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June 21 – 27, 2010 Edition Riverhead Campaign Benefits Kahaled Hosseini Foundation
New York, New York/Authorlink News–Riverhead Trade Paperbacks, a division of Penguin Group (USA), announced today a campaign to raise money for The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit organization started by the author of the internationally bestselling novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns to aid the people of Afghanistan.
Inspired by readers around the world who have embraced and shared Hosseinis beloved novels, the Picture a Book Changing Lives campaign invites people to submit up to two still photos of themselves reading or holding a copy of either The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns. For each eligible photo uploaded to the Hosseini group page of the Penguin Group (USA) website, Riverhead will donate $2.00 (up to a maximum $25,000 donation) to The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. Starting now through August 31st (11:59:59pm ET), people can visit www.penguin.com/community/hosseini, join the Hosseini group, and upload their pictures.
Khaled Hosseinis books have changed the way many around the world picture Afghanistan, so its a great opportunity to give his readers a way to help raise money that will benefit the people of that country, said Geoffrey Kloske, Vice President and Publisher of Riverhead Books.
The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan by supporting projects which provide shelter to refugee families and economic and educational opportunities for women and children. In addition, the Foundation awards scholarships to students who have migrated to the United States under refugee status and women pursuing higher education in Afghanistan.
Very often, the readers of my books send me letters to inquire how they can help people in Afghanistan. Now with the Picture a Book Changing Lives campaign, they can directly impact Afghan lives, particularly those of women and children. I am grateful to Riverhead for launching this wonderful program and I thank the participants in advance for their desire to make a change in Afghanistan, said Khaled Hosseini.
Photos submitted before the end of the campaign will be available to view at Penguin Groups new online community. Eligibility requirements include: residency in the fifty United States, the District of Columbia or U.S. territories and possessions, ages 18 and older, and photographers permission. Complete rules and details for Picture a Book Changing Lives can be found online at www.penguin.com/pictureabookrules.
In 2008, money donated by Riverhead Trade Paperbacks to the UN Refugee Agency paid for the construction of a six-classroom primary school in the village of Arababshirali in Kunduz Province. The donation was made in the name of more than 350 booksellers, librarians, and educators across the United States whose support helped make Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to the United States in 1980. The Kite Runner, his first novel, is an international bestseller, published in more than 40 countries. His second novel, the #1 national bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in 2007. In 2006 Hosseini was named a U.S. goodwill envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency. He lives in Northern California.
Inspired by a 2007 trip that Khaled Hosseini made to Afghanistan as a Goodwill Envoy for the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), The Khaled Hosseini Foundation was created the following year. The Foundation has provided funds that resulted in the completion of more than 100 UNHCR shelters, helped build schools and support teachers in Afghanistan, and awarded a scholarship to a student at the University of California-Berkeley who entered the U.S. under adverse circumstances. Find out more at www.khaledhosseinifoundation.org.
Riverhead Books, a distinguished and critically acclaimed imprint of Penguin Group (USA), is home to many New York Timesbestselling and award-winning authors, including Khaled Hosseini, Junot Díaz, Kathleen Norris, James McBride, Daniel Pink, Nick Hornby, Sarah Vowell, Shalom Auslander, Dinaw Mengestu, and Aleksandar Hemon, among others.
Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and childrens trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnams Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.
