Kwame Alexander Author Visit
I got the sheer joy of seeing Kwame Alexander at Children’s Book World in Haverford, PA last night. He’s on his Rebound tour that will hit thirty cities in a 45 foot bus and traveling with his best friend, and also a musician who presents with him and of course… his Newbery Medal. No big deal, it’s just THE NEWBERY MEDAL!
I really enjoyed getting to hear Kwame speak about his writing journey, hear him read from his most recent title, Rebound and learn about new titles coming out in the next few years.
Six fun facts you might not know about Kwame Alexander:
- The Crossover was written over the course of five years at a Panera Bread. He received 22 rejections before an editor decided to pick it up and lo and behold it won the Newbery.
- When he won the Newbery, he got a pool, he did 177 school visits worldwide and the kids demanded he write a sequel to The Crossover and Kwame wanted to write about the 80s, so Rebound was created.
- Kwame likes the quote, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” by Toni Morrison and decided to write because he wanted books that showed his friends and himself when they were kids.
- Kwame Alexander wrote 14 books before The Crossover and sold his picture book at a local Farmer’s Market on the weekends.
- Look for Kwame Alexander’s next book this fall, Swing a story about baseball, jazz and social justice!
- Booked is completely written in second person.