BookExpo has announced that its Children’s Book & Author Breakfast will be co-hosted by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, daughters of former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. The two will be on hand to promote the picture book edition of their 2017 memoir, Sisters First, which will be released in October.
Joining the Bushes at the breakfast will be Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong'o (Black Panther; 12 Years a Slave) who will discuss her debut children’s book, Sulwe, which follows a girl in Kenya, initially self-conscious about the color of her skin, who learns to love who she is. Tomi Adeyemi, author of bestselling YA fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone, will talk about the second title in her Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, Children of Virtue and Vengeance. Also on stage will be Eoin Colfer, who will discuss his upcoming spin-off novel from his popular Artemis Fowl series, The Fowl Twins. Additionally, Da Chen, bestselling author of Brothers and Colours of the Mountain, will preview his forthcoming work, Girl Under a Red Moon, which tells the story of his older sister and their childhood growing up together during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
The breakfast is set to take place Friday, May 31 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on the main stage at New York City’s Javits Center.
Jennifer Martin, event director of BookExpo, pointed to the diversity in this year’s lineup as particularly timely. “With an array of unique perspectives and works across multiple genres, this year’s speakers are sure to offer a morning of exciting and meaningful conversation, as all of their works examine a variety of traditionally underserved populations,” Martin said in a statement.
