On Saturday, April 16, th President Obama’s sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng braved the harsh wind and rain to visit Hooray For Books.An impressive crowd, including Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille, gathered to listen to the author read from and speak about her new picture book, Ladder to The Moon.
“It’s about remembering that we are interconnected,” the author said of her book’s general theme. “[Doing] good things sends gentle ripples,” Soetoro-Ng said.
And indeed, healing, togetherness and finding strength are the central elements of Soetoro-Ng’s lyrical, poetic tale. The story, which was written as a tribute to the author’s mother, describes a magical event in which Soetoro-Ng’s daughter meets and shares an illuminating night with her late grandmother.Containing elements of magic realism and folklore, Ladder to The Moon imagines the young child and her grandmother as, together, they heal the sorrows of the world.
With a smooth, velvety, storyteller’s voice, Maya Soetoro-Ng read selected passages from her book, stopping to remark that her daughter’s favorite part is that she gets to drink silver moon juice in one of the pictures.
“Young people have the power to heal and help” the author said. “My hope is that this book is the beginning of conversations between parents and children, teachers and students.”
The book’s title references a mesmerizing Georgia O’Keeffe painting by the same name that affected the author when she saw it.
Both the painting, and the book hold the same evocative qualities.
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