Gallery
I love hearing from young readers! Seven-year-old Wesley wrote a report on gorillas, and used "Angela & Lulingu" as a reference. Wesley's grandmother sent in these pics. I hope he got an A+!!
"Angela & Lulingu: Two Gorillas, A World Apart" earned not one, not two, but three awards! In April 2024, I traveled to Denver for the Ben Franklin Awards, which are given by the Independent Book Publishers Association. My book earned a silver award in the "Young Reader, Nonfiction" category. (I didn't mind second place since the gold winner in the category went to my good friend, Georgeanne Irvine, for her amazing "Teaching Tornero: The True Story of a Sloth Superstar"!) Then, in June, my book did take home a gold (including a shiny medal) at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards ceremony in San Diego. Finally, the book was honored with a Nautilus Book Award, earning silver in the Middle Grade Non-Fiction (ages 8-12) category.
I've written dozens of books about animals but this is the first that has been offered for sale in the L.A. Zoo gift shop. Of course, that's because the Zoo's own gorilla toddler, Angela, is one of the stars of the book! It's fun to stroll past the shops while I'm at work and see people checking out the book.
With Dig It: Dinosaurs coauthor, Corinna Bechko, at the dueling dinos exhibit at the Natural History Museum of L.A. County (left), where the book is on prominent display in the gift shop (right)!
Signing at the SCBWI booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books in April 2019.
Reading and signing books with special guest rescue pups at Flintridge Books in La Canada on Independent Bookseller Day in 2018.