This week, Broadway stars reunite for a Crowdcast chat; Chana Stiefel cheers for liberty; two bestselling authors have a “storied” talk; and Brittney Morris launches her novel with a little assistance.
A Mind at Work
On April 5, Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez (Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton since 2016) took to Crowdcast for the launch of her debut Fearless (Aladdin) with a ticketed event hosted by The Strand in New York City. Gonzalez’s longtime friend, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning songwriter, actor, and director Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator and star of Hamilton and In the Heights), joined Gonzalez to discuss her spooky middle grade novel, Broadway secrets, and how she became a writer. Guests also got to hear Gonzalez sing a song from In the Heights, in which she originated the role of Nina Rosario.
Voices of Liberty
Chana Stiefel honored the release of Let Liberty Rise! How America’s Schoolchildren Helped Save the Statue of Liberty (illus. by Chuck Groenink, Scholastic Press), with an in-person event on April 1. Hosted by the youth directors of local synagogue Congregation Bnai Yeshurun of Teaneck, N.J., Stiefel read her latest picture book during a private event on the Circle Line during Passover, the Jewish holiday that celebrates freedom. During the guided boat tour, Stiefel discussed immigration, freedom, and her family history of immigration through Ellis Island. The Curious Reader bookshop in Glen Rock, N.J., sold books for the event. Here, Stiefel poses with Lady Liberty.
An Unlikely Conversation
Andy Griffiths (r.) virtually dropped by An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café in Plainville, Mass., to celebrate The 130-Story Treehouse: Laser Eyes and Annoying Flies (Feiwel and Friends), the 10th installment of the bestselling Treehouse series, illus. by Terry Denton. The Crowdcast event took place on April 6 and featured Griffiths in conversation with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, owner of the bookstore.
The Gift of Knowing You
On April 6, Brittney Morris (The Cost of Knowing, Simon & Schuster) commemorated her sophomore YA novel with the help of a special guest: her son. He provided support as she prepared to sign the pictured stacks for accounts. The book follows Black 16-year-old Chicagoan Alex Rufus, who gained the curse of precognitive psychometry after the car accident that killed his parents four years ago, and the lengths he will go to save his 12-year-old brother Isaiah from impending death.
