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The author is joined by Megan McCafferty to discuss her recently released book "The Siren and the Star." Doors open at 10:45 a.m. for coffee & pastries. The conversation begins at 11 a.m.
Registration requested, but not required.
About the Book (from the publisher): A promising young singer recovers from a traumatic experience by traveling to Venice and connecting with the work of a 17th-century female composer in this novel-in-verse from the acclaimed author of "Call Me Athena."
Introverted and homeschooled, vocal prodigy Luciana “Lula” Gabroni is ready to become the star she’s trained all her life to be. After entering the New England Conservatory of Music, she is immediately chosen to join an elite ensemble of peers who will compete in a prestigious music festival in modern-day Venice, Italy.
Barbara Strozzi is a poor young woman living in 17th-century Venice who dreams of making her mark on the world through her gift of song. She is determined to fight against the prescribed path of an illegitimate servant girl, daring to envision a life filled with intellect, pleasure, and independence—even as the restrictions of her gender and status threaten to silence her forever.
When Lula comes across Barbara’s bold and seductive music in the Conservatory library, she immediately feels a striking kinship with the mysterious female composer. After an incident at school sends Lula searching to reclaim her voice, she soon realizes she must connect with the ghosts of the past to find her heart’s true song once again.
About the Author: Colby Cedar Smith is an award-winning poet, novelist, and educator, and the author of two novels in verse: The Siren and the Star and Call Me Athena. Her work has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, a Cybils Award Poetry Finalist, a Goodreads Choice Best Poetry nominee, a Kids’ Book Choice nominee, Independent Publisher Book Award winner, a Nautilus Award winner, a Michigan Notable Book, and a winner of the Midwest Book Award for YA Fiction. Colby has also been a recipient of the New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. You can find her on Instagram @Colby_Cedar_Smith.
About the Moderator: Megan McCafferty has written about adolescence for two decades. The author of thirteen novels, she is best known for the original Jessica Darling series which was described by the Wall Street Journal as “Judy Blume meets Dorothy Parker.” Before she was a novelist she wrote and edited for Glamour, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan among many other national magazines. Megan lives with her husband and son in Princeton, New Jersey where she works in Youth Services at Princeton Public Library. She has volunteered for HiTOPS and Good Grief and is Princeton University Community Fellow for Mathey College. For more, she’s @mccafferty.megan on Instagram though she mostly uses it to make comments on her favorite podcasts and post news about New Yacht City, the band she is currently singing with.
This event is sponsored by Princeton Federal Credit Union (PFCU) www.princetonfcu.org.
EVENT TYPE: | Author Talks | *Registration Requested |
TAGS: | Fall25Authors |
