The Brain Lair Bookstore is working to bring several children’s authors to South Bend! One author is Kwame Alexander! Kwame has made the best-seller’s list several times and his book, The Crossover, won the Newbery Award - the highest award for children’s literature for the 0-14 age group! Kwame is touring for the September release of The Crossover graphic novel. Kwame will bring his friend, and musician, Randy Preston to South Bend. They will perform a show designed specifically for students in the morning. They will sing, read, and interact with students for 45 minutes, including having students come on stage! Students then get to ask questions and will have their book signed by Kwame before heading back to school. I am working to rent an auditorium via IUSB or the Civic Theater via Venues, Parks, and Arts. I want to bring as many students as possible to see Kwame and I’ve reached out to local public, private, and parochial schools. Our goal is to have at least 200 kids get to visit with Kwame and Randy and receive signed books. We already have commitments from schools in the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and The South Bend Community School Corporation. We also have students from Good Shephard Montessori School, Holy Cross Bilingual Immersion program, and The Stanley Clark School attending. We’ve started selling tickets to our public show and taking donations so that even if a school isn’t able to attend, we can both send signed books and save space for some students to attend our evening performance outlined below! Building on our success with the Pete Buttigieg book tour, The Brain Lair Bookstore is partnering with the St Joseph County Public Library again! We will bring Kwame and Randy to our community! This evening performance will be slightly different from the morning show as we expect families of all ages to attend! I am delighted and excited to bring inspirational children's book authors to South Bend and so kids can create their own stories!