thor (Tarnished Are the Stars), Vitor Martins (Here the Whole Time), and Mason Deaver (I Wish You All the Best).

All the Applause

This month, Liara Tamani embarked on a virtual tour for her sophomore YA novel, All the Things We Never Knew (Greenwillow). Pictured here, Tamani took to Zoom on June 14 for a chat with Lilliam Rivera (Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, Little, Brown) and Brandy Colbert (The Only Black Girls in Town, Little, Brown), co-hosted by Skylight Books in Los Angeles. Other highlights from Tamani’s events include an Instagram Live with Nic Stone (Clean Getaway, Crown), which took place on June 9.

Double Take

This past Tuesday, June 23, Tara Altebrando had a virtual launch for her latest YA release, Take Me with You (Bloomsbury). Hosted by the Astoria Bookshop in Queens, N.Y., the event featured Altebrando (l.) and author E. Lockhart (Again, Again, Delacorte). The friends discussed how Altebrando came up with the idea for her speculative thriller, creepy robot dogs and stuffed animals, and writing in quarantine.