Happy birthday to ROSA’S SONG!

IT’S HERE!!

Happy book birthday to Rosa’s Song!!🥳🎶 The book is now out in the world, and it’s a story celebrating childhood friendships, even those that end much too soon.

Book production requires a huge team of creative people, so kudos to the immensely talented illustrator Pascal Campion, our brilliant editor Maria, and everyone at Random House Studio.

And my utmost gratitude goes to everyone who pre-ordered, purchased, reviewed, and/or requested the book at their local libraries & bookstores. This writing/publishing journey has been so meaningful, thanks to readers like you! I’m SO grateful!! Here’s me sending you an air kiss 😘

(Side note: I am a HUGE fan of middle-aged Keanu. Young Keanu didn’t do much for me, but this older version is *chef’s kiss*! I even dig his Professor Snape look…!)

VIRTUAL EVENTS

Join me (from anywhere in the world!) for one or both of these upcoming virtual events:

• Friday, June 17, 2022 – 4 p.m. Pacific – Virtual story time event with the Los Angeles Public Library. Everyone who attends will have the opportunity to win a book! Free to all. More details here.

• Sat., June 18, 2022 – 10:30 a.m. Pacific– Virtual event with Children’s Book World for Rosa’s Song. The perfect event for aspiring authors — publishing/writing secrets will be spilled! Free to all with a book order. More details here.

EARLY REVIEWS

I feel like every book I’m fortunate enough to get published is a tremendous, unexpected gift. And every good review feels like a touch of grace, too. (Most writers, like yours truly, are an insecure bunch, so good reviews truly boost my spirits!)

Rosa’s Song received a starred review from Booklist, a trade publication for the publishing industry. Starred reviews are like a “critic’s pick,” and Booklist called the book, “[S]triking and raw…. Readers will share the sadness of Jae’s loss, but only after seeing Rosa and Jae’s joyful playing—a happiness that’s distinct to childhood.” The full review is here.

And this review by a bookseller gave me all the feels:

May this bookseller’s shop thrive! Independent bookstores do so much good for local communities, and I hope you’ll join me in supporting them whenever you can.

And from a teacher on Instagram (thank you, @thesmilelines_lauren!): “This book sparks conversations of different cultures, languages, family dynamics, various places people live, and reasons why people may have to leave a place. My son and I read it together. I cried and he said it is definitely a 10/10.”

Ahh, I love dedicated and open-minded teachers, librarians, school administrators & staff!

Which is one of the reasons why I love to do school visits. I did several visits since the last time I checked in: 1) my first in-person visit in years at McNair Elementary in Compton, CA, 2) a wonderful virtual visit with Royle Elementary in Darien, Connecticut, and 3) another amazing virtual visit with Gyeonggi International School in South Korea!

Here’s my Instagram post about my amazing visit to McNair Elementary in Compton, CA. The girl in pink to my left is the one I mentioned. 💕

Look at these incredible drawings of dragons (inspired by the dragons in The Paper Kingdom!) from the students at Royle Elementary in Darien, CT. I think some of them are destined to become professional artists…WOW!👍

And Gyeonggi International invited me to join them in-person in South Korea, so I’m hoping to make that happen in 2023…we’ll see!

SOME INSPIRATION

Here’s a phenomenal music video that my good friend Claude sent to me. Merci, Claude!

Be well, be safe, and I’ll be back soon with some fun news. Some hints of what’s to come:

• Sora’s Seashells (March 2023) is looking GORGEOUS!! Sneak peeks are coming your way. Get ready to travel to the sea…
• Real talk about publishing, including the taboo topic of money.
• Another cool thing happened!! Signing my name under the title “Author” will never cease to amaze me, and I’ll share more details as soon as I can! For now, I’ll sign off with my e-signature to ramp up the anticipation 😉