Jacqueline Woodson Submitted photo

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson will discuss her new book, “Remember Us,” as part of a national tour, at 5:30 pm. on Monday, Oct. 30, at the Lewiston Public Library. Woodson will be joined in conversation with Maine children’s book author and poet Samara Cole Doyon.

“Remember Us,” by Jacqueline Woodson Submitted photo

“Remember Us” is a beautiful, lyrical novel inspired by her own childhood in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. Its story captures a transformative summer in the life of a twelve-year-old girl as she watches much of her world change — delving into life’s burning questions about time, memory, and what we take with us into the future.

“We’re honored to be hosting Jacqueline and to be bringing together the Lewiston community for this special event,” said LPL Lending Services Librarian Katherine Webber. “Jacqueline’s writing resonates with readers of all ages, and we’re thrilled to be offering this unique opportunity for her to reflect on a love of books and writing with Maine author Samara Cole Doyon.”

Jacqueline Woodson received a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and she was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her NY Times bestselling memoir, “Brown Girl Dreaming,” won the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. Her dozens of books for young readers include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner “Before the Ever After,” NY Times bestsellers “The Day You Begin” and “Harbor Me,” Newbery Honor winners “Feathers,” “Show Way,” and “After Tupac and D Foster,” and “Each Kindness,” which won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.

Samara Cole Doyon is a poet, educator, and children’s book author, winning both a Lupine Award and an International Literacy Association Award for her debut picture book, “Magnificent Homespun Brown.” Her second children’s book, “Magic Like That,” earned a starred review from Kirkus and made the Bookstagang Best Picture Books of 2021 list. Her poems can be found in the anthology “From Root to Seed: Black, Brown, and Indigenous Poets Write the Northeast.” Samara works at Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and resides with her husband, two children, and rescue pup in central Maine.

Admission is free. A book sale and signing will be offered at the end of the program. The event is offered in partnership with the Maine Humanities Council, a statewide non-profit organization and Maine’s affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The public event will take place in the Lewiston Public Library’s Callahan Hall on the 3rd floor. The library is located at 200 Lisbon Street at the corner of Pine Street.


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