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Carnegie set to host second annual book fair
Laura Atkins Headshot 002
Author, teacher and independent childrens book editor Laura Atkins is one of the keynote speakers at the Carnegies second annual Book Fair on Nov. 5. - photo by Photo Contributed

Contemporary authors and illustrators from throughout Northern and Central California will be on hand to promote their books for children, teens, and young adults at the Carnegie’s second annual Book Fair on Nov. 5.

Readers of all ages can meet the authors, learn about their techniques, and purchase signed copies of their newest books. Activities for children and story time will take place throughout the day. The first 50 visitors to the Book Fair will receive a free book bag.

Keynote speakers for the event will be Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi, co-authors of “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up,” and they will give a presentation 4 p.m. at the event. Fred Korematsu was an average American until the United States went to war with Japan in 1941, and the government forced people of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes and move to prison camps. He knew that this was unfair, and he refused to go. He was put in jail for resisting, but he knew he couldn’t give up. “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up” is the first book in the Fighting for Justice series, introducing young readers to real-life heroes of social progress.

Atkins is an author, teacher and independent children’s book editor with over twenty years of editorial experience. She worked at Children’s Book Press, Orchard Books, and Lee & Low Books, helping to produce winners of the Coretta Scott King Award and American Library Association Notable Book selections, among others. She went on to teach creative writing at the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature in London, where she also received her MA in Children’s Literature, and she completed her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in January 2016. In addition to co-writing “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up,” Atkins is the author of the light-hearted picture book, “Sled Dog Dachshund.”

Yogi also is the co-author with Elaine Elinson of the award-winning book “Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants Strikers and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California.” He is the co-editor of two books, “Highway 99: A Literary Journey Through California’s Great Central Valley” and “Asian American Literature: An Annotated Bibliography.” His essays have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Daily Journal and academic journals and anthologies. He managed development programs for the ACLU of Northern California for fourteen years. Prior to that he was a program officer with California Humanities. He holds an MA in English from UC Berkeley and a BA in English and Political Science from UCLA. 

The book fair will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 5 and admission is free. The event will be at the Carnegie Arts Center at 250 N. Broadway.