Dear Connecticut School Librarians,
A limited number of seats are available
for members of this listserv at a free, but invitation-only, book event
being held October 17, 3:00-5:00 PM, in
the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at UN Headquarters in Manhattan,
featuring former Connecticut Poet Laurate Marilyn Nelson, among other top writers for youth:
R.L. Stine, mega-bestselling author of Goosebumps & Fear Street
Ann M. Martin, mega-bestselling author of The Baby-sitters Club & Newbery Honoree for A Corner of the Universe
Karen Hesse, Newbery Medalist & MacArthur Fellow, author of Out of the Dust
Marilyn Nelson, former Poet Laureate of Connecticut, three-time National Book Award Finalist, & Newbery Honoree, Carver: A Life in Poems
Jeanne DuPrau, author of The City of Ember, ALA Notable Children's Book
Sofia Quintero, author of Efrain's Secret, Parents' Choice Award winner, NYC social activist
Nate Powell, graphic novelist, author of Swallow Me Whole, Eisner Award, Ignatz Award
and via Skype:
Meg Cabot, NYT #1 bestselling author of The Princess Diaries and many other series, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, NYPL Books for the Teen Age
Nikki Giovanni, Oprah Winfrey Living Legend, Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage, 5 NAACP Image Awards
Cornelia Funke, author of Inkheart, The Thief Lord, Time 100 Most Influential People, two-time Book Sense Book of the Year
These are ten of the eighteen contributors to What You Wish For
(ISBN 9780399254543), a collection of short stories and poems for ages
12+ that my charity, Book Wish Foundation, organized to raise funds to
establish libraries in Darfuri refugee camps. Half of the event will
feature a
panel discussion/audience Q&A with these authors, and the other half
will feature speakers from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other
experts talking about the Darfuri refugees the book will help. We are
giving 100% of our proceeds from the book to UNHCR for the refugee camp
libraries.
Any Connecticut school librarians who would like to attend this event should write to me at logan@bookwish.org with their names, email addresses, and library affiliations, so that we can
send individual invitations. RSVPs to those invitations must be
received by October 4, due to UN security and space limitations. We will
make at least 5 seats available to members of this listserv, and possibly
more, but space is limited and this will be on a first-come,
first-served basis. Anyone responding after the first 5 will be added to a waiting list.
Separate from this UN event, there will also be a book signing open
to the public on October 17, 7:00-9:00 PM, at Books of Wonder in Manhattan (18 W.
18th Street), featuring the first seven authors listed above. Any and
all are certainly welcome to come to the
signing. See http://bookwish.org/events for information about both events.
What You Wish For, released September 15 by Penguin/G.P. Putnam's
Sons, also features contributions from the following
authors, who are, unfortunately, not able to attend these events: John
Green, Alexander McCall Smith, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, Gary
Soto, Francisco X. Stork, Cynthia Voigt, and Jane Yolen. The stories
and poems in the book share a common theme of wishes, and all were
provided free of charge by the authors to maximize our proceeds for the
refugees. The ALA's Booklist magazine awards a starred review to the collection in its October 1 issue.
I
hope to see you at the UN Library to help launch this special
collaboration of some of today's top writers for young readers. We would
like for you to be a part of What You Wish For, the book and the cause of bringing libraries to refugee camps.
Best wishes,
Logan Kleinwaks
President, Book Wish Foundation
logan@bookwish.org
11606 Brandon Hill Way
Reston, VA 20194-1215
571-281-3117