Fall Virtual Reading Series Kicks Off With “Punching the Air” Authors Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

The American Booksellers Association’s ABC Children’s Group is launching the first event in its consumer-focused fall virtual reading series with authors Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam for their young adult novel, Punching the Air (Balzer + Bray). The four-part book club event on Punching the Air will take place every Wednesday in October at 2:00 p.m. ET on Zoom.

Bookstores that are interested in bringing the free Punching the Air virtual book club to local educators, students, and readers of all ages can share the Eventbrite registration link and utilize the educator guide and other marketing materials available for download on BookWeb.org.

Topics covered during the book club will include:

• My Punches Will Be My Paintbrushes — the importance of art for teens
• The criminalization of Blackness 
• The prison-industrial complex
• The emotional work of social justice

While ABA will coordinate these events for stores to promote, whether a bookstore benefits from them will depend on how much effort it puts into marketing both the event and the store to its customer base. Social media marketing materials created for the event have space available for bookstores to customize with their logos. Marketing materials include:

• Facebook event banner
• Instagram carousel
• Instagram Story slide
• Website image

While promoting these events, booksellers are encouraged to link all materials directly to the book’s purchasing page on their website.

Registration for the free event series is required through Eventbrite; the event link and password will be shared with attendees a few days ahead of the event in a direct email. An attendee will only have to register once for access to the entire four-part series. At the time of registration, attendees will have an opportunity to make a contribution to the Prison Book Program.