Monica Wesolowska In-Store Book Launch

LEO + LEA

A beautiful celebration of friendship, math, and art that honors different ways of seeing and being in the world, masterfully constructed to echo the Fibonacci Sequence, a mathematical series in which each number is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on to infinity!

One boy loves numbers. Everywhere he looks, he sees things to count. His classmates don’t understand counting like he does. A new girl loves patterns. Could she be a friend for Leo? With sensitivity and nuance, this tender friendship story illuminates the beauty in our differences and celebrates our connections to one another. Monica Wesolowska’s text is masterfully constructed to reflect Leo’s love of numbers, while even the color scheme in Kenard Pak’s striking illustrations follows a mathematical progression, bringing an underlying order and tranquility to the story.

• MONICA WESOLOWSKA was inspired by a math-loving child to base the words of this story on a math pattern. Counting as she wrote, Monica followed the Fibonacci sequence into a story of friendship and learned how math connects us all. She is the author of the memoir Holding Silvan: A Brief Life, named a "Best Book of 2013" by The Boston Globe and Library Journal, and a "Lit Pick" by the San Francisco Chronicle. She's a graduate of Reed College and teaches Creative Writing at the University of California Extension. Monica lives with her family in Berkeley, California. You can learn more about her work at monicawesolowska.com.

• KENARD PAK used colors and shapes based on the Fibonacci sequence to create a visual story of a budding friendship that opens with a simple, airy room and blossoms into a full, lush landscape. He is the author and illustrator of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, which received a starred review in The Horn Book, and Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, winner of the 2018 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Illustration. He is also the illustrator of Maud and Grand-Maud by Sara O'Leary; Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper; Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray; The Dinner That Cooked Itself by J. C. Hsyu, and The Fog by Kyo Maclear. He lives in CA and can be found online at pandagun.com.

Signed copies of LEO + LEA are available from Mrs. Dalloway's. Orders can be personalized as well. Please include inscription instructions in the comments field at checkout.

This is a free event though we encourage you to purchase a signed copy of the book through our website or at the event.

PLEASE NOTE: To ensure everyone's safety and enjoyment, pre-registration is required; and attendance will be limited to 40. Proof of vaccination necessary for entrance, and masks will be required during the event.