Tucson Festival of Books

Roots, Relics and Revelations


Join Beronda Montgomery, Riley Black and Sam Kean on a journey through time and nature as they share insights on fossils, forests and forgotten histories that uncover the stories that shape our understanding of life on Earth.


Panelists
Riley Black

Riley Black, heralded as a premier gifted young science writer, is the award-winning author of "My Beloved Brontosaurus," "Written in Stone," "When Dinosaurs Ruled," and "The Last Days of the Dinosaurs....

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Sam Kean

Sam Kean is The New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including "Dinner with King Tut," "The Icepick Surgeon," "The Bastard Brigade," and "The Disappearing Spoon." His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, and Slate, and his work has been featured on NPR’s Radiolab, Science Friday, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air....

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Beronda Montgomery

Beronda L. Montgomery is an award-winning plant biologist and the author of the acclaimed "Lessons from Plants." She has been named one of Cell’s, 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America and was awarded the 2021 Cynthia Westcott Science Writing Award and 2022 Adolph E....


Books:
When the Earth Was Green
Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
Riley Black
Science / Medicine / Technology
St. Martin's Publishing Group
February 2025
ISBN 9781250288998
304 pages
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Dinner with King Tut
How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-Creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations
Sam Kean
Science / Medicine / Technology
Little Brown
July 2025
ISBN 9780316496551
464 pages
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When Trees Testify
Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy
Beronda Montgomery
Science / Medicine / Technology
Henry Holt and Company
January 2026
ISBN 9781250335166
320 pages
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