This week, Christopher Paul Curtis has a heart-to-heart with Jason Reynolds; Anton Treuer takes a journey for a good cause; Nic Stone and Ta-Nehisi Coates have a “beautiful” talk; and Cleo Wade has a star-studded tour.

The Authors Go to Memphis—2021

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 and its 2020 Yearling paperback anniversary edition, Newbery Medalist Christopher Paul Curtis (l.) joined National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds for a March 2 discussion on the book’s continued impact. Hosted by the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, the virtual event drew more than 350 guests.

Celebrating Native Voices

Anton Treuer (Ojibwe) drove four hours each way from Bemidji, Minn., to Minneapolis on March 31 to sign copies of his latest book at Birchbark Books, a Native-focused bookstore owned by National Book Award winner Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Chippewa). Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask: Young Readers Edition (Levine Querido) is an updated, expanded adaptation of Treuer’s 2012 nonfiction tome of the same title, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press. Treuer is a cultural preservationist, scholar, and professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University.

Contemporary Classics in Conversation

Recently, Nic Stone (Dear Justyce, Crown) joined Ta-Nehisi Coates at D.C.-based bookstore chain Politics & Prose for a digital P&P Live! session. The ticketed event, which took place on February 24 over Zoom, featured the acclaimed authors discussing The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults) (Delacorte), Coates’ adaptation of his adult memoir.

What the Poet Said

Writer, artist, and activist Cleo Wade kicked off her tour for What the Road Said (illus. by Lucie de Moyencourt, Feiwel and Friends) on March 23 with three events: virtual school visits with more than 300 students, hosted by Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Ill.; an IG Live with @theconsciouskid, featuring Loyalty Bookstore in Petworth, D.C., and Silver Springs, Md.; and a Crowdcast conversation (below) with Nicole Richie (l.) and Cameron Diaz (c.), hosted by Book Soup in West Hollywood, Calif. Wade’s tour, which featured additional IG Lives with celebrities and virtual education appearances, concluded March 31.