Bestselling novelist (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents) and children's (The Tia Lola Stories) author Julia Alvarez will share with us her new picture book, Where do they go?, a beautifully crafted poem for children that gently addresses the emotional side of death.
The book asks, "When somebody dies, where do they go? / Do they go where the wind goes when it blows? ... Do they wink back at me when I wish on a star? Do they whisper, 'You're perfect, just as you are'? ..." Illustrated by Vermont woodcut artist, Sabra Field, Where Do They Go? is a beautiful and comforting meditation on death, asking questions young readers might have about what happens to those they love after they die. The reading will be followed by a book signing with the author.
ABOUT JULIA ALVAREZ
Born in New York City, Julia Alvarez moved to the Dominican Republic with her Dominican American parents when she was an infant. In 1960, though, the political situation forced the family to return to New York. Alvarez has explained that the experience of being forced to refine her English upon returning to the United States made her very aware of language—good training for a writer.
Alvarez’s poetry often explores her identity as a Dominican American. She writes about childhood memories and the experience of being an immigrant living between two cultures. Alvarez has also written a number of novels, including How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991) and In the Time of Butterflies (1994), which was set during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and adapted into a motion picture released in 2001.