invitation

Annabelle Chang recommends books for a living. If you were to ask which one she finds most “criminally underrated,” she’d tell you it’s Katie Henry’s “This Will Be Funny Someday.”

“It is truly one of my favorite books I’ve ever read, not just my favorite YA books, just one of my favorite books that I think will really appeal to everyone,” Annabelle, 19, told The Times. “I read it at such an important time in my life. I was 16. The protagonist is also 16.”

“Annabelle’s love for this book actually inspired our entire family to read it,” her older sister Alexandra Brown Chang, 25, added. “I think it’s absolutely fantastic. I read it when I was 23, but I still resonate with it.”

Annabelle’s knack for recommending great young adult books led her to start an Instagram and blog during the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeing the positive response from readers of all ages, she began selling titles online and at pop-up events, including the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. At 16, she opened a brick-and-mortar store in Studio City: Annabelle’s Book Club LA, the first young adult-focused bookstore in the country.

“I actually had my heart set on this one space in West Hollywood and I was so sad when it didn’t work out. The landlord at the time said that nobody would ever come to a bookstore, which I was very sad to hear,” Annabelle said. “But it all worked out for the best and I truly could not imagine a better place for the bookstore.”

At 16, Annabelle Chang opened a brick-and-mortar store in Studio City: Annabelle’s Book Club LA, the first young adult-focused bookstore in the country.

(Annie Noelker / For The Times)

On Sept. 2, Annabelle’s Book Club, which was recently featured in a scene in the film “Freakier Friday,” will host an extra special event: a launch party for her sister’s debut novel, “By Invitation Only.” Inspired by Alexandra’s own experience as a “debutante dropout,” the coming-of-age story follows two seemingly different female protagonists, Piper and Chapin, whose worlds collide at the elite La Danse des Débutantes in Paris. Together, Annabelle and Alexandra strive to amplify young adult narratives.

“Historically, YA hasn’t been taken as seriously as it should be, but I think we are at a moment where that is changing and people are really recognizing the power of these stories,” Annabelle said. “They’re impactful for readers of all ages, and they address universal themes and are just incredibly important for everyone.”

“I’ve wanted to write a young adult novel for a very long time, and I think that coming-of-age stories have pretty much proven to be evergreen because every generation seems to be finding new ways to tell them,” added Alexandra, who graduated from Stanford in 2022. “I think that we don’t really come of age once. We keep coming of age because every single new stage of life, whether it’s going to college or experiencing your 20s, it forces you to reevaluate who you are and who you want to be.”

Annabelle and Alexandra grew up in a literary household. Their mom, Amanda Brown, wrote the 2001 book “Legally Blonde,” which was later adapted into the Reese Witherspoon-starring blockbuster and a Broadway musical. The girls recall their mom and dad, technology investor Justin Chang, reading to them every night, which helped inspire their love for books and storytelling. Among Alexandra’s favorites were “Eloise,” “Madeline” and “Sweet Dream Pie.”

“I loved ‘Pinkalicious,’ which I think makes sense as the bookstore is also very pink,” Annabelle added. “It’s always been my favorite color and one of my favorite stories to this day.”

“I’ve wanted to write a young adult novel for a very long time, and I think that coming-of-age stories have pretty much proven to be evergreen because every generation seems to be finding new ways to tell them,” said Alexandra Brown Chang.

(Annie Noelker / For The Times)

At 14, Alexandra started the fashion blog Alex and Ella with her close friend, and later launched her own site, the Zeitgeist, where she continued to write about fashion, art, travel and more. While in high school, she interned for designer Zac Posen in New York, an experience she called “life-changing.”

“It really allowed me to learn so much more about fashion, the business side of fashion, but also the design aspect,” Alexandra said. “And it really helped me see fashion in all of its amazing ways and as an art form.”

In “By Invitation Only,” fashion takes center stage as the girls prepare for their debutante debuts. Especially through Chapin’s character, Alexandra argues that fashion should be treated as a serious craft — similar to young adult literature.

“When all of the debutantes are wearing custom gowns, it makes sense that all of them would have an incredible amount of time and thought put into them,” she said.

Earlier this month, Alexandra took part in the festivities at Annabelle’s Book Club for Bookstore Romance Day — an annual celebration of romance books at independent bookstores across the country. In addition to hosting perfume making and lipstick reading — which is like tarot card reading, but with lipstick — the store gave away an advance copy of “By Invitation Only.”

While there are romantic elements throughout “By Invitation Only,” the heart of the story lies in the complicated relationship between Chapin and Piper. Unlikely friendships are one of Alexandra’s favorite tropes, she said.

“Piper and Chapin come from completely different backgrounds when their lives unexpectedly collide in Paris, and they really do change for the better,” Alexandra said. “And I think that’s a great message that everyone could use right now, and it certainly is true for myself and so many of my closest friends, and I really value those friendships.”

Alexandra spent about five years writing her novel and sent several early drafts to her sisters, including Annabelle; Audrey, Annabelle’s identical twin; and 15-year-old Ames. “I was really excited to get their input as the target age demographic as well,” she said of her younger siblings.

After the launch at Annabelle’s Book Club, Alexandra will head to bookstores across the country to promote her book, including Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park and Book Passage in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Annabelle is getting ready for her second year at Stanford, where she plans to major in product design and minor in creative writing. Still, she continues to juggle her responsibilities as a student and a business owner.

“It is certainly a balance. I feel incredibly lucky that we have such a wonderful team at our store, who can run the day-to-day when I can’t be there,” Annabelle said. “I find myself going back quite often for events and meetings.”

Even as they pursue their individual paths, Annabelle and Alexandra savor every opportunity they get to collaborate with each other.

“I love that we’re able to spend even more time together and that we have this common interest,” Alexandra said. “It’s really special.”

Thanks to breakout singles like “Diet Pepsi” and to praise from the likes of Charli XCX and Lana Del Rey, Addison Rae is considered by many prognosticators to be in the mix for a best new artist nomination at next year’s 68th Grammy Awards.

Now the 24-year-old singer could help determine the results of the ceremony as well.

The Recording Academy on Wednesday said that it’s invited nearly 3,600 music professionals to become members of the organization behind music’s most prestigious awards ceremony — among them the former TikTok star who’s become a major pop presence in the last 12 months or so.

In addition to Rae, the academy extended invites to the rapper Joey Badass, the singer Mariah the Scientist, the comedian Nikki Glaser and the members of the K-pop-style girl group Katseye and the regional Mexican music band Grupo Firme.

In a statement, Rae called the invitation “a huge honor” and said she’s “so lucky to be surrounded by talent and poise that inspires me to create fearlessly.” Added Glaser: “This is the greatest thing the Grammys have given me since the half of Benson Boone’s tuxedo I kept” after February’s show.

Of the 3,600 new invitees, approximately 2,600 (including the aforementioned artists) are being offered voting membership in the academy. The group currently has around 13,000 members who vote on the Grammys; last year, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told The Times that in addition to adding new members — part of a broader effort to diversify an electorate long criticized for being too old, too male and too white — the group was shedding voters that no longer met the organization’s qualifications for membership.

As an example, Mason described “voters that maybe had a hit record or a song published in the ’70s or ’80s and just kept voting.” His goal, he added, was a voting body composed of “relevant music people.”

In its statement, the academy said that 49% of the new invitees are women, 56% are people of color and 60% are people under the age of 40. Those invited have until July 31 to accept the invitation in order to take part in next year’s ceremony. First-round voting for the 68th Grammys (in which nominations are determined) opens Oct. 3; the show itself will take place Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

ROME — U.S. Vice President JD Vance extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday ahead of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Vance gave the first American pope a letter from President Trump and the first lady inviting him. The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying “at some point,” in the video footage of the meeting provided by Vatican Media.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also gave the Augustinian pope a copy of two of St. Augustine’s most seminal works, “The City of God” and “On Christian Doctrine,” the vice president’s office said. Another gift: A Chicago Bears T-shirt with Leo’s name on it.

“As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you,” Vance told Leo as they exchanged gifts.

Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with the words in Italian “Peace is a fragile flower,” and a coffee-table sized picture book of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. Leo noted that Francis had chosen not to live in them and added, “And I may live in, but it’s not totally decided.”

Vance led the U.S. delegation to Sunday’s formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope. Joining him at the meeting on Monday was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said. The two then also met with the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

“There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved,” according to a Vatican statement after their meeting.

According to the photo of the visits released by the Vatican, Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, a self-described “MAGA-type,” and his wife, Deborah, joined the delegation during the visit.

The Vatican listed Vance’s delegation as the first of several private audiences Leo was having Monday with people who had come to Rome for his inaugural Mass, including other Christian leaders and a group of faithful from his old diocese in Chiclayo, Peru.

The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has offered to host any peace talks while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia.

After greeting Leo briefly at the end of Sunday’s Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also met with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni, who said she hoped the trilateral meeting could be a “new beginning.”

In the evening, Meloni spoke by phone with U.S. President Trump and several other European leaders ahead of Trump’s expected call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday, according to a statement from Meloni’s office.

‘Every effort’

Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent the bulk of his ministry in Chiclayo, a commercial city of around 800,000 on Peru’s northern Pacific coast.

In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed “every effort” to help bring peace to Ukraine. He also has emphasized his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the poor a priority of his pontificate.

Before his election, Prevost shared news articles on X that were critical of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations of migrants.

Vance was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Francis before the Argentine pope’s April 21 death. The two had tangled over migration, with Francis publicly rebuking the Trump administration’s deportation plan and correcting Vance’s theological justification for it.

Winfield and Martin write for the Associated Press.