{"id":2687,"date":"2023-09-24T22:02:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T22:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=2687"},"modified":"2023-09-28T11:04:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T18:04:10","slug":"shahi-st-jude","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/event\/shahi-st-jude\/","title":{"rendered":"Speak Now: Arya Shahi & Jen St. Jude"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arya Shahi<\/a>‘s An Impossible Thing to Say <\/i>is\u00a0a bold novel-in-verse starring a Persian American teen navigating his first crush, his family\u2019s post-9\/11 dynamics, and\u00a0<\/em>the role of language in defining who we are. If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come<\/em> is a YA debut from Jen St. Jude<\/a> about queer first love and mental health at the end of the world-and the importance of saving yourself, no matter what tomorrow may hold. Moderated by Aiden Thomas<\/a> (The Sunbearer Trials<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"\"Omid needs the right words to connect with his newly met grandfather and distant Iranian heritage, words to tell a special girl what she means to him and to show everyone that he truly belongs in Tucson, Arizona, the only home he\u2019s ever known. Neither the school play\u2019s Shakespearean English nor his parents\u2019 Farsi seems up to the task, and it\u2019s only when Omid delves into the rhymes and rhythms of rap music that he starts to find his voice. But even as he does so, an act of terrorism transforms familiar accents into new threats.<\/p>\n

Then a family member disappears, and it seems everyone but Omid knows why. When words fail altogether and violence takes their place, what will Omid do next?<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Impossible Thing to Say<\/em>\u00a0is tender, honest, and unforgettable, filled with characters that delight, verses that shine, and moments that took my breath away. Few books have ever made me feel so seen.\u201d
\n\u2014Adib Khorram, award-winning author of\u00a0Darius the Great Is Not Okay<\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Avery Byrne has secrets. She’s queer; she’s in love with her best friend, Cass; and she’s suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression. But on the morning Avery plans to jump into the river near her college campus, the world discovers there are only nine days left to live: an asteroid is headed for Earth, and no one can stop it.<\/p>\n

Trying to spare her family and Cass additional pain, Avery does her best to make it through just nine more days. As time runs out and secrets slowly come to light, Avery would do anything to save the ones she loves. But most importantly, she learns to save herself. Speak her truth. Seek the support she needs. Find hope again in the tomorrows she has left.<\/p>\n

If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come<\/i> is a celebration of queer love, a gripping speculative narrative, and an urgent, conversation-starting book about depression, mental health, and shame.<\/p>\n

“If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come<\/em> is a novel that carves a space in your heart and remains there forever. Breathtakingly written, Jen St. Jude masterfully explores queerness, depression, and shame, while beautifully capturing family, friendship, and love, and the intersections that often exist between these things. Hopeful above all else.”
\n\u2014Rachael Lippincott, New York Times<\/em> bestselling author of\u00a0She Gets the Girl<\/em><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Portland Book Festival General Admission Passes are required for entry into all events.<\/strong>\u00a0Passes<\/a>\u00a0are $15 in advance and $25 day of Festival. Youth 17 & under get in FREE. All full-priced General Admission Passes include a $5 book fair voucher and entry into Portland Art Museum. Passes admit attendees to the Festival; individual events are first-come, first-served. More info\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arya Shahi has written\u00a0a bold novel-in-verse starring a Persian American teen navigating his first crush, his family\u2019s post-9\/11 dynamics, and\u00a0the role of language in defining who we are. Jen St. Jude’s debut from about queer first love and mental health at the end of the world-and the importance of saving yourself, no matter what tomorrow may hold. Moderated by Aiden Thomas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[97],"tribe_events_cat":[66],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/2687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2687"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/2687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2813,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/2687\/revisions\/2813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2687"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxbookfest.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=2687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}