Loyalty is over the moon to host Tracy Badua, Payal Doshi, Van Hoang, and Jessica Kim for Freddie vs. the Family Curse! This panel of amazing authors—moderated by Loyalty's own programs and marketing manager Christine Bollow (aka @readingismagical)—will celebrate the release of Freddie and chat all about writing for a middle grade audience, fantasy, cursed family heirlooms, and more! This event is free to attend and will be held digitally via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the event. You can also order a copy of the book on our website to be automatically added to the registration list, and there will be an option to snag the book during the event.

In this thrilling and hilarious middle grade adventure, a young Filipino-American boy must team up with his ancestor to break the curse that’s haunted their family for generations . . . or be trapped in an amulet forever.

While other people may have bad days, Freddie and his family have had bad generations: from bird poop splatting on him during picture day to the many tumbles and trips that earned him the nickname Faceplant Freddie. He’s learned to lay low and keep himself out of trouble—which means no fun, no friends, and definitely no risks.

But when he discovers a family heirloom, a century-old amulet from the Philippines that’s supposed to bring good fortune, Freddie thinks his luck is finally about to change.

He couldn’t be more wrong. Because the spirit of Freddie’s cranky great-granduncle Ramon is trapped in the heirloom, and the evil spirits responsible for his death have returned with a vengeance. Now, Freddie and his cousin, Sharkey, have thirteen days to break the curse, or Freddie will join Ramon for an untimely afterlife in the amulet.

Tracy Badua is a Filipino American author of books about young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. According to her grandmother, Tracy inherited this love of the written word from her great-grandfather, a school teacher in the Philippines. To Tracy, this means writing is in her blood, and she continues this family tradition by telling stories with her own spin in an accessible, heartfelt way. By day, she is an attorney who works in national housing policy and programs, and by night, she squeezes in writing, family and pup time, and bites of her secret stash of candy. School and work brought her from California to Washington, DC, and back, and she now lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, chatty toddler, and a photogenic Maltese. Tracy serves as an Article Editor for the California Real Property Journal, is a Round 8 mentor for Author Mentor Match and 2021 Pitch Wars mentor, and is actively involved in the Filipino American lawyer community. She was awarded the Conference Choice Award at the 2017 San Diego State University Writers’ Conference. She is represented by Natalie Lakosil of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

Payal Doshi has a Master’s in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York. Having lived in the UK and US, she noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to what would become her first children’s novel. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and daughter. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms to send her characters off into. She loves the smell of old, yellowed books. Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, the first book in The Chronicles of Astranthia series, is her debut middle grade novel.

Van Hoang’s first name is pronounced like the van in minivan. Her last name is pronounced “hah-wawng.” She earned her bachelor’s in English at the University of New Mexico and her master’s in library information science at San Jose State University. She was born in Vietnam, grew in up Orange County, California, and now resides in Los Angeles with her husband, kid, and two dogs. Girl Giant and the Monkey King is her debut novel, with the sequel Girl Giant and the Jade War was released in December, 2021.

Jessica Kim writes about Asian American girls finding their way in the world. Before she was an author, Jessica studied education at UC Berkeley and spent ten years teaching third, fourth, and fifth grades in public schools. Like Yumi, Jessica lives with her family in Southern California and can’t get enough Hot Cheetos, stand-up comedy, and Korean barbecue.

Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during this virtual event.

Tracy Badua, Payal Doshi, Van Hoang, and Jessica Kim for FREDDIE VS. THE FAMILY CURSE