Disney's New Award Winning Author Launches "Pop-In" Book Tour

NEW YORK - Dec. 18, 2018 - PRLog -- Disney author Leslie C. Youngblood's, debut middle-grade novel, "Love Like Sky," has been recognized by the prestigious Kirkus Reviews as one of "Best Middle-Grade Family Story for 2018" and is among "This Season's Must-Have Books for Young Readers" according to Barnes & Noble.  Along with those noted accolades, Atlanta Parent Magazine and the prestigious Penn Graduate School of Education named it one of "Best Books of 2018 for Young Readers."

"Love Like Sky," unfolds the narrative of Georgie as she navigates her new "blended up" family.  With this, Georgie sets out to find her place, with both of her parents remarried and a new teenage stepsister she'll do anything to win over.  Yet, when a devastating illness strikes her sister, Georgie will do whatever it takes to make her better, and bring her modern family together.

After hundreds of query letters and nearly many rejections letters, the tenacious Youngblood, signed a two-books deal with Disney-Hyperion for "Love Like Sky" and its sequel slated for 2019.  A former Atlanta Tribune Columnist, Youngblood was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, and grew up in Rochester, New York.  She holds a BA from Georgia State University and earned an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  She spent several years as an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, lectured at Mississippi State University, UNC-Greensboro, and the University of Ghana at Legon in West Africa.

Youngblood has been awarded a host of writing honors, including a 2014 Yaddo's Elizabeth Ames Residency, the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Prize, a Hurston Wright Fellowship, and the Room of Her Own Foundation's 2009 Orlando Short Story Prize.  In 2010, she won the Go On Girl! Book Club Aspiring Writer Award.  Her short stories have appeared in the Indiana Review, Kweli Journal, and the Best of Kweli.

When asked what she'd do if she wasn't writing, she states, "The only Plan B I ever had was working on my Plan A: Write. Agent. Deal. Now that I've achieved that, it is even more important to encourage other writers not to give up. We are all in need of stories that allow us to step into another person's shoes for lessons on how to navigate through our own circumstances.  Books can not only heal the writer but the world."

Youngblood will embark upon a mini book tour to promote the lauded "Love Like Sky," whose cover illustration from artist, Vashti Harrison, is engaging social media.  The tour starts December 15th in Atlanta and continues through February 2019 to celebrate and honor Black History Month.  Readers can follow Leslie's journey via her social medial channels: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook; get dates, times, and updates on Georgie; and, to request a dedicated book signing venue and date.

For additional information, contact Kirk Shannon-Butts at 917.545.4360 or kirk@flickeria.com.