An Author Night showcasing “Ali’s Bees,” an award-winning 2017 book and play by Dr. Bruce Olav Solheim, will be presented in the South Pasadena Public Library Community Room on Thursday, June at 6 p.m.   The free event for students, family members, friends, and everyone else will open with a talented group of young actors performing a few scenes from “Ali’s Bees” that will bring the story to life. Their half hour performance will be followed by a presentation with author/playwright Solheim, the book’s illustrator Gabby Untermayerova, a beekeeping scientist, and a representative from the Council on American Islamic Relations. An interactive Q & A with the audience by the panelists will conclude the event.

“Ali’s Bees” has won a Silver Medal from the 2017 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards competition and is “Indie Reader Approved.” “Ali’s Bees” has been accorded consistently glowing reviews on “Amazon” and “Goodreads” and has been featured in the “Pasadena Star-News” and “VVA Veterans Magazine.” Dr. Bruce Olav Solheim, the author/playwright, is a U.S. Army veteran and a Distinguished Professor of History at Citrus College in Glendora, CA.

Ali, a young Iraqi boy loses his parents in the Iraq War and comes to live with his beekeeper grandfather in America. Ali must learn to make new friends, deal with conflict and bullying, heal from wartime trauma, and learn to pay the strange game of baseball. More importantly, Ali inherits a love of honeybees from his grandfather and works to help save them. “Ali’s Bees” (the play and the book) deals with the essential themes of tolerance, forgiveness, conflict resolution, and the far-reaching benefits of cooperation.

Free parking is available in the South Pasadena Unified School District lot at 1020 El Centro Street (entrance from Fairview Avenue between El Centro and Mission) and after noon at the Mission Meridian Parking Garage located at 805 Meridian Avenue adjacent to the Metro Gold Line Station, only one block from the Library.Upon request made no later than four (4) business days before the event, the City will provide a reasonable accommodation for a qualified person with a disability to have equal access to the event. Please contact ADA Coordinator and Human Resources Manager, Mariam Lee Ko, at (626) 403-7312 or fill out the City’s request form available at www.southpasadenaca.gov and email the form to Human Resources at HR@southpasadenaca.gov.

The Community Room is located at 1115 El Centro Street. No tickets or reservations are necessary and refreshments will be served. The free event is presented by the South Pasadena Public Library and the Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library. Copies of “Ali’s Bees” will be available for purchase at the discounted price of $9 each at the autograph table. Special thanks to 210eastsound.