Author: Abigail Hing Wen

YA author Abigail Hing Wen presents her STEAM-oriented debut middle grade book "The Vale" and shares sneak peeks of her short film based on the book, "The Vale - Origins."

Wen is the New York Times best selling author of "Loveboat, Taipei" which has been adapted into a film, "Love in Taipei."

About the book (from the publisher):

Thirteen-year-old Bran Joseph Lee has spent half his life building the Vale, an immersive, AI-generated, virtual-reality environment using technology created by his inventor parents. It’s a lush fantasy world complete with a Blue Forest, a Castle, and adventures with his mushroom-obsessed Elf named Gnomly – a much better place to spend his days compared to his real life, where his parents have suffered through the failed launches of one invention after another. Bran wants nothing more than to see his Elves come fully to life, a hope that seems on the brink of reality when he enters the Vale in a multi-million dollar competition to fund its further development. But instead, things in the Vale begin to go wrong: The sunlight is fading. A beautiful girl appears from nowhere. A wizard is stealing from the Vale’s inhabitants. And the strangest part of all is that none of this is the young inventor’s doing. Can he and Gnomly uncover the truth of what is happening before both their worlds are destroyed?

About the film:

"The Vale - Origins" short film prequel takes place seven years earlier, and explores the Lee family’s journey through personal tragedy and the inception of this world. After a devastating loss, a grieving inventor family begins to drift apart—until their young son’s fantastical drawings spark a journey toward healing, in a world only they could imagine. This unique hybrid live action and animated film stars three-time Tony Award winner Lea Salonga and features the works of award-winning animation crew, including Johan Aoshima, Emmy-nominated and Annie Award-nominated director (Duck Tales, Ultraman: Rising) and Neil Blevins (Incredibles I, II, Wall-E, Up). Pitched as Ready Player One meets Narnia meets Minecraft.

About the author:

Abigail Hing Wen works at the intersection of storytelling and technology. She is a New York Times Best Selling Author of five novels, producer, director, woman-in-tech leader specializing in artificial intelligence, as well as a mother of two. She writes and speaks about tech, AI ethics, women’s leadership and transforming culture. Abigail penned the New York Times Best Selling and Indie Best Selling novel "Loveboat, Taipei" and its two companion novels. She executive produced the film adaptation of the Paramount Plus original film, "Love in Taipei" starring Ashley Liao (Hunger Games) and Ross Butler (Shazam). Her middle grade debut, "The Vale," has been partially adapted to a short film prequel "The Vale - Origins" starring Lea Salonga. She and her work have been profiled in Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, Bloomberg, Seventeen, Google Talk, People, People en Espanol, South China Morning Post and the World Journal, among others.

Co-sponsored by the library and Labyrinth Books.

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