Summer Edward Joins Faculty of the Community College of Vermont
April 29, 2024 | 8:28am
Summer Edward has joined the faculty of the Community College of Vermont as an adjunct professor. She will be teaching the Children’s Literature course (a survey of historical and contemporary literature for children) in the college's Early Childhood Education program. A firm believer in the unlimited potential of community colleges to produce graduates who have just as much to offer the world as graduates of traditional state and private institutions, Edward will bring her fifteen years of wide-ranging experience in the children's literature field (including her expertise in Caribbean literature for young readers) to the classroom.
Recap: Fall & Winter 2023
January 2, 2024 | 10:00am
Summer curated annotated Caribbean children’s booklists (listicles) for School Library Journal, Horn Book Magazine, KidLit TV, and the nonprofit organization Teaching for Change (Social Justice Books). Access the booklists here.
The Wonder of the World Leaf was featured on Caribbean Media Award-winning talk show Penny on Point. Watch here (54:00 minute mark).
Summer is serving a 12-month stint at The Horn Book Magazine in the dual roles of Consulting Editor and maternity/bonding leave cover for Managing Editor Cynthia K. Ritter. She is enjoying being a part of the team led by Elissa Gershowitz.
The Repair Campaign, created by Chairman of Digicel Denis O’Brien in solidarity with the CARICOM Reparations Commission, secured permission to repost Summer’s editorial, titled “Emancipating Caribbean Children’s Literature” on their website. Read it here. The editorial was originally published in Anansesem in 2017.
Two never-before-published poems penned by Summer will appear in the forthcoming anthology Tengo Sed: I am Thirsty, An Anthology of Works Celebrating Black Voice, Identity and Personhood, a multi-genre collection of literary works edited by Dr. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere and Dr. Yndia Lorick-Wilmot. The book will be published by University of Illinois Press in 2025.
Summer is writing reading passages (fiction and nonfiction) for a student coursebook to be designed and published by McGraw Hill. The coursebook will be a key component of McGraw Hill's forthcoming New Literacy curriculum.
Check out the new photo gallery on Summer’s website here!
And stay tuned for the cover reveal of her upcoming children's book, The Neighborhood Band, to be published by Heinemann this Spring.
Endorsements for The Breadfruit Bonanza
February 18, 2023 | 9:00am
Summer Edward has been named a Breadfruit Champion by the Breadfruit People network (which operates under the umbrella of the Pacific Island Farmers Organization Network) in recognition of her children’s book, The Breadfruit Bonanza. Read Summer’s Breadfruit Champion interview here.
Mary and Mike McLaughlin, founders of the Trees That Feed Foundation; Dr. Laura Roberts-Nkrumah, a Trinbagonian crop scientist known for her pioneering work with breadfruit; and Ian Kennedy, founder of the Breadfruit People Network, have all endorsed The Breadfruit Bonanza. Read what they said about the book here (“Praise & Reviews”).
The Wonder of the World Leaf Lands in Libraries and Independent Bookshops
February 14, 2023 | 9:00am
The Wonder of the World Leaf is starting to make its way into the public library system; you can now borrow the book at the Dayton Metro Library (Ohio), the Birmingham Public Library (Alabama), the Free Library of Philadelphia (Thanks to children's material selectors Mônica Carnesi and Jeff Bullard for advocating for the book), the Bank Street College Library, and the Toronto Public Library in Ontario, Canada.
Also, the book is now available at the brick-and-mortar independent bookstores listed below. This list will be updated periodically as the book makes its way onto more and more retail shelves. Note: The book may be temporarily out of stock is some bookstores; if so, please contact the bookseller to see if they can place a restock order.
If your local indie bookstore doesn't carry The Wonder of the World Leaf, it may be because they don't know where to order copies of the book. Please direct them to the book's U.S. distributor, Trafalgar Square Publishing (not to be confused with Trafalgar Square Books). Trafalgar Square Publishing falls under the umbrella of the Independent Publishers Group (IPG). Bookstore owners can contact Alayna Parsons-Valles at IPG to place an order:
Independent Publishers Group (IPG)
Phone number: (800)-888-4741
email: orders@ipgbook.com
Or, they can order copies directly from the book's publisher, Collins, by emailing David Wright or phoning customer service:
Collins
Customer service phone number: +44 141 306 3100
Email: David.Wright@harpercollins.co.uk
Note: Ordering from Collins means the books will be shipped from the UK via DHL courier service.
BOOKSTORES THAT CARRY THE WONDER OF THE WORLD LEAF
Caribbean
Anguilla – Coral Reef Bookstore | email: coralreefbooks@anguillanet.com
Antigua – The Best of Books Bookstore | email: barbaraarrindell@yahoo.com
The Bahamas – Bookworld & Stationers Ltd. | email: deronwong@yahoo.com
Barbados – Days Bookstore | email: bookorders@daysbookstore.com
Belize – The Book Center | email: books@btl.net
Bermuda – Bermuda Bookstore | email: sales@bookstore.bm
British Virgin Islands – Island Services (BVI) Ltd. | email: nelda.farrington@islandservicesbvi.com
Dominica – Jays Limited | email: jays@cwdom.dm
Grenada – Standard Bookshop | email: standardbookshop@spiceisle.com
Guyana – Austin’s Book Services | email: lloydaustingy@gmail.com
Jamaica – Premier Choice Books | email: premierchoicebooks@gmail.com
St. Kitts – School Apex Cooperative Society Ltd. | email: schoolsapex@gmail.com
Nevis – Pen & Paper Bookstore | email: simpli.put@gmail.com
St. Lucia - Nathaniel’s Books Limited | email: petflav@hotmail.com
St. Vincent - Gaymes Book Centre | email: gaymesbookcentre@gmail.com
Trinidad and Tobago - Keith Khan's Books Etc. | email: khaliedkhan.booksetc@gmail.com
Turks and Caicos – New Age Book Centre | email: newage174@yahoo.com
United Kingdom
The Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
USA
A Likely Story Bookstore in Sykesville, Maryland
An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café in Plainville, Massachusetts
Barrett Bookstore in Darien, Connecticut
Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois
Bookmarks Bookshop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colorado
Buxton Village Books in Buxton, North Carolina
Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona
Eight Cousins Bookshop in Falmouth, Massachusetts
Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire
Kicks Mix Bookstore in Newark, Ohio
Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont and Saratoga Springs, New York
Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
Otto Bookstore in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Readmore Books in Taunton, Massachusetts
The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont
Australia
Better Read Than Dead in Newtown, Australia
Please support independent bookshops; without them, many writers would not have careers, and as cultural and intellectual hubs they add so much value and well-being to the community beyond selling books.