Ashanti

Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Disney Book Group's Hyperion Books for Children, dedicated to the mission of creating high quality children's books that celebrate diversity, has added Grammy Award winning artist Ashanti to its roster with her life and style guide, ASHANTI STYLE, set to release in fall 2007.

From one of the music world's most popular young icons, ASHANTI STYLE is an electric, behind-the-scenes, autobiographical account of her life and style that will also include fashion and beauty tips and a photo insert. It is co-written with Orlando Lima, who is the former Executive Editor and Editor-at-Large at Vibe. The deal was negotiated by Kelli Martin, Senior Editor, Jump at the Sun and Ashanti's special projects manager Stephan Dweck and lawyer Jerome Leventhal.   Ashanti stormed the pop charts with her debut album, Ashanti, going all the way to #1 and staying there for 10 weeks, garnering legions of loyal fans and earning her the nickname "Princess of Hip Hop." Ashanti went on to sell more copies than any other female artist's debut album in history, winning the singer eight Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Her follow-up, Chapter II, debuted at the top spot as well and quickly went platinum within a month of its release. She made her telefilm debut in "The Muppets' Wonderful Wizard of Oz," and starred in the feature films "Coach Carter" and "Bride and Prejudice." Ashanti's debut book, Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love, a book of poetry debuted in 2002. She resides in New York.

Ashanti can be seen in the motion picture "John Tucker Must Die" which opens this Friday, July 28th and in "Resident Evil 3: Extinction" out in fall 2007.

Jump at the Sun launched in fall 1998 with the mission of celebrating the African American experience and culture. The imprint takes its name from the advice given by Lucy Potts Hurston to her daughter, the Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston. She urged young Zora to aim high in life - to "jump at the sun." It is an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children, a unit of Disney Publishing Worldwide. Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) is the largest children's publisher in the world, with 274 children's magazines published and 120 million children's books sold each year. DPW publishes books and magazines in 55 languages in 75 countries, reaching more than 100 million readers each month.