The Warwick Children’s Book Festival was a great day! This was my first(!) in-person event since the start of the pandemic–and the only in-person event I’ve done since Alone in the Woods was released last fall. It was so great to be back with a fantastic group of children’s authors and to have a chance to meet and chat with readers. Here are a few favorite pictures from the day:
Me, with all my books. Not pictured–the bees that inexplicably loved my sweater and stalked me throughout the day.
Last Saturday, I spent the day in charming Warwick, NY, at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival. I got to meet with eager readers, signed lots of books and shared 1960’s candy (just like Bea and Pidge would’ve eaten on their cross-country trip), and enjoyed local delicacies: NY apples and apple cider doughnuts. After a long week, it was wonderful to get out of the city and connect with book people.
If you have a chance to go next year, I highly recommend it!
Meeting with a reader
I’m still wondering what’s in a Zagnut bar . . .
Cider doughnut!
A picture is worth a thousand words–but unfortunately, I was having so much fun sharing The Last Grand Adventure with readers that I barely took any (other than of books) during my events!
If you missed the AASL webinar I did with school librarian extraordinaire Eileen Makoff and dynamite authors Sara Holbrook and Jo Hackl, you can still listen to it here, on the AASL website: Author Ideas on Integrating Fiction into the Middle-Grade and Middle-School Curriculum.
I had a great time with author friends Michelle Schusterman and Kirsten Hubbard (aka Fox & Coats) at the Voracious Reader in Larchmont, NY–their new series Secrets of Topsea is sweet and zany and so creative.
Later that weekend, I headed down to DC to the awesome Arlington indie One More Page, where Lauren Magaziner, Jonathan Roth, and I had a fun panel:
Lauren also spotted Audrey hanging out at the Amazon bookstore in DC:
The following weekend was nErDcampNJ, which was full of engaging and inspiring talks and workshops. It’s also a super fun chance to meet up with other kidlit authors in real life:
I’m back at home now, working on a new project and resting up for some of the events I have planned this summer–hope to see you there!
Books of Wonder MG panel: May 19
Bethany Beach Books: June 11
Amelia Earhart Festival: July 21
(For more info and updates, check the Events page of my site.)
Three sleeps till nErDcampLI! This “unconference” is always so much fun, and it’s filled with literacy ideas and discussion–and #booklove. The workshops and keynotes start at 8:00, and the author meet and greet runs from 2:00-3:30. Check out all the amazing authors and illustrators who will be there–and stop by and say hi if you’d like a signed copy of When Audrey Met Alice or Summer of Lost and Found!
I got to share some exciting news yesterday–that When Audrey Met Alice has been optioned for film!
I’m still learning the way the film industry works, but basically an option agreement is a contract that allows film producers to obtain the rights to a book. It’s the first step–of many, many steps–needed to make a book into a movie.
I’m thrilled about this, and thankful to the team at New Leaf Literary–especially Pouya Shabazian, Suzie Townsend, and Chris McEwen–helping make it happen. You can read the full announcement in The Hollywood Reporter.
Last weekend I made the trip to Columbus, Ohio (a lovely city!) for the AASL National Conference. My husband and I drove from NYC, and even though we aren’t really car people anymore, it was fun to wind through the Pennsylvania mountains and catch some late fall color. You can see the pretty red leaves behind this shot of a Summer of Lost and Found sampler:
Which was this gorgeous tree:
On Friday morning, Gayle Rosengren and I did our presentation, “Making It Real,” for a great group of school librarians. We shared historical-fiction programming ideas that appeal to many different types of learners, and if you’d like to hear about them, send me an email! I’m happy to share our slides and handouts, including a list of recommended MG historical fiction. Here’s an example of the LIBRARY planning template that Gayle created:
After our presentation, Gayle and I headed over to the Authorpalooza signing booth. I wish I’d thought to have someone take our picture, but sadly I was too focused on chatting with the awesome school librarians. 🙂 I do have some pictures of When Audrey Met Alice at AASL, though!
After the conference wrapped up for the day on Friday, I had just enough time to pop over to North Market for celebratory Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream–which was the perfect finish to a great day. And, of course, I had to pick up one of these for the road home!
I’m going to AASL 2015 in Columbus!
Friend and fellow Class of 2K14 author Gayle Rosengren and I are presenting on Friday, November 6 from 11:20-12:20 (Room C212). Here’s a little about our presentation:
Making It Real, authors Gayle Rosengren and Rebecca Behrens will suggest creative ways for librarians to help bring history to life as they prepare students to meet Common Core State Standards. Strategies include multimedia displays, interactive library programming, writing workshops, author Skype visits, and outreach with local historic sites. The authors will provide tools such as a multimedia planning template that can be filled out for any title, book talks, and recommended media lists.
We’ve had a lot of fun creating this presentation, and hope you’ll join us if you’re attending the conference.
We’ll also be in the Author Signing Booth from 1:00-1:30 on Friday. Stop by and say hi! I’ll have my first pieces of Summer of Lost and Found swag, and plenty of When Audrey Met Alice bookplates, stickers, and more.
On a warm, nearly cloudless day last week, I took a trip out to Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay, NY. It wasn’t my first time there–I visited in September 2012, shortly after I found out that When Audrey Met Alice was going to become a book. But during that visit, only the grounds of the Roosevelt family’s sprawling estate were open to the public. The inside–the 23 rooms in which the Roosevelts (and their “zoo” of pets) dined, read, learned, and played–was shuttered and empty. Now, after a three-and-a-half-year and multimillion-dollar renovation, people can walk through the house again. I had to go see it!
I don’t have any pictures from the tour inside the house–to protect the priceless artifacts, no photography is allowed. So I’ll have to tell, not show, how exciting it was to see Alice’s bedroom view, the 8,000 books in the library she begged to be “let loose” in, and the dining table at which she had to ask each guest three prepared questions. I loved hearing details of family life at Sagamore Hill from the knowledgeable and friendly ranger leading the tour–like that Alice refused to share a bedroom with any of her siblings, but did let her privacy-seeking brother sublet her closet.
Vintage postcard of Alice’s bedroom at Sagamore Hill
At Sagamore there’s also a museum in the Old Orchard building (where Alice’s brother Ted lived). I took this photo of a “picture letter” that Roosevelt wrote his daughter Ethel while he was away. His sketches are so charming, and I love the thought of the president sitting down to create them when he couldn’t make his 4:00 appointment to play with his kids.
If you want to visit the house: visit the Sagamore Hill NHS site for more information!
On Wednesday morning I hopped on a bus and headed south so Audrey and Alice could meet some D.C. readers. Once I got into town, I decided to stretch my legs by taking a walk to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
What Would Alice Do with three free hours in the capital city? Admittedly, she probably would not take a bunch of book selfies. But sneaking onto the roof of the White House wasn’t really an option for me.
Then I took the Metro out to Arlington for a panel event with author friends and fellow 2014 debuts Jen Malone (You’re Invited and At Your Service) and Tara Dairman (All Four Stars and The Stars of Summer) at One More Page, which is the bookstore of my dreams. They have eight book clubs, an awesomely curated selection of books, and incredibly good local and artisanal chocolate. We had a full house for our panel, and the audience asked great questions!
I also had the chance to meet up with some old friends (thanks for coming, Jocelyn and Lilia!) and to meet writer friend Jennifer Pickrell (who writes wonderful YA) in person, which was great.
Afterward I raced back to Union Station–worrying the whole way because D.C. friends had warned me I wasn’t giving myself quite enough time–and made it with twenty minutes to spare before my train. Unfortunately, my train didn’t make it (it was cancelled) so I had to cool my heels for an hour and a half. I didn’t get back to NYC until after 2:00 a.m., but I had a lot of books to entertain me on Amtrak.
Definitely a day that was worth traveling through five states and D.C., and back–although next time I hope to stick around a little longer!
I’m emerging from some kind of author hibernation with two events this week. I’d love to see you there!
Wednesday, May 27: I’ll be part of a fantastic panel at One More Page in Arlington, VA with author friends Tara Dairman and Jen Malone. The fun starts at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 30: I’ll be part of the second-ever Kids Author Carnival at the Jefferson Market Library in New York! This event was so much fun last year–I can’t wait to do it again. Just look at all the fabulous authors who will be at the coolest library in the city!
My mom and I have been discussing books since I was a kid–not surprising, considering I have always been a reader and she is a former English/Language Arts teacher. Over the years, reading together has helped us understand our own relationship better, see each other as individuals, and find things to talk about other than the piles of dirty clothes on my floor. Now that I live a thousand miles away, we are still using books to connect. We mail each other books after reading and talk about them over the phone. (Some recent shared reads are: The Guernsey Literary and Pota
to Peel Society, Gone Girl, A Death-Struck Year, and Wish You Were Italian. She has a copy of All The Light We Cannot See waiting for me.) The fun my mom and I have discussing books inspired me to write a mother-daughter book club discussion guide for When Audrey Met Alice. Sourcebooks made it into a pretty PDF, and you can find it on my Resources page.
Who do you love to talk books with?
I came home to a fun surprise on Tuesday: paperback author copies. The first thing I did with them? Build a White House.
As of today, When Audrey Met Alice paperbacks are now in stores! I stopped by Barnes & Noble to sign a few. It’s fun to see both editions together on the shelf.
On my way home from a morning bookstore trip, I stopped for a couple of celebratory breakfast, of course!
Because happy publishing days pair well with doughnuts. Specifically, Nutella-banana and blueberry-lime. Yum.