Cleveland Pride

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Cleveland, Ohio – June 4, 2009 – Joseph-Beth Booksellers will host an in-store event to benefit Cleveland Pride at Legacy Village, 24519 Cedar Rd., Lyndhurst, OH 44124. Former Ohioan Rakesh Satyal will discuss and sign his new book, Blue Boy at 2:00 pm. Also, autographed copies of Sprout, the latest young adult release from author Dale Peck, will be available. By mentioning your intent to support Cleveland Pride at the register, a portion of the proceeds of all purchases in the bookstore and Bronte Bistro throughout the day will be donated back to Cleveland Pride by Joseph-Beth.

This event is free and open to the public.

About The Author
RAKESH SATYAL graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing from Princeton University, where he won the 2002 Ward Mathis Prize for best short story written by an undergraduate. He has been published in a variety of anthologies, including the Lambda Award-winning The Man I Might Become: Gay Men Write About Their Fathers and the second volume of the Fresh Men series, which featured an introduction by Andrew Holleran.

Rakesh is currently an editor at HarperCollins, where he edits such authors as international superstar Paulo Coelho, horror maestro Clive Barker, beloved novelist Armistead Maupin, and humorist Paul Rudnick. He is also on the planning committee of the PEN World Voices Festival and speaks frequently at writers’ conferences.

In his spare time, Rakesh sings jazz music. His act with noted publishing figure Jonathan Burnham, “Rocky and Johnny,” was featured on Page Six and the New York Observer and mentioned in The New Yorker, New York, the New York Times, and Time Out. Due to his trifecta of editing-writing-singing, Rakesh was featured in the 2005 book The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine, a guide to balancing one’s various interests and hobbies. Rakesh is also a bona fide foreign language nerd and budding chef.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rakesh now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

About Blue Boy
Meet Kiran Sharma: lover of music, dance, and all things sensual; son of immigrants, social outcast, spiritual seeker. A boy who doesn’t quite understand his lot — until he realizes he’s a god…

As an only son, Kiran has obligations — to excel in his studies, to honor the deities, to find a nice Indian girl, and, above all, to make his mother and father proud — standard stuff for a boy of his background. If only Kiran had anything in common with the other Indian kids besides the color of his skin. They reject him at every turn, and his cretinous public schoolmates are no better. Cincinnati in the early 1990’s isn’t exactly a hotbed of cultural diversity, and Kiran’s not-so-well-kept secrets don’t endear him to any group. Playing with dolls; choosing ballet over basketball; taking the annual talent show way too seriously…the very things that make Kiran who he is also make him the star of his own personal freak show…

Surrounded with examples of upstanding Indian Americans — in his own home, in his temple, at the weekly parties given by his parents’ friends — Kiran nevertheless finds it impossible to get the knack of “normalcy.” And then one fateful day, a revelation: perhaps his desires aren’t too earthly, but too divine. Perhaps the solution to the mystery of his existence has been before him since birth. For Kiran Sharma, a long, strange trip is about to begin — a journey so sublime, so ridiculous, so painfully beautiful, that it can only lead to the truth…

About Dale Peck
DALE PECK is the author of the Drift House novels for intermediate readers as well as many critically acclaimed novels and books of essays for adults, including Martin and John and Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye. He lives in New York City.

About Sprout
Sprout Bradford has a secret. It’s not what you think—he’ll tell you he’s gay. He’ll tell you about his dad’s drinking and his mother’s death. The green fingerprints everywhere tell you when he last dyed his hair. But neither the reader nor Sprout are prepared for what happens when Sprout suddenly finds he’s had a more profound effect on the lives around him than he ever thought possible. Sprout is both hilarious and gripping; a story of one boy at odds with the expected.

For more information about this and other community programs or author events at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, call 216.691.7000 or visit www.josephbeth.com.