Around 50 people attended Catalyst’s first anniversary party at Towne Center Books in Pleasanton, California, a few miles away from Catalyst’s Livermore headquarters. Three musicians from Cheza Nami came to make music, representing Africa from the west coast to the east coast. We sang and danced, drank wine and ate cheese and cake, and talked books. I spoke briefly for about 15 minutes, talking about why I started Catalyst and fielding questions from the audience. The most embarrassing, asked by my 8-year-old son, was the following: Which book is your favorite? Since one of my authors, Caroline Kurtz, was in the audience, I didn’t feel like I could really answer that! Instead, I talked about two books that I have published which I feel are really important books to be out in the world: The Lion’s Binding Oath and Other Stories by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf and Shaka Rising: Legend of the Warrior Prince.
I am proud to have published Ahmed’s book because we in America need to know more about Somalia. We have welcomed half a million—or more—refugees from Somalia but we still view many of these refugees with suspicion. Further, we are embroiled in the conflict there and have dropped many bombs in Somalia through drones. I think that book is a really important one to contribute to the national conversation around these issues. With Shaka Rising, I am really proud that now we are offering teachers something they can use in the classroom to really include Africa in their units on world history and geography; but besides that, it’s just a great adventure tale and graphic novel that kids will pick up for themselves.
I also read a brief excerpt from Under Water, my own newest novel, which is set in South Africa. Cinco Puntos has published Under Water, a sequel to my 2011 novel This Thing Called the Future, also set in South Africa. I was exhausted at the end of the night BUT very glad for all the people who clearly love me and love Catalyst and came out to support the press and cheer us on as we go into our second year!
