MASKS ARE REQUIRED: PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERYONE 2 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER (EXCEPT ARTISTS WHILE PERFORMING) MUST WEAR A MASK AT ALL TIMES WHILE IN THE BUILDING.
Award-winning New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander (The Crossover) presents his new novel The Door of No Return, the saga of an African family told through the eyes of twelve-year-old Kofi and his friend Ama as they come of age in pre-colonial Ghana. In conversation with Ainara Alleyne (Ainara's Bookshelf), with introductions by Madeline Cohen (Thalia Book Club Camp and Education Director at Symphony Space). For readers ages 10 and up.
"Absolutely spellbinding: Kwame Alexander weaves together storytelling, poetry, music and history like no one else can. An unforgettable journey to be treasured and shared across generations.” —Rick Riordan, New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series
There will be a book signing at this event.
Companion tickets are available for $12. These tickets do not include a book. Families are required to buy one book-bundled ticket per order, after which they will be able to add companion tickets. The companion ticket will be discounted at checkout. All other in-person tickets come with a copy of The Door of No Return.
The Thalia Kids Book Club offers lively discussions between children's book authors and their fans. Each event includes a reading, a discussion with the audience, and a book-signing.
Group discounts are available for groups of fifteen people or more. Please contact the box office.
Ainara Alleyne is a 13-year-old elementary student from Ontario, Canada. Ainara curates the Instagram page @ainarasbookshelf, where she highlights books for young people whose authors and main characters are Black, Indigenous, people of color, differently abled and other underrepresented minorities. Ainara posts reviews, recommendations, and author interviews to share diverse stories with a broader audience. She believes that by experiencing other cultures and perspectives through books, we can not only acknowledge our differences but be able to understand and embrace them. She speaks to student teachers at universities and pedagogy symposiums and has been featured in the New York Times, CBC The National, CTV, and numerous podcasts. She is currently filming season 1 of Ainara’s Bookshelf The TV Show.
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times bestselling author of 35 books, including the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson; the Newbery medal-winning novel The Crossover, Becoming Muhammad Ali, co-authored with James Patterson; Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award; Rebound; Solo; and Swing. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Alexander is the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he founded the publishing imprint Versify, and opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. He is the writer and executive producer of the forthcoming Crossover TV series on Disney plus. He invites you to visit him at kwamealexander.com on IG and Twitter @kwamealexander.
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