Brazos Bookstore welcomes Kari Lavelle, author of the Butt or Face series and the non-fiction picture book Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earl Jones Found His Voice, and Lindsay Leslie, author of So You Want to Build a Library and Dusk Explorers, for a special kids event in-store on Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
Kari Lavelle is the award-winning author of WE MOVE THE WORLD, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali (HarperCollins), the BUTT OR FACE series (Sourcebooks), and ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT: HOW JAMES EARL JONES FOUND HIS VOICE, illustrated by the award-winning Bryan Collier (Knopf). Kari has always had a love for words: as a kid reading books, as a speech pathologist helping children communicate, and now as a writer creating stories for younger readers. WE MOVE THE WORLD was honored with the Writers’ League of Texas Best Picture Book award in 2022. The first of the BUTT OR FACE? series has received multiple honors including the ALA Notable Children’s Book, 2023 Nerdies Nonfiction Books, 2023 Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Awards Silver Honor Book and is on eight state lists including the Texas 2x2 and the Texas Topaz Nonfiction. ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT is a Junior Library Guild Selection and has been featured in the New York Times, Rolling Stone and on Scripps’ “The Morning Rush.” Kari has presented at the Texas Book Festival, the Writing Barn, Texas Library Association, LITapalooza, NerdCampPA and SCBWI. She grew up in the Midwest but now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, kids, and doggo, Dobby. She is represented by Elizabeth Bennett (also the name of one of her favorite literary characters) at Transatlantic Literary Agency. Learn more about Kari and her books at karilavelle.com.
A diary keeper, a journalism major, a public relations executive, now a children’s author—Lindsay Leslie has always operated in a world of written words. She likes to bring her unique outlook on life, quirky humor, and play with words to the page in picture books. Lindsay is the award-winning author of SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A LIBRARY, DUSK EXPLORERS (an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner, Bank Street Best Book of 2021 with Outstanding Merit, and Amazon Editors’ Pick), NOVA THE STAR EATER, and THIS BOOK IS SPINELESS. Her next picture book, GUS THE BUS (illus. by Geeta Ladi), is slated for summer 2025 with Sleeping Bear Press. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, sci-fi/fantasy novelist Ryan Leslie, two teenagers, two fur-beasts, and a guinea pig.
For more information or to order books, please visit: https://www.brazosbookstore.com/event/store-kari-lavelle-and-lindsay-leslie