Join Sherri in celebrating the launch of her new graphic novel, PEARL at Once Upon a Time Bookstore— the oldest children’s bookstore in the United States! If you’re a WWII buff, curious about history, or about writing graphic novels, this is the place to be!

Elizabeth Wein and Sherri L. Smith will be speaking in person about their new nonfiction book, American Wings, the thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies.

Pondering Primary Sources: Authenticity, Bias, and Controversy in Historical Research - Monday, July 1, 2024, 9:00 AM

Presenters will reveal their research process for:
a) gathering and authenticating primary sources,
b) examining the inclusion and exclusion of voices,
c) scrutinizing contradictory information, and
d) presenting the most compelling and complete narrative of an event.

With Roxanne F. Owens, Sarah Aronson, MFA, Candace Fleming, and Cyndi Giorgis (she/her/hers)

Read to get your Con on?

Revolutionary Comics: Revolutionaries in Our Comics
3/30/24 - 2:00 pm, Room 211

From The Eternaut and Golden Age Superman to the more recent Immortal Hulk, comics have always been a vehicle for politics and advocacy. Writers Cecil Castellucci (Shifting Earth), Sherri L. Smith (James Cameron’s Avatar: The High Ground), and JR Hughto (That Distant Fire) and comics critics Daniel Jun Kim (PopMythology.com) and Nat Yonce (Collective Action Comics podcast) speak to the comics and makers who inspired them to mix revolutionary ideas, themes, and plots into their own work.

Who’s Teaching Who?: Teaching Artists/Creators Who Teach
3/31/24 - 2:00pm, Room 213CD

To be an artist is to be a lifelong learner. We apprentice to the craft by doing and learn how to improve project by project. Many artists also teach as part of this cycle of growth. What does it mean to be a teaching working artist? How does teaching help and grow one’s own practice? What are the joys and pitfalls of teaching? How does one transfer knowledge to emerging artists? What can you learn from being educators to the next generation of working artists? Ryka Aoki (Light from Uncommon Stars), Cecil Castellucci (Shifting Earth), Cory Doctorow (The Bezzle), Sherri L. Smith (Pearl), Steven T. Seagle (Man of Action), and Sarah Watson (The Bold Type) discuss the value of being creators who are also teachers.

About the Event

In honor of Women's History Month, join us for a special lecture by author Sherri L. Smith. Learn about the history and legacy of women in flight. From Bessie Coleman to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, see how women have made an impact in the field of aviation.

SHERRI L. SMITH AND ELIZABETH WEIN DISCUSS AMERICAN WINGS: CHICAGO'S PIONEERING BLACK AVIATORS AND THE RACE FOR EQUALITY IN THE SKY

From the acclaimed author of Flygirl and the bestselling author of Code Name Verity comes the thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies.

In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where some previous Black aviators like Bessie

Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?

American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago's South Side. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.

Complete with black-and-white photographs throughout, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons for Young Readers)

Join Sherri for a raucous round of Story Improv at the Henderson Reads Book Festival, “A stupendous literary showcase featuring award-winning and notable picture book, middle grade and young adult authors. Authors will present their selected books in addition to a book signing session. See below more author details. So many children's authors all in one place!  This is not to be missed!

Live readings and discussions

• Book signings

• Interactive activities

  • Where's Waldo?

  • Face Painting

• And MUCH More!”

Sherri L. Smith will spend an evening in conversation about her book, FLYGIRL, the 2022 Howard County Read. FLYGIRL tells the story of a light-skinned African American woman who passes for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II. FLYGIRL is the winner of the California Book Awards gold medal, and was selected as a Best Book for Young People by the American Library Association. Book signing to follow.

Tickets are free to the public.

“This well-told, interesting story moves along at a good clip, as Smith paints a vivid picture of the WASPs, with the suspense of Ida Mae’s deception always lurking beneath the surface…A vibrant picture of WWII women and of Jim Crow as it was then.”

—Kirkus Review