My next book

Copland: A Story About America— a cover and what it's all about!

Hello newsletter crew,

Happy June! I’m so happy to be dropping into your inbox with something exciting… hopefully you agree!

Thrilled to share the cover for my next book, COPLAND: A Story About America!

This is a picture book biography about American composer Aaron Copland, but I see it as more than that. It’s a story about a first-generation immigrant. A story about change. A story about hope. Ultimately, this is a story about America and everything our music says about us. I hope you love it. It will be out in February with the lovely people at Viking Children’s. My exercise in patience!

Laurine Copland giving her younger brother his first piano lesson. “At eleven years old, Aaron is in love.”

Copland is often called the dean of American music and is credited as a leader in finding our distinct symphonic sound. For those who aren’t familiar with his work, let me borrow from the first page of the book:

This is a story about music. It is also a story about Aaron Copland.

Aaron Copland was a composer. You might know his music even if you don’t know his name.

Aaron Copland’s music is racing, running. It gallops like a cowboy. It leaps like a horse. Sometimes it’s still. So sad and so sweet, like dewdrops in the morning, turning to mist. Suddenly it’s dancing. A laugh. A hug.

Sometimes it’s all of these things at once.

My first introduction to his work was at a free concert in Philadelphia. I was in elementary school— maybe 9 or 10— and had just started learning to playing the saxophone. From the first note, I was transfixed. His music has followed me since.

Jump to 2021: I was procrastinating on a Secret Spy Society deadline and ended up down a Copland Wikipedia rabbit hole. Who knew that there was such an incredible story behind his music? It’s iconic, yes, but so much more than that. It’s an ode to our working class: an ode to our American melting pot: an ode to everything we can be.

Copland was deeply influenced by the labor movements of the Great Depression. Kids were often seen on picket lines (this text is from a real sign!)

When I floated this to my agent in 2022, I wasn’t sure that anyone would be interested in another picture book biography… let alone one about a man born in 1900! Enter Tamar, my editor from the Secret Spy Society: she immediately understood what I hoped to do with the book. It’s been a big task and a labor of love: how do you sum up someone’s life? How do you wrangle a story of music, politics, and hope into a book designed for anyone, let alone children? I had a vision of what it could be, but it was a wispy, fuzzy sort of thing. I hope I did it justice.

In the end, I’ve tried to focus on two questions: what does it mean for music to “sound like America,” and what does that say about us as a country? There are a thousand books that could be written about a person’s life, and a thousand more that could be written about music. This is especially true of Copland: a child of two Jewish immigrants, an openly gay man, an exceptionally kind and openminded human being. This is just one version of his story.

The folks at Viking summed it up with some really nice jacket copy:

This is a story about music.
But it's also a story about America.

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn in 1900 at the dawn of a new generation. In a community of immigrants, he had a front-row seat to the many ways that the United States was growing and changing. During this electrifying time, Aaron began making music as dynamic and innovative as the people and progress around him. While some didn't understand his style or appreciate his desire to break the rules in his compositions, he endeavored to create a sound that reflected the America he knew and loved.

Vibrantly brought to life by the words and illustrations of Veronica Mang, Copland: A Story About America is an ode not only to the composer known as the Dean of American music but also to a century of dramatic cultural and social change that created a new world.

Big, giant, heartfelt thank yous to everyone who made this possible! Tamar Brazis, Kate Renner, Lucia Baez, AZ Hackett, and all the lovely people at Viking and PRH who help a book reach a reader. And of course, my wonderful agent Andrea Morrison who has been with me since 2019, and Hayley Burdett for the work she does behind the scenes! You all are the very best. I am lucky to have you.

If you’re interested in listening to some of Copland’s work, I’ve compiled a list of suggested listening specifically geared towards children. So many of his pieces are funny, and often feel quite narrative— perfect for kids! Copland worked to create quality scores specifically for students, too. I imagine he’d like this. This playlist makes the most sense in tandem with the book and I’ll probably make a whole worksheet with what to listen for in these songs, but it’s a good place to start.

On a personal note, it’s been a gift to pour energy into this book at a time when our world seems to be on fire. I pitched this during the Biden era not expecting the 2024 election to go the way it did. Who could’ve predicted that? What a scary time we are in. I’m scared for our country, scared for our friends abroad, scared for anyone who is especially vulnerable to the whims and egos of tyrants. Our American song is an immigrant song: we must not forget that.

In other news from me: 2025 has been busy and strange! Big highlights, like wrapping this book, completing another semester at Parsons, and concluding an MFA mentorship at SVA (editor’s and ADs, keep your eyes out for my mentee’s work: Ceili Ayoung is a star on the rise!)

There’s been tough stuff, too: two deaths in my family amid busy deadlines. It’s been a lot.

I just got back from a week at Milkwood, which was everything I needed: rest, creative recalibration, and really, really, really wonderful company. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. June feels like a pivot, and 2025 remains full of endless possibilities. Hugs from me to you!

xoxo,
Veronica

PS: I have mixed feelings about Substack. I had initially set up shop here to use this as a newsletter platform, but it is rapidly becoming another social media site. I hate the chat features, the timelines features, the following features, and I really, really hate that it seems to send spam to people who just wanted to follow a single creator. I may eventually set up shop on a good-old-fashioned blog. If that happens, you’ll be the first to hear.