Books Build Bridges is a community read program hosted by Hamilton East Public Library each fall to build community through shared experience, provide diverse reading opportunities, and engage our community with noted authors. This year’s featured books are classic stories reimagined. For adult readers, the featured book is Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev. For teen readers, the featured book is Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen. And, for children, the featured book is A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat.
All three authors will visit in-person for a keynote presentation and panel discussion about their books and the art of retelling classic stories, moderated by local author, artist, and Ignite Studio Maker-in-Residence Rue Sparks. Book signings will follow. The event will take place at the FORUM Events Center in Fishers on Saturday, September 30 from 2:30-4:30pm. Register here beginning August 21.
Submit your questions for the featured authors during the panel discussion here.
GET A COPY OF THE BOOK
HEPL patrons can pick up a free copy of the featured novels while supplies last at the Noblesville or Fishers library beginning Monday, August 21, 2023. The novels may also be borrowed from the HEPL bookshelves or digitally through the library’s Libby/OverDrive collection.
MEET THE AUTHORS
Sonali Dev’s novels have been on Library Journal, NPR, Washington Post, and Kirkus’s Best Books of the year lists. She has won the American Library Association’s award for best romance, the RT Reviewer Choice Award for best contemporary romance, multiple RT Seals of Excellence, is a RITA® finalist, and has been listed for the Dublin Literary award. Shelf Awareness calls her “Not only one of the best but one of the bravest romance novelists working today.”
Sonali’s first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting degrees in architecture and writing, migrating across the globe, and starting a family while writing for magazines and websites. With the advent of her first gray hair, her mad love for telling stories returned full force, and she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up stories that make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world traveler.
Sonali lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and often amused husband, two teens who demand both patience and humor, and the world’s most perfect dog.
Natasha Bowen is a New York Times bestselling author, a teacher, and a mother of three children. She is of Nigerian and Welsh descent and lives in Cambridge, England, where she grew up. Natasha studied English and creative writing at Bath Spa University before moving to East London, where she taught for nearly ten years. She is obsessed with Japanese and German stationery and spends stupid amounts on notebooks, which she then features on her secret Instagram. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, watched over carefully by Milk and Honey, her cat and dog. Follow her on Twitter at @skinofthesea.
Skin of the Sea gained noted accolades after its release including:
- An Instant New York Times Bestseller
- An NPR Best Book of the Year
- A PopSugar Best New Book – November 2021
- A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
- Children’s Africana Book Awards – 2022 Honor Book for Older Readers
Christina Soontornvat is an award-winning author, engineer, and STEM educator. Her many works for children include picture books, chapter books, and the bestselling graphic novel, The Tryout. She is a three-time Newbery Honor recipient, most recently for The Last Mapmaker, which was also named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times.
Some of Christina’s awards and accolades include being a three-time Newbery Honor recipient, The Kirkus Prize for Young People’s Literature, Walter Dean Myers Honor, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, Sibert Honor for Nonfiction, YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, Orbus Pictus Honor for Nonfiction, Jane Addams Peace Association Book Award Winner, Texas Institute of Letters Book Award Winner, Bank Street College Book Award Winner, named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, School Library Journal, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and The New York Public Library.
She is the first author since 1954 to receive two Newbery Honors in one year and the only author to receive the Newbery Honor for both fiction and nonfiction in a single year.
ABOUT THE BOOKS
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev – For Adult Readers
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that only in an overachieving Indian American family can a genius daughter be considered a black sheep.
Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco’s most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that’s not enough for the Rajes, her influential immigrant family who’s achieved power by making its own non-negotiable rules:
· Never trust an outsider
· Never do anything to jeopardize your brother’s political aspirations
· And never, ever, defy your family
Trisha is guilty of breaking all three rules. But now she has a chance to redeem herself. So long as she doesn’t repeat old mistakes.
Up-and-coming chef DJ Caine has known people like Trisha before, people who judge him by his rough beginnings and place pedigree above character. He needs the lucrative job the Rajes offer, but he values his pride too much to indulge Trisha’s arrogance. And then he discovers that she’s the only surgeon who can save his sister’s life.
As the two clash, their assumptions crumble like the spun sugar on one of DJ’s stunning desserts. But before a future can be savored there’s a past to be reckoned with…
A family trying to build home in a new land.
A man who has never felt at home anywhere.
And a choice to be made between the two.”
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen – For Teen Readers (High School Collection)
“A way to survive.
A way to serve.
A way to save.
Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata–a mermaid–collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.
But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable–she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.
To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail . . .
Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she fails, she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.”
A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat – For Young Readers
“A boy on the run. A girl determined to find him.
All light in Chattana is created by one man — the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to bring peace and order to the city. For Pong, who was born in Namwon Prison, the magical lights represent freedom, and he dreams of the day he will be able to walk among them. But when Pong escapes from prison, he realizes that the world outside is no fairer than the one behind bars. The wealthy dine and dance under bright orb light, while the poor toil away in darkness. Worst of all, Pong’s prison tattoo marks him as a fugitive who can never be truly free.
Nok, the prison warden’s perfect daughter, is bent on tracking Pong down and restoring her family’s good name. But as Nok hunts Pong through the alleys and canals of Chattana, she uncovers secrets that make her question the truths she has always held dear.
Set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world and inspired by Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.”
ABOUT THE EVENTS
Books Build Bridges: Discussion of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
Tuesday, September 26 | 6:30-7:30pm | NOB
Adults are invited to a book discussion of our 2023 Books Build Bridges title Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev. Chat about the book and discuss main themes before our in-person author visit on Saturday, September 30.
Teen Lit Café (High School): Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Thursday, September 21 | 6-7pm | Ohanalulu, Fishers
Meet up for a treat and book discussion among friends! Teens will talk about the selection for the Books Build Bridges event, Skin of the Sea, before our in-person author visit with Natasha Bowen on Saturday, September 30. For teens only. Registration required.
Books Build Bridges: Family Book Discussion of A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
Thursday, September 28 | 6-7pm | NOB
Families are invited to a book discussion of our 2023 Books Build Bridges title, A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat. Chat about the book and discuss main themes before our in-person author visit on Saturday, September 30.
Teen & Adult Writing Challenges: Reimagined Classics
August 1-31
Want to win a spot in an exclusive Meet and Greet with the Books Build Bridges authors? Patrons can enter the Teen Writing Challenge or the Adult Writing Challenge reimaging classics of their own! 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of both competitions will have the chance to meet with the authors before their presentations for Books Build Bridges. Visit each challenge’s blog (coming soon!) for more details on how to submit your short story!
Books Build Bridges: Author Visit
Saturday, September 30 | 2:30-4:30pm | FORUM Events Center in Fishers
Join our featured authors at the FORUM Events Center in Fishers to conclude this year’s Books Build Bridges community read! This year’s featured titles are A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontorvat for young readers, Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen for teen readers, and Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev for adult readers. All three authors will visit in-person for a moderated panel discussion about their books and the art of retelling classic stories, followed by book signings.