For all ages

 Telling your own stories, and the art of collaboration. How to bring forth stories from young and old, and how to work with someone to try to create the best possible pieces.

Alex Dorros first wrote NÚMERO UNO when he was twelve years old, a story about two characters, one with exceptional strength the other with unusual intelligence, and their constant struggle to determine who was more important to their village. His father, Arthur Dorros, saw the story and thought it would make a great picture book. While fully maintaining the original story, the two collaborated on putting it into picture book form. Editing is typically a challenging process for both writers and editors, whether the editor is with a publisher, is a teacher, a friend, or co-writer. Viewed as an opportunity to improve the work and an enhancement to the writing and the writer rather than an affront, it can be a rewarding process for all involved. Through the process the authors sometimes found themselves comically behaving like the characters in the story, yet ultimately discovered ways to work together successfully. Susan Guevara beautifully and thoughtfully illustrated the book, adding yet more layers to the story, the ideal collaboration.

Alex and Arthur have spoken at schools, libraries, and conferences, with enthusiastic responses from audiences of all ages. Young writers, artists, and readers particularly identify with Alex, and all can identify with the art of finding ways to work together to achieve our best.

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For middle-school age through adult

 Being who you are. Finding our way in war or peace. War and conflict are often depicted as being driven by ethnic and or cultural divisions. To some extent, each of us has many pieces to sort out in establishing and resolving our own identity. In our inevitable searches for identity and belonging, decisions can appear straightforward, at other times much more complex or challenging. The results impact individual, family, community lives, and can be used as the drivers for conflicts or for more peaceful existences.

After an illustrated talk offering experiences and stories gathered in extensive research for the novel UNDER THE SUN, which follows the adventurous journey of a teen and family during war in Sarajevo, discussion will focus on thoughts about identity, conflict, and positive actions and alternatives. Among the many affected by conflicts, noncombatants including families and young people often act heroically. In what have been exciting and vibrant discussions, explore issues of personal, family, ethnic and cultural identities, and the incredible resilience of humans along the road.

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