We Are Not Alone

About the Book

At the beginning of the story, a young girl wakes up in her room, filled with bright sunlight, dreams and good memories. On her table, she sees a calendar with red circles around almost all days, meaning that there are just a few days left until Halloween. The girl has been waiting for this holiday since the beginning of the month. She is dreaming of wearing her new Halloween costume, going trick-a-treating and having fun… Suddenly, she hears a strange noise from downstairs. When she comes downstairs to check what makes that noise, she finds her family packing for evacuation. The girl also finds out that Hurricane Sandy is approaching their seaside community. What happens next and how the hurricane changes the girl’s life and her community, you can find out by reading this book. The author created We Are Not Alone based on her family’s experience during Hurricane Sandy. Right after the disaster struck her neighborhood, the girl wrote down notes in her diary and used them later for writing this story. Full of original illustrations and heart-touching details, this book reveals true feelings of people who were impacted by the hurricane. The author says, “I found it important to tell the story of suffering, hope and spirit of my neighbors in words and pictures.” So the book is dedicated to anyone affected by Sandy and those who came to help. The central idea of the book is the importance of being together, supporting each other in good and bad times, helping people deal with their emotions and letting them know that they are not alone.

About the Author

Amelia Samoylov lives with her parents and brother in the seaside community Sea Gate, which is located in Brooklyn, New York. At age of seven, Amelia visited an exhibition where she got inspired by creativity of young artists. Since then, she has always spent some time sketching and drawing things that surrounded her. In her free time, she likes to draw, play the piano and read books. Amelia prefers science-fi ction and historical literature and even has her own book collection at home. She believes that reading plays a very important role in her life. It also improves her imagination and teaches her how to see and understand the world. Most of all, Amelia likes to spend time with her family. “The process of making this book made me realize that I really want to write and draw more books,” said Amelia.