Our mission at the Boston Comic Arts Foundation is sharing the love of comics reading. BCAF is doing that this summer with an all-new program called Boston Reads Comics.
This July, BCAF has encouraged Boston kids and families to pick up one of our favorite graphic novels: Awkward, by Svetlana Chmakova. It’s a wonderful story about starting a new school, middle school rivalries, and friendship from an amazing Massachusetts author.
BCAF will wrap up this program this Saturday, July 26 with a big celebration of kids, comics, and reading at the BPL Central Library. Join us from 1pm – 4pm for drawing activities, a silent read-along, and a talk with author Svetlana Chmakova and Elissa Gershowitz, Editorial Director of The Horn Book.
BCAF is giving out free copies of the best-selling book at the Boston Public Library’s Jamaica Plain Branch and the Central Branch Children’s Room.
Svetlana Chmakova says, “I am so honored and excited to have my work chosen for the Boston Reads Comics Program, to get to share my love for this amazing medium, and meet with other comics readers! Comics are a huge part of my reading life, and they have been so ever since I discovered them as a teen, even before I started making my own. Reading, to me, is a big part of learning about life and the world, how to navigate it all, and the old adage ‘sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words’ is why comics are such a powerful way to help do that. Also, they are just Really Really Fun and cool-looking, sometimes like an entire film captured in a small brick of a book volume. I can’t wait to meet everyone and talk about it.”
BCAF Executive Director Shelli Paroline says, “Don’t you love it when you read a great book and then you run into someone else who has read it too? Boston Reads Comics is all about spreading that feeling of instant friendship to readers of all ages in our city. This book by a local author is perfect for sparking lots of exciting conversations.”
You can register for this Saturday’s event at the link: https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/6862a1f8e061236ea0b912bd
