Spring Author Visits at Seawell Elementary!

This spring, Seawell Elementary will be welcoming authors Kwame Mbalia and Kelly Starling Lyons to present their books! Order copies through Flyleaf Books and receive a 10% school discount. Just note in your order comments that your student attends Seawell! Scroll down to view & purchase featured titles.

About Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia:

Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from the tragedy.
 
But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it--is that a doll?--and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature's hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world.
 
Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price.
 
When he visits Seawell, Kwame Mbalia will be reading from Book #2, Tristan Strong Destroys the World (available for purchase below).

Kwame Mbalia is the New York Times best-selling author of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor award. The book was also named to best-of-the-year lists compiled by Publishers Weekly, the Chicago Public Library, and the New York Times. The second book in the trilogy is Tristan Strong Destroys the World. Kwame lives with his wife and children in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working on the third book about Tristan. Follow him on Twitter @KSekouM.
 

About Sing a Song by Kelly Starling Lyons:

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us.

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.

In Jacksonville, Florida, two brothers, one of them the principal of a segregated, all-black school, wrote the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” so his students could sing it for a tribute to Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in 1900. From that moment on, the song has provided inspiration and solace for generations of Black families. Mothers and fathers passed it on to their children who sang it to their children and grandchildren. Known as the Black National Anthem, it has been sung during major moments of the Civil Rights Movement and at family gatherings and college graduations.

Inspired by this song’s enduring significance, Kelly Starling Lyons and Keith Mallett tell a story about the generations of families who gained hope and strength from the song’s inspiring words.

Kelly Starling Lyons (kellystarlinglyons.com) is the author of the picture books Hope’s Gift, Tea Cakes for Tosh, and Ellen’s Broom, as well as the Jada Jones chapter book series. Her articles and essays have appeared in many publications, including Ebony magazine, the News & Observer, the Christian Science Monitor, and books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and daughter and son.

 

 

Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky-A Tristan Strong Novel, Book 1 By Kwame Mbalia Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781368042413
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Rick Riordan Presents - September 22nd, 2020

Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Destroys the World-A Tristan Strong Novel, Book 2 By Kwame Mbalia Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781368042383
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Rick Riordan Presents - October 6th, 2020

Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations By Kelly Starling Lyons, Keith Mallett (Illustrator) Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780525516095
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - August 6th, 2019

Going Down Home with Daddy By Kelly Starling Lyons, Daniel Minter (Illustrator) Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781561459384
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Peachtree - April 2nd, 2019

Tiara's Hat Parade By Kelly Starling Lyons, Nicole Tadgell (Illustrator) Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780807579459
Availability: Usually Available in 5-9 Days
Published: Albert Whitman & Company - April 1st, 2020

Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon By Kelly Lyons, Laura Freeman Hines (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Kelly Lyons, Laura Freeman Hines (Illustrator)
$20.95
ISBN: 9781620149553
Availability: Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Lee & Low Books - January 14th, 2020