A Night of Summer YA: Alaa Al-Barkawi, Liselle Sambury and Sophia Hannan

A conversation with Alaa Al-Barkawi (IN THE COUNTRY I LOVE), Sophia Hannan (WE WERE NEVER HERE), and Liselle Sambury (A CLASH OF CARNIVORES)
About this Event

Alaa Al-Barkawi is a first-generation, Iraqi American Shia Muslim writer. She is the co-runner of QuillersSWANA, a literary organization dedicated to Southwest Asian and North African writers, and serves as a Literary Peace Ambassador for Threads of Peace. Alaa holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and has worked with refugee and immigrant students for nearly a decade. In the Country I Love is her debut novel.

Sophia Hannan is a Canadian author of YA and Adult fiction. When she’s not writing about ghosts and the girls they haunt, she can be found studying English literature and forcing her friends to watch horror movies with her. We Were Never Here is her debut novel.

Liselle Sambury is a Trinidadian Canadian author and Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist. She has a love for stories with dark themes, complicated families, and edges of hope. In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to demystifying the business of being an author.

In the Country I Love: Told through multiple POVs across time, this authentic exploration of the Shia Muslim experience in the U.S. seamlessly combines classic YA themes of identity, coming-of-age, and relationships with timely social themes of racism, Islamophobia, and justice. This compelling, contemporary debut is perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.

We Were Never Here: The remaining members of a ghost hunting show return to the haunted manor that may have killed their friend in this “moody, character-driven” (School Library Journal, starred review) contemporary gothic debut perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting and Delicious Monsters.

Clash of Carnivores: August and her bonded Monster face a cutthroat competition to advance within their secret society as part of August’s mission to avenge her brother in this “thrilling, high-stakes” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) sequel to A Master of Monsters.