Kwame Mbalia is a husband, father, writer, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a former pharmaceutical metrologist, and the publisher of Freedom Fire—an imprint from Disney-Hyperion, featuring stories of Black resilience and joy. His debut middle grade novel, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, was a New York Times bestseller and awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheezits. His latest book, co-written with Erin Entrada Kelly, is On Again, Awkward Again.
Book Festival Author
Kwame Mbalia
More About Kwame Mbalia
-
On Again, Awkward Again
The laugh-out-loud YA romance by two award-winning and bestselling authors that’s perfect for fans of "To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before" or "When Dimple Met Rishi"
When Pacy Mercado and Cecil Holloway spot each other during the first week of freshman year, it’s love at first sight. Well, more like love at first fleeting, injury-riddled glance, since the moment is ruined thanks to clumsiness and a criminal case of IBS.
Despite their total lack of game, Pacy and Cecil are drawn to each other. Seven seconds of eye contact turns into days of yearning and stress as they make the mistake of following misguided advice from their friends, dysfunctional families, and strangers on the internet.
But the universe conspires to bring Pacy and Cecil together when they both end up on the WADS committee to plan the freshman dance (that’s Wakeville’s Awesome Décor Society, if you must know).
As they spend more time together, they realize that the other person might be just what they need . . . that is, if they can figure out how to be themselves and embrace the mishaps, mistakes, and hilariously awkward interactions that make up their imperfectly perfect love story.
