Embracing the Future.
In 2025, ARPress reached a new milestone by joining the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), one of the Asia-Pacific region’s leading events dedicated to children’s and young adult content. Held from 14 to 16 November at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, the fair reinforced our mission to champion diverse voices and cross-cultural storytelling. With a history of participating in major global book fairs, ARPress welcomed the opportunity to engage with CCBF’s vibrant international community.
Approved by the Shanghai Press & Publication Administration and organized by major Chinese publishing groups, with Ronbo BolognaFiere Shanghai Ltd. as co-organizer, CCBF has been a cornerstone of global children’s publishing since 2013. Its partnership with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair reflects China’s “going global and bringing in” strategy, promoting international exchange and introducing outstanding global titles to Chinese readers. The 2025 edition hosted around 500 exhibitors from more than 35 countries across its 25,000-square-meter venue, drawing tens of thousands of visitors and showcasing thousands of new titles, artworks, and multimedia projects.
The fair featured two main zones: a Copyright Zone focused on rights trading and a Hybrid Zone blending publishing, marketing, and retail. ARPress was honored to exhibit in the Copyright Zone at Booth 2A17, presenting curated fiction, nonfiction, and poetry collections. CCBF’s renowned programming continued in 2025, with the Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition receiving over 15,000 submissions, the Illustrators Survival Corner offering masterclasses and portfolio reviews, the Children Plus – COMICS exhibition highlighting nearly 200 international comic titles, and the expanded Cross-Media Lounge spotlighting innovative global projects.
Across forums and seminars, international experts explored topics such as AI in education, inclusive storytelling, and global reading promotion, further strengthening CCBF’s role as a hub for cultural exchange. For ARPress, participating in this event deepened our connections across the Asia-Pacific region, enabled meaningful engagement with authors and illustrators worldwide, and affirmed our commitment to stories that transcend borders. As we welcomed partners and book lovers to our booth, we left inspired to continue nurturing global collaboration and advancing imaginative, empathetic, and diverse storytelling for young readers.
A few books were only featured in this globally reached book fair. One of the masterpieces featured is Nothing More Than Just Friends by Ted J. Brooks. The book presents an emotionally layered and relatable exploration of love, timing, and the complexities of human connection.
Author Ted J. Brooks brings a wealth of real-life experience to his writing, drawing from more than thirty years working in the retail world across multiple stores and positions. His decades in customer service and business operations have given him a front-row seat to the complexity of human behavior — experiences that often influence the characters and emotional depth found in his novels. Brooks graduated from Central Connecticut State University, where he built the academic foundation that would later support both his professional career and his passion for storytelling.
Beyond writing, he embraces several deeply personal hobbies. He enjoys family research, diving into ancestry and history to uncover the stories of those who came before him. He has a keen eye for photography, capturing moments, landscapes, and the beauty in everyday life. He is also an avid coin collector, appreciating the art, rarity, and historical significance of each piece. In 2001, he published his first novel, Cousins’ Rivalry, marking the beginning of his journey as an author.
At the heart of the story are Tim Jenkins and Angela Gagliardi, two young adults who meet during their college years. What begins as a comfortable and sincere friendship soon becomes something more complicated as each develops a different vision of what their relationship could — or should — become. Tim, thoughtful and deeply invested, quickly grows to believe that Angela may be the partner he has been waiting for. He imagines a future with her, one filled with commitment, shared dreams, and the possibility of marriage. To him, their bond feels natural, profound, and worthy of taking to the next level.
Angela, however, sees the world differently. Independent, strong-minded, and guided by her own aspirations, she values Tim’s friendship but does not envision the romantic future that he desires. Her goals lead her down a different path, one where marriage is neither a priority nor an immediate desire. This emotional imbalance — Tim wanting a lifelong partnership and Angela committed to remaining friends — becomes the central conflict of the book. It is a tension that resonates deeply with readers who have, at some point, experienced unaligned expectations in a relationship.
Brooks masterfully explores how two people can care for each other deeply yet want entirely different things. Through their conversations, interactions, and internal struggles, the novel examines themes of hope, heartbreak, emotional vulnerability, and the delicate line between loving someone and letting them go. The story invites readers to reflect on universal questions: Can a friendship survive when only one person wants more? How do you move forward when life pulls you in different directions? And is love enough when timing isn’t right?
As the narrative unfolds, Tim and Angela’s journey becomes a touching examination of personal growth and the bittersweet nature of relationships that never fully align. Their story asks whether a bond rooted in respect and affection can remain intact when dreams diverge — or whether some connections, no matter how meaningful, are destined to remain nothing more than just friends.
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