Award-Winning Author, Jane Kurtz, Celebrates Planet Jupiter Release with Local Event & Blog Tour

PORTLAND, Ore. - April 21, 2017 - PRLog -- Award-winning author Jane Kurtz is celebrating the release of her new book, Planet Jupiter, with an event May 16, 2017, at 7pm at Annie Bloom's Books in Portland. Honoring the theme of music and busking in the book, she will be joined by special musical guests Colette and Madelaine Parry. Additionally, Kurtz is going on blog tour May 7-13, 2017. Blog tours allow authors/illustrators, students, educators and book lovers to connect "virtually" through interviews on websites, podcasts, blog sites and on-line radio shows.

"I can't wait to share this new middle grade novel with the city it celebrates," Kurtz says. "Of course Portland is packed with buskers. And I know my fellow Portlanders are also passionate (as I am) about pollinators and native plants and…okay…maybe even eating bugs. A couple of years ago when my yard was certified as a Backyard Habitat, I knew I had to weave plants and birds and bees and butterflies into a book for our younger citizens. Now that feels more urgent and important than ever!"

ABOUT Author Jane Kurtz

Jane Kurtz, author of more than thirty books for young readers, was born in Portland, Oregon, but her parents moved to Ethiopia when she was two-years-old. Her volunteer work with literacy there led to her connections with parents who've adopted children from Ethiopia, one of the threads of her new book. She's now rooted in Portland again (literally…she has turned her yard into a certified Backyard Habitat). From here, she travels to speak nationally and internationally and to teach in the Vermont College MFA in Children's and YA Literature. For more information, check www.janekurtz.com or follow her on Twitter at @janekurtz (https://twitter.com/janekurtz).