Book Giveaway: ANYA’S SECRET SOCIETY

Illustrator and Author Yevgenia Nayberg debut picture book titled, ANYA’S SECRET SOCIETY, hits bookstores on March 12th. Yevgenia has agreed to share a book with one lucky winner. All you have to do to get in the running is to leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know the other things you do to share the good news, so I can put in the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. Thanks for helping Yevgenia!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Left-handed Anya draws with great passion . . . but only when she’s alone.

In Russia, right-handedness is demanded–it is the right way. This cultural expectation stifles young Anya’s creativity and artistic spirit as she draws the world around her in secret.

Hiding away from family, teachers, and neighbors, Anya imagines a secret society of famous left-handed artists drawing alongside her. But once her family emigrates from Russia to America, her life becomes less clandestine, and she no longer feels she needs to conceal a piece of her identity.

BOOK JOURNEY:

I did not want to write a picture book. I have been illustrating picture books for years, but the idea of writing one did not sit well with me. I was worried about writing in English. I was worried about writing for children. I did not want to adopt a special “children’s voice”, overly cheerful and loud. But when my agent Anna Olswanger suggested that I wrote an autobiographical story, I finally took the plunge.

My character Anya, a left-handed artist, is based on me as a child. Anya is told to use her right hand. She tries and succeeds; however, she never learns to draw with her right hand. Her left hand becomes her special drawing hand. Although this is a true story- my story, I was using a left hand only as a metaphor. I was much more interested in Anya’s imaginary world.

I was surprised that it was the lefty story that resonated the most with editors and, eventually, the readers. Just like any other book, Anya’s Secret Society begins a life of its own, and I have no power over it.  I have always translated words into images, and now for the first time, I’m doing the opposite. I think I am slowly finding a voice of my own. I also feel so lucky that I got to draw all the things that I love: my hometown, Kiev, my adopted hometown, New York City, and many artists, big and small.

YEVGENIA’s BIO:

Yevgenia Nayberg is an illustrator, painter, and set and costume designer. Her illustrations have appeared in magazines and picture books, and on theatre posters, music albums, and book covers; her paintings, drawings, and illustrations are held in private collections worldwide. As a set and costume designer, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts/TCG Fellowship for Theatre Designers, the Independent Theatre Award and the Arlin Meyer Award.

In 2018 she received a Sydney Taylor Silver Medal for her illustrations for Drop by Drop by Jaqueline Jules.

Her next book, Typewriter,will be published in 2020. She lives in New York City.

Thank you Yevgenia for sharing your book and journey with us. I love your artwork. This book looks gorgeous. Just found out that you are illustrating Laurie Wallmark’s next book. Can’t wait to see what you do with it. And I look forward to featuring you on Illustrator Saturday. 

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy