Freedom to Read Foundation 5th Annual Author Event

January 17th, 2010 ~ 6:00 to 8:45pm

Community Church of Boston ~ 565 Boylston Street

NEW LOCATION!  Countway Medical Library, Harvard School of Medicine, 10 Shattock Street, Boston

In conjunction with the GLBTRT Midwinter Social

Please join us at this fantastic event, where authors Lesléa Newman (Heather Has Two Mommies) and Michael Willhoite (Daddy’s Roommate) will be discussing and signing copies of their groundbreaking books.

Refreshments will be provided. 

Donations will be accepted at the door to cover costs and support the Freedom to Read Foundation’s Conable Scholarship Fund, and the GLBTRT is conducting a book drive of “useful and current” titles for GLBT youth to donate to the Community Church of Boston’s resource library a a local youth resource library.  Copies of the authors’ books will be available for purchase.

Schedule:

• 6:00 – 7:00pm: Socializing
• 7:00 – 7:30pm: Stonewall Book Award Ceremony
• 7:30 – 8:15pm: Lesléa Newman and Michael Willhoite
• 8:15 – 8:45pm: Book signing and socializing

Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate have been two of the most frequently challenged books in the U.S. since they were published 20 years ago. They were among the first children’s books to focus on gay and lesbian parents and have been challenged (jointly and separately) innumerable times, including during the well-publicized “Rainbow Curriculum” controversy in New York City. They were also the subject of a Freedom to Read Foundation court case in Wichita Falls, Texas, in which a federal court overturned a law allowing the “banning by petition” of those books and others.

Newman is the author of 57 books for adults and children. She is currently the poet laureate of Northampton, Mass. A resident of Rhode Island, Willhoite has written and illustrated several other children’s books, including Daddy’s Wedding and Uncle What-Is-It is Coming to Visit!!

For more information, contact Jonathan Kelley at (800) 545-2433 x4226 or jokelley@ala.org.