4/14/2005

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199;  e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

KALEIDOSCOPE EVENT --

AWARD-WINNING CHILDREN’S BOOKS AUTHORS TO DISCUSS WORKS AT SRU

     SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Award-winning children’s poetry and book author Arnold Adoff and his son Jaime Adoff, a young-adult author, will discuss their work in “An Evening with the Adoffs” at 7 p.m. April 20 in Slippery Rock University’s Russell Wright Alumni House. The session is designed for education majors, those involved in education and the community.

      The free program, part of SRU’s nine-day Kaleidoscope arts festival, is being organized by Bernice Brown, associate professor of elementary education and early childhood, and Melba Tomeo, assistant professor at Bailey Library. The visit is sponsored by SRU’s College of Education, the Frederick Douglass Institute, Bailey Library, the festival committee and the Teresa Heinz Endowment.

      Arnold Adoff has published more than 30 books over the last 30 years and holds the American Library Association notable citation for his “Street Music” and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults citation for “Slow Dance Heartbreak Blues.” His latest book is titled “Love Letters” and has received the Blue Ribbon from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books and is a Riverbank Review “Children’s Book of Distinction.” He also holds the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children covering the body of his work.

      A former teacher in Harlem and New York City’s Upper West Side, he holds his bachelor of arts degree from City College of New York and has studied at Columbia University and the New School for Social Research. His first anthology was titled “I am the Darker Brother.”

      Jaime Adoff is the author of “Names Will Never Hurt Me,” a story of four teens who reveal their deepest feelings and fears during their struggles in high school, and “The Song Shoots Out of My Mouth: A Celebration of Music,” which offers rhythmic free verse.

      Following the presentation, the authors will sign books at the Gallery 164 Bookstore located in downtown Slippery Rock. The bookstore is a project of the SRU Alumni Association and the SGA Bookstore.

      The Adoffs will also present at 9:30 a.m. April 21 in Musser Elementary School, Sharon.

PN, PGN, WPN, PR