Category: News

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SAY THEIR NAMES DMV LAUNCH EVENTS NOV. 5, 2022

WE’RE CELEBRATING THE LAUNCH OF SAY THEIR NAMES IN THE DMV
At two locations, November 5 — Join US!
1 pm – 2 pm — Say Their Names * Potter’s House Cafe/Bookstore — I’ll do an inter-active, musical reading
of Say Their Names, Q & A, and autograph books. 
Potter’s House, www.pottershousedc.org, 1658 Columbia Road NW WASHINGTON, DC, 20009
5 pm – 6 pm – Say Their Names * Mahogany Books
I’ll do an inter-active, musical reading of Say Their Names, Q & A, and autograph books.
1231 Good Hope Rd., S.E. Washington, DC 20020 * Phone: 1 (844) 279-6239
PLEASE RSVP TO caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com
Watch new coverage of Say Their Names here!
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A Whole Other Twist on “Let Them Eat Cake!”

A Whole Other Twist on “Let Them Eat Cake!”
DC Elementary Librarian, Local Author, and National Education Lawyer
Team Up to Feed “Hungry Readers Chocolate Cake” Over the Summer!

Donation of Books to Truesdale Elementary Library, Students and School’s Little Free Library
Kicks Off Summer Reading Program and Extends Hungry Readers Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 21, 2021

Contact: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com

Washington, D.C. – In a whole other twist on “Let them eat cake!”, Truesdale Elementary Librarian Eboni Henry, National Education Lawyer Gary M. Ratner, and Caroline Brewer, Author of the Forthcoming Say Their Names picture book and Darius Daniels: Game On! have teamed up to feed “hungry readers chocolate cake” over the summer.

The donation of more than 30 Books to Truesdale Elementary’s School Library, its students and the school’s Little Free Library takes place today at the school, 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., 800 Ingraham St NW, Washington, DC 20011.

The donation continues Brewer’s “Hungry Readers” campaign, where she has enlisted friends and family to help her donate books to schools, libraries, and youth programs in the DC Metro area and around the country. This iteration of the campaign has seen the donation of more than 250 copies of books, including more than 100 of Darius Daniels: Game On!, a book filled with rap, rhyme, and riddles, designed to get kids hooked on books. The donation includes picture books, chapter books, and middle grade novels, books with Black and Latino characters to feed the needs of the majority Latino and Black student population, books on the environment, and some Newberry Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winners. In years past, Brewer has donated thousands of books, mostly her own.

Truesdale Librarian Henry said she’s noticed that children aren’t visiting public libraries as often so she created a “Little Free Library” outside Truesdale where students and any member of the community can take books home and keep them for their own. She and a colleague usually supply the “library” throughout the summer. New donations from Brewer, Ratner, and other friends will help edify the collection.

“I’m a strong believer in the importance of reading to satisfaction and success in life.  Knowing that Caroline Brewer’s books for children help some of our neediest children to attain this goal, I was pleased to make a donation to expand the availability of the extraordinary middle grade novel: Darius Daniels,” said Ratner, Founder and Executive Director of Citizens for Effective Schools. Ratner has been a nationally recognized authority on school reform law and policy for more than 30 years and is a principal drafter of the Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the policy statement for overhauling NCLB endorsed by more than 150 national organizations and replacing it with the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). “Rich in cultural allusions and broadening vocabulary, Darius Daniels is an excellent way to engage, entertain and intellectually stimulate students this summer, while simultaneously combatting the traditional summer loss in reading skills.”

Brewer says she’s never met a child who wasn’t hungry to learn to read, write, and learn and that’s why she calls her campaign “Hungry Readers.” The authors of a new book,  How to Raise a Reader, Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, the editor and the children’s-books editor, respectively, of The New York Times Book Review, have said that those who want to inspire reading love in children should present reading not as “spinach,” but as “chocolate cake.” Making books and reading fun has been Brewer’s calling card for the past 20 years as an author, literacy activist, and consultant. “I call rap, rhyme, and riddles ‘literacy accelerants,’ ” says Brewer. “When children get their hands on books that have meaning and are fun, many become brand-new and fall in love with themselves as human beings, whereas before they had lots of doubts. Good books feed children’s imaginations and inspire success and that’s all we’re here for.”

Connect with Caroline Brewer on the following sites:

www.carolinebrewerbooks.com * facebook.com/brewercaroline *twitter.com/brewercaroline

instagram.com/carolinebrewerbooks

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Paterson, NJ Schools Celebrate Milestone with Author Caroline Brewer

Select Paterson afterschool programs celebrated a milestone in the city’s history Wednesday: the completion of the first Paterson Reads Book Club, featuring the reading, rhyming, rapping and word play of the middle grade novel Darius Daniels: Game On! The collaborators consider the book club a national model for literacy engagement.

Four afterschool programs with more than 100 students participated in the six-week book club coordinated by the Paterson Education Fund (PEF) and Darius Daniels Author Caroline Brewer.

Read the full story here

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Black Children’s Stories Matter: The Evolution of Children’s Literature

Join Creative Writing Coach and Literary Consultant Marita Golden for “Creative Conversations with Marita” on June 12 at noon on Facebook Live. Caroline Brewer, author of “Darius Daniels: Game On!” and “Barack Obama A Hip Hop Tale of a King’s Dream,” and author Leslie C. Youngblood will be featured.
We’ll discuss the growing popularity of narratives for young people that focus on the lives of Black children.
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Darius Daniels Game On! Book Tasting Party Saturday, February 1

 

You asked for it and here it is! The DC Darius Daniels: Game On! Book Tasting Party, featuring the Music and Poetry of a One-of-a-Kind Novel, Saturday, February 1.

Features: Inter-active singing, dancing, rapping, clapping, and toe-tapping to songs and raps straight out of the novel; Reading from the book and background on chosen excerpts; Q and A, with brief discussion about how the book is one-of-a-kind (more than 10 forms of poetry) and a handheld revolution, plus a trivia game; Hors d’ourves and dessert-tasting of food from and inspired by the novel!

Purchase Books & Have them Autographed
Vocalist Karen Wilson-Ama’Echefu & Drummer Angel Bethea will get the party started.

NOTE: Two programs on this day (Choose One)
12 noon – 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
RSVPs a must * Seating is limited! * Email me from the Contact Me page for an invitation and to learn how you can bring a Book Tasting Party to your school, library, or community. This party kicks off our international tour! We’d love for you to be a part of it!

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Author Night

The University Club of Washington, D.C. invites you to

The 30th Annual Meet the
Author Night & Book Fair

Wednesday, December 4, 2019  •  5:30-8:00 p.m.
The University Club of Washington, DC
1135 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036

Author Caroline Brewer

Meet Caroline Brewer and dozens of other talented authors at this amazing event. You’ll find great gifts for book lovers of all ages and get a jump on your holiday shopping. 

Free and Open to the Public

For a complete list of authors attending, click here.

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Let’s Hear it from the Boys about Darius Daniels: Game On!

I walked into a room of five boys and five men yesterday afternoon, more than exhausted from two weeks of working around the clock to finish edits to my new children’s novel, Darius Daniels: Game On! I had been excitedly anticipating this day, though, for six weeks. And now it had arrived.
 
The boys were watching television and playing on their phones and I was about to interrupt with conversations about books and literacy. For a moment, it gave me pause. They had never met me, hadn’t heard of me until maybe a week prior, and weren’t sure what to expect. I knew next to nothing of them, either, except that they were members of a new mentoring program offered by Faith Focused Ministries, headed by a dear family friend, Minister Curtis Head. They were from ages 6 to 13 and live in suburban Maryland.
 
I began by asking them questions about the book, based on the poster. Then about reading, based on a my poem Why I Read, and then we read several pages of Darius Daniels: Game On!
 
Here’s what they had to say:
 
“It was a really smart book and you wrote all the pages by yourself and it was really impressive!” – Marco, 2nd grader
“I think the book was very detailed and creative.” – Olamide, 3rd grade
“This book is good so far because of the rhythm.” – Bryce, 7th grader, who also was inspired to write a poem after reciting Why I Read with the other boys and me.
“I don’t usually read books without pictures. But I wanna read this book! I think it’s gonna be very good.” – Zion, 1st grader, who confidently read a page of the 4th grade level book out loud.
“The book was really good and entertaining and I loved it!” -John, 8th grader, who said earlier in the day that he didn’t really like to read.
 
These young men are the reason this book and the Hungry Readers campaign exist. They are proof that there’s no reason we should continue to allow 30 million children in America each year to read below grade level. Our children are hungry to read, to write, to learn, to live vibrantly and abundantly. All they need is for us to bring experiences to them, fearlessly, with love and devotion.
 
PLEASE go to www.carolinebrewerbooks.com to register for the campaign, be first to receive chances to win books, hear new music from the book’s soundtrack, and learn about other exciting opportunities! And please set your calendars for November 1, 2019 to buy copies of Darius Daniels: Game On! for yourself and others, like these brilliant young men! My deepest thanks to Minister Curtis and his team for the commitment they’ve made to these wonderful young men and to all of you!