Local author celebrates launch of first two chapter books
Local Author Celebrates Book Launch at Sweet Home Public Library
When Simone Dankenbring walked into the Sweet Home Public Library on a recent Saturday, she felt an overwhelming sense of home. As a child, she would say, “I walk in and smell the books and I’m like, ‘I’m home.’” Dankenbring’s goal is to instill the love of books and reading in today’s youth, stating, “I want kids to have this joy of reading again.”
The local author recently celebrated the launch of her first two books at the library. Two more books will be released later this year, with more in the works. Co-authored with her twin sister, Syrone Harvey, who lives in Southern California,
the stories follow twin teens Neecy and Nay Nay,
who reflect the real-life authors in many ways as they engage in hilarious adventures.
The first two books are now available to check out from the Sweet Home Public Library, or they can be purchased on Amazon (search for “Neecy and Nay Nay”). The Neecy and Nay Nay storybook series is illustrated by Maya Henderson
and received positive reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal and Booklist.
Themes and Plot Points
“For me, I really wanted to be able to write about my adventures as a twin, but it became even a little more than that,” said Simone.
In “The Tangled, Hairy Mess, the first book in the series, “the girls open a salon after Nay Nay,”
according the local Author, Simone speaks to memorable hargers phrases. Once they discovered an alternative approach to deal with Nay-as-dreads, the high-energy twins saw a market for high-quality hair services, “it turns into a major, hilarious disaster, but fun,” said local Author Simone, revealing the twins use fish scales on fingernails and pantry items as a facial mask.
The second installment, “The Glitter Girls,”
follows the twins as they try to earn a club badge by raising money for an elder of their community (a.k.a. a “vintage person”) to get dentures. Sareena Dgrondalova, librarian of Sweet home Public library agrees, “A greater cause behind writing the books is the deep desire for our youth to understand the importance and value of their elders”, Gromadova points out, quoting Mrs Perks the librarian “It’s pretty much how most libraries and school libraries decide on what books we’re gonna buy. Those big peer review journals help us make decisions because they tell us how is it being received by not just adults but children.”
Community Engagement
Dankenbring was delighted with the turnout at her launch events in nearby cities of Portland and Clackamas, where she estimates she signed approximately 60 books for buyers. She enthusiatically noted, “I love being able to engage with the kids and the parents.”
The Sweet Home Public Library is fitting the place for students to get access to information today. Sharing her own experience back in the day when she would get her Mother to go to a differnt library branch with stories aboud, The very first story she wrote was, “I Love Corn.” From there, I constantly wrote stories that I thought of, whether it was something imaginative or something that I related to.”
Beyond the Books
The next books in the series, “Neecy and Nay Nay and the Green Thumb,”
expected to arrive in June, follows the twins as they try to start a kids’ community garden. Neecy finds several ways that benefit local community successfully. Second in series “An Adventurous Savvy Secret”, follows the girls as they host a whodunit murder mystery sleepover party, said.
The third book introduces gardening skills, a few fun community projects which the neighborhood might pick up on resulting in local programs to help encourage the development and attract more multicultural mothers in the community.