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Author Talk: Black Shield Maiden with Willow Smith

Know Your Power

The MLK Library is thrilled to host singer, songwriter, and activist Willow Smith on her debut book, Black Shield Maiden in partnership with MahoganyBooks.

A riveting science fiction fantasy novel steeped in African roots and Viking lore, Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith and Jess Hendel is a powerful and groundbreaking historical saga about an African warrior in the war of Vikings.

We are looking forward to you joining us for this powerful conversation. The DC Public Library Foundation is supporting this program by donating copies of the book to select attendees. Register for your chance to attend and learn more about the book below. (The KNOWYOURPOWER24 tickets are now sold out.)

Event guidelines are subject to change.

• Books will be pre-signed.
• Parking is limited. Ridesharing highly encouraged.
• Note: all books must be picked up at our National Harbor location within two weeks of the event date. Those not retrieved will be donated to a local organization.
• Photographs may be taken during the event WITHOUT FLASH.

An ASL Interpreter will be available for this event.

For reasonable accommodations, please contact the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov. 

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Black Shield Maiden

Lore, legend, and history tell us of the Vikings: warrior kings on epic journeys of conquest and plunder. But the stories we know are not the only stories to tell. There is another story, one that has been lost to the mists of time: the saga of the dark queen.

This saga begins with Yafeu, a defiant yet fiercely compassionate young warrior who is stolen from her home in the flourishing Ghānaian empire and taken to a distant kingdom in the North. There she is thrust into a strange, cold world of savage shield maidens, tyrannical rulers, and mysterious gods.

Yafeu may have lost her home, but she still knows who she is, and she’s not afraid to be the flame that burns a city to the ground so a new world can rise from the ashes. She will alter the course of history—and become the revolutionary heroine of her own myth.

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