Program Type:
Authors & LecturesProgram Description
Event Details
Join us as we celebrate AAPI with diverse voices that make up the books we love! We will be joined by two authors who have lived in and around Connecticut! We will spend an hour with our authors, asking questions and talking about how their voices are reflected in their works. We will finish out the day with a book signing, dance performances, crafts and some tasty treats! Elm Street books will be onsite selling books. Best for families with older elementary and middle schoolers.
When registering, please add a question you have for the authors, or email it to [email protected].
The authors who will join us are...
A third-generation Japanese American, Debbi Michiko Florence is the acclaimed author of more than 20 books for children and tweens. Her books have received starred reviews, JLG Selections, and inclusion on lists such as Amazon Best Books and the Chicago Public Library Best of the Best. She loves to write stories about friendship and family. Her middle grade novels include Sweet and Sour and Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai. She is also the author of the award-winning Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series. A native Californian, Debbi now lives in Connecticut.
Veera Hiranandani is the award-winning author of several books for young people. Her most recent middle-grade novel, How to Find What You're Not Looking For, received the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award, the 2022 Jane Addams Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2022 National Jewish Book Award. It was also named a Best Children's Book of the Year by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, Bank Street College, and Brightly. The Newbery Honor winning The Night Diary also received the 2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award, the 2018 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature, and several other honors and state reading list awards. Veera is also the author of the chapter book series Phoebe G. Green. She earned her MFA in fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College. A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she's now a faculty member with the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at The Vermont College of Fine Arts.
This program is made possible by a generous grant from the Horizon Foundation for our Many Stories One New Canaan initiative.
Accessibility and Accommodations
We strive to facilitate access to information and Library services for all patrons. If you have questions about accessibility or a request for accommodation, please phone 203-594-5002, email the librarian in charge of this program (see contact info above), or email [email protected] with as much lead time as possible.