The 2025 Children's Africana Book Awards (CABA) were celebrated on Saturday, November 1, 2025 in Washington, DC and I had the honor of accepting a chapter book honor award for Kingdom of Dust.

The awards are presented annually to the authors and illustrators of the best children’s and young adult books on Africa published or republished in the U.S. Africa Access and the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA) created CABA in 1991 to encourage the publication and use of accurate, balanced children’s materials about Africa. The Center for African Studies at Howard University is the institutional base for the Awards.

The event opened with several activities for families run by a staff of wonderful volunteers. Children could spin cotton, complete a "Dress a Camel" craft, explore the tradition of masquerade, or make autograph books to have authors sign later in the day. Book sales were provided by Loyalty Bookstores.

The highlight of the program was a performance by the Taratibu Dancers! Their group aims to cultivate creativity, discipline, and confidence in youth through a dynamic blend of performance, culture, and personal development. The young artists performed several pieces that incorporated rhythmic dance, singing, and spoken word poetry. It was so inspiring!

I also enjoyed a wonderful school visit on October 31 at the Ida B. Wells Middle School, where I spoke to the entire the sixth grade! The visit was sponsored by An OpenBook Foundation, which provided a signed copy of Kingdom of Dust to each student.

Again, I am honored to have received this award and thank CABA, the Center for African Studies at Howard University, An Open Book, and my publisher HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books for making the trip possible.

I had a wonderful day at the Massachusetts State House on October 7 for the 2025 Mass Book Awards ceremony, which is celebrating its 25th year ☺️. Sponsored by the Massachusetts Center for the Book, the award recognizes significant works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, graphic novel/memoir, and children’s/young adult literature written, illustrated, or translated by current Commonwealth residents. An annual “notable contribution to publishing” award recognizes the work of Massachusetts-based presses. 

I was honored to receive an honors award for Kingdom of Dust, which was presented by author Lauren Wolk. The judges citation reads:

"Kingdom of Dust is a fantasy novel inspired by West-African mythology that follows Amara, a young girl who must find her land's lost storytellers in order to save her family and society. Filled with lush prose and accessible text for readers of all ages, Kingdom of Dust has secured its place in modern fantasy canons for children. Amara's journey tackling both climate justice and restoration of her people's stories is unforgettable."

​The winner of the Middle Grade/Young Adult category was Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley (Simon & Schuster BYR) and an honor award was also bestowed on Better Must Come by Desmond Hall (Atheneum). Congratulations to my fellow category honorees!

The inaugural Newton Children's Book Festival took place this past Saturday, December 14, 2024. Hundreds of families came out to the New Art Center in Newton, MA to meet over 60 children's book authors and illustrators.

The festival kicked off with a sold-out launch event on Monday, December 9 featuring New York Times bestselling author Tui T. Sutherland.

​I was honored to be Tui's conversation partner at the West Newton Cinema, and we had such a great time talking about fantasy, books, and reading, while answering questions from loads young Wings of Fire fans. 

The brainchild of literacy advocate, Mia Wenjen (Pragmatic Mom), the organizers pulled off a fabulous event. Newtonville Books was the official bookseller for the event and were so kind and wonderful. I had a great time talking with kids and parents and catching up (or meeting for the first time) with other local authors and kidlit creators. ​

​I'm thrilled to share that Kingdom of Dust, my West African-inspired middle grade fantasy, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection! This is a huge honor and means that Kingdom of Dust now has an important boost in finding its readers. 

Junior Library Guild is a trusted organization that librarians and educators can use to find excellent books for their collections. On their website they state, "JLG titles are curated by our renowned editorial team who reads and reviews thousands of manuscript submissions each year (prior to publication) to choose the best, award-worthy books for our members. With nearly 95% of our selections going on to win awards, honors, starred reviews, and industry accolades, you can trust JLG to bring top-quality books to your library that will engage and appeal to your readers."

I'm honored that Kingdom of Dust will be included in the fall catalog of the Junior Library Guild and hopefully seen by lots of potential new readers!

I'm so excited that my forthcoming book Kingdom of Dust has a publication date! It will be released on 8/20/2024 by HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books.

I'm also excited for readers to see the amazing cover, illustrated once again by the fantastic Michael Machira Mwangi and designed by David Curtis.

I'm grateful to John Schu for hosting the cover reveal for me again. I loved the questions he asked me about A Comb of Wishes, and I can't wait to share my answers about this latest middle grade fantasy, Kingdom of Dust.

Look for the big reveal on Wednesday, October 11th on John's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter, this is the perfect time. I'll be sending our a new edition soon and I'm eager to share behind the scenes details about my new book, as well as preorder links and other goodies.