We're throwing a party and you're invited! Celebrate the award-winning book There Was a Party for Langston with author Jason Reynolds and illustrators Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey. There will be an author/illustrator panel moderated by local author J. Elle, an illustration demo with Jarrett and Jerome, and fun, interactive activities related to the book. They will also be signing books! Books will be sold onsite by Kindred Stories. 

This is a FREE, family-friendly event. Registration is required and will open four weeks before the event. Please register every member of your group. 

About the Author
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Long Way Down, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raúl the Third), and Ain’t Burned All the Bright (with artwork by Jason Griffin). The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds is also the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC.

About the Illustrators
Jarrett Pumphrey is an award-winning author and illustrator. He makes books for kids with his brother, Jerome. Their books include the Caldecott Honor-winning There Was a Party for Langston written by Jason Reynolds; The Last Stand written by Antwan Eady; It’s a Sign!, an Elephant & Piggie Like Reading book; Somewhere in the Bayou, a Texas 2x2 List Selection; and their author-illustrator debut, The Old Truck, which received seven starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, and received the Ezra Jack Keats New Author Honor.
Jarrett spends his time making books in his home near Austin, TX, where he lives with his wife, their two boys, a dog named Whiskey, and another dog named Ford. When he’s not making books, you might find him fishing on a river somewhere or tinkering under the hood of his new old F100.

Jerome Pumphrey is a designer,illustrator, and writer, originally from Houston, TX. He studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Austin and has worked as a technical writer, freelance graphic designer, and illustrator. Since 2016 he has been a graphic designer at The Walt Disney Company where he uses design and illustration to visually tell stories in print, digital, and immersive experiences for Disney global business development.
He works primarily from his home office in Georgetown, TX, where he lives with his wife and their three kids. Jerome is a member of the SCBWI and shares a previous author credit with Jarrett for Creepy Things that Scare Me (HarperCollins, 2003), which they wrote as teenagers.

About the Moderator
J. Elle is an African-American author of young adult fiction, middle grade fiction, and adult nonfiction, best known for her New York Times bestselling debut, Wings of Ebony. Elle has a Bachelor’s of journalism and an M.A. in educational administration. She’s lived all over, from coast to coast which she credits as inspiration for her writing. When she’s not writing, the former Texas educator can be found mentoring aspiring authors, binging reality TV, loving on her three littles, or cooking up something true to her Southern roots.