This month, authors celebrate new releases with music and family; an English footballer makes his U.S. debut; and women in politics come together for a bilingual reading.
A Musical Evening
Debut author Jyoti Rajan Gopal (r.) celebrated the publication of her picture book American Desi illustrated by Supriya Kelkar (Little, Brown), with an event at Books of Wonder in Manhattan on June 22. Musician Sujata Subramanian kicked off the event with a performance of an American Desi-inspired fusion piece, which was followed by a conversation between Gopal and fellow educator Taifa Harris (l.). The event wrapped up with a read-aloud of the book by Gopal’s daughter Vedika.
We Are the Champions
English professional footballer Marcus Rashford (l.) made his U.S. debut as an author for his book You Are a Champion (Feiwel and Friends), cowritten with Carl Anka, during a virtual event hosted by Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston on June 20. Rashford was in conversation with author Dhonielle Clayton (r.) and a portion of ticket proceeds went to support athletic programming at Family Point Resources and Houston reVision, an organization dedicated to providing high-quality mentoring, case management, and community support and educational programming to youth at every point of the school to prison pipeline.
A Story Told More Ways Than One
Author Lesléa Newman (l.), , released her latest picture book, Alicia and the Hurricane/Alicia y el huracán (Lee & Low), with an event at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Mass., on June 11. The bilingual picture book, illustrated by Elizabeth Erazo Baez, follows a girl and her family facing life after a hurricane. The event included a bilingual reading of the book with former mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto (r.).
