Award-winning Newburyport author Elizabeth Lorayne will launch and sign her new children’s picture book, The Adventures of Piratess Tilly: Easter Island – where haiku meets girl-empowerment, science and exploration, at the Custom House Maritime Museum, 25 Water Street, Newburyport on Saturday, May 13th, from 10:00 am – 12 pm.

“Piratess Tilly—the refreshingly bold, smart heroine” (Kirkus Reviews) is a budding naturalist who captains the Foster with her crew of orphaned international boys and her rescued best friend, a koala named Yuki. In the sequel they head to Easter Island to study the local fish. While exploring the mysterious monolithic statues and ruins, they happen upon a smuggling of sooty tern eggs by pirates! Readers will soon find out if Piratess Tilly, Yuki and the brothers safely save the eggs.

The book release party will not only include crafts, lollipops, and commemorative bookmarks, but it will also be a fundraiser for Cure SPG47 (curespg47.org), a non-profit organization devoted to seeking a cure for spastic paraplegia-47, an extremely rare, newly recognized degenerative genetic disorder resembling cerebral palsy. All proceeds from the launch party and from the Piratess Tilly Shop online (piratesstilly.com) will benefit Cure SPG47.

Author Elizabeth Lorayne first heard about SPG47 through Kasey Edwards, the mother of a child afflicted with this disease. The two moms met at the Newburyport Montessori School where their children attended and became friends. “Because the heroine of my book, Piratess Tilly, is passionate about raising awareness and helping those in need, I’m donating the book sale proceeds to this cause,” says Lorayne.

Raffle prizes will also help benefit Cure SPG47. Some of these offerings include a beautiful floral arrangement from Willow Event Planning (just in time for Mother’s Day!), a bottle of wine and olive oil from Grand Trunk Old World Market, gift certificates to Shanti Salon, Repose Yoga Studio, Port City Integrative Health, Anchor Pizza, Brooke Whicher Photography, Motivate, Pretty Poppy, Joppa Fine Foods and a gift bag and gift card from Buttermilk Baking Company. Siga Snipas and Gretchen Stone of The Bean Group will be pledging a shared $5/book sold at the book launch and fundraiser.

Visit https://www.piratesstilly.com/ for more information and to register for this family-fun event!