An Afternoon with Maria van Lieshout: Song of a Blackbird

Join us for a book presentation, talk and signing with Maria van Lieshout, graphic novel author of Song of a Blackbird.

About the book:

In 1943 Amsterdam, Emma Bergsma’s world changes when she witnesses Jewish families being forcibly deported to concentration camps. That pivotal moment lights a fire within her, and she decides to join the Dutch Resistance. Before long, Emma is drawn into a clandestine world of printing presses and counterfeiters, with thousands of lives on the line.In 2011 Amsterdam, teenage Annick’s world has changed as well. A search for a bone marrow donor for her beloved oma leads to a shocking revelation: her grandmother was secretly adopted as a child. The only clues to finding their lost family are a series of art prints hanging on the wall—each signed by a mysterious “Emma B.”

This timely graphic novel weaves together two timelines to reveal how art, in the face of political upheaval and nearly insurmountable adversity, can become our greatest lifeline. All big five book review sites in the US (Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, The Horn Book, School Library Journal and Booklist) gave Song of a Blackbird a starred review, something that very rarely happens!

About the author:

Maria van Lieshout was born and raised near Amsterdam, where she spent many weekends in the Museum Quarter house where her grandparents lived with her artist aunt and metalsmith uncle. Drawing while her aunt painted and pecking stories on a typewriter while her uncle soldered metals inspired her love for drawing, creating and writing. After high school in Leiden, Maria studied Visual Communications at GWU in DC, and worked in design and innovation at Coca-Cola. In 2000, Maria became an illustrator full-time. She has illustrated/written several picture books.

Song of a Blackbird is Maria’s first graphic novel.

The Dutch edition, Het lied van de merel, will also be available for purchase. It is the first graphic novel ever to be shortlisted for the Thea Beckman Prize (for historical YA fiction).

Host or Publisher The American Book Center - ABC