An Evening with Sunny Hostin

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An Evening with Sunny Hostin

Moderated by filmmaker and JBFC Board Member Melissa Haizlip

Spend an evening with The View’s Sunny Hostin as she talks about her latest book Summer on Highland Beach.

Sunny’s mission to make beach reads more inclusive is a long-overdue call to action in a genre that has historically neglected representation and diversity. Her passion for creating a series that not only reflects her own experiences but also provides an opportunity for readers to see themselves in beach reads is paving the way for the literary landscape.

The latest book in her beach reads trilogy, Summer on Highland Beach, is set within the oldest Black resort community in America. Inside this proud and secluded beach community of about 100 private homes is Olivia Jones’s legacy. But Oliva’s legacy comes with thorns—intertwined are secrets of her aunt’s death; a controlling grandmother who is determined to crush anyone or anything that will interfere with her son’s political career; and a father who wants to rebuild the family he rejected decades ago. In the midst of tense family drama, Olivia must decide if she wants to return to the beautiful life she’s created in Sag Harbor—with the neighbors and wonderful man who’ve become central to her happiness—or finally achieve her dream of having a family and home to call her own in Highland Beach. An awakening, spirited novel, Summer on Highland Beach celebrates family, friendship, and community and reminds us of the importance of the legacies of our collective past and finding one’s way in the world.

Each ticket includes a signed copy of Summer on Highland Beach.

PAST EVENTS

An Evening with Sunny Hostin, moderated by Melissa Haizlip
Tuesday, Jul. 16 2024, 7:15
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  • Sunny Hostin is a four-time Emmy Award-winning legal journalist, two-time New York Times bestselling author, and co-host of The View. On May 2, 2023, Sunny released the second book in her “Summer” trilogy, Summer on Sag Harbor, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. In May 2021, Hostin released her debut novel, Summer on the Bluffs (William Morrow), which skyrocketed to #11 on The New York Times Bestseller List and is currently being adapted into a series as the first major project for Sunny Hostin Productions alongside Octavia Spencer’s Orit Entertainment for Amazon MGM Studios. The third novel in the series, Summer on Highland Beach was released on May 28, 2024. In the fall of 2020, Hostin released her memoir, I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds, with HarperOne. Hostin has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Woman, Essence, The CUT, Latina, and Ebony, amongst others. A sought-after public speaker, she has spoken at and moderated panels for the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Corporate Counsel Women of Color, and the National Bar Association, served as a witness at the Federal Judiciary’s Congressional Hearing for the Public’s Right of Access to the Courts, and was she was part of the groundbreaking ABC primetime newscast, Soul of a Nation, the first broadcast network newsmagazine aiming to put Black life in America front and center. Hostin lives with her husband and two children in New York. 
  • Melissa Haizlip - As a Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated producer, director and writer, her work has been featured on Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock, CNN, PBS, and E! Her latest film, Satisfied, which she directed and produced for Steven Spielberg with Amblin Entertainment, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024. Her work responds to pressing social issues at the intersection of racial justice, social justice, activism, and representation. Melissa has been recognized with a writing achievement award from the NAACP Image Awards, and is the recipient of the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Award for Outstanding Debut Feature for her film Mr. SOUL! The film premiered at Tribeca, was Oscar-shortlisted, and is now streaming on MAX. She’s also Co-Executive Producer, Ladies First: A Story Of Women In Hip-Hop (Netflix), and Executive Producer, Black Pop: Celebrating The Power Of Black Culture (Peacock). Her work has received generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ford Foundation, among other esteemed organizations. Melissa went to Yale and lives in New York, where she serves on the Board of Directors of the Jacob Burns Film Center.


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