Join us for a pre-order party for Holding On!

Happy Philippine Independence Day, everyone!

It feels like an auspicious day to share our pre-order kickoff event for my US debut picture book Holding On, written by me and illustrated by Filipino illustrator Isabel Roxas. It’s the first Filipino picture book to be published by Simon & Schuster under its children’s imprint Atheneum – and we’re so excited to share it with all of you! Hopefully this is just the first of many stories from more Filipino/Filipinx creators everywhere.

It’s such an honor for us to begin our book’s journey at the storied Philippine Expressions Bookshop, which is the oldest and longest-running Filipino-American bookshop in the US, especially because this is their last year of operations. We feel so privileged to be a part of their history.

We hope you can join us for a pre-order party and story time live in person and streamed live online via zoom this Saturday, June 25, 2022, from 3:00 - 6:00 PM PST (streamed event starts at 3:30-5:00 pm- Pacific/ 6:30-8:00 pm - Eastern) at Philippine Expressions Bookshop, 479 W 6th St. Suite 105, San Pedro, CA 90731. There will be a reading, a Q&A between me and Isabel, OPM karaoke, among many other fun things! Please join us, and share this post with family and friends in LA!

Please know that this is a pre-order event, which means you’ll be ordering the book in advance of its actual release on August 30, 2022. Pre-orders are so important for new authors like me because a book’s pre-order quantity helps indicate a book’s success, helps retailers gauge their initial orders, and tells the publisher that stories like ours have a place in the market. If you are comfortably able to do so, please do pre-order or ask your local library to pre-order from Philippine Expressions here: