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!
It’s been a busy couple of months–more on that soon! But I’m belatedly excited to share a few more snippets from trade reviews for The Last Grand Adventure:
“Informed by history, Behrens’s narrative treasures family relationships and celebrates courage.” —Booklist
“Normally unadventurous twelve-year-old Bea (“I left my adventure journal empty and my worry journal full”) is a sympathetic narrator as she frets about her place in her newly blended family and her grandmother’s wavering memory. The tantalizing thread of possibility about Amelia Earhart and the letters she—or somebody—has been writing to Pidge adds alluring mystery.” —BCCB
“Historical fiction lovers are in for a treat with this heartfelt tale of discovery and hope. . . . This story has much to love, from the touching development of Bea and Pidge’s relationship to Bea conquering her fears and discovering the appeal of adventure. . . . VERDICT An excellent purchase for readers who enjoy a strong dose of adventure and solid character development in their historical fiction.”—Darla Salva Cruz, School Library Journal
I’m blushing, SLJ! It’s always a great feeling when a reviewer seems to really get the story you were trying to tell. I’m grateful to these reviewers for their thoughtful and insightful reviews.
The Last Grand Adventure will be out next week, and it’s only fitting that I hit the road to share Bea and Pidge’s story with readers. Here are the places I’ll be in March and April:
More events for the summer are in the works: I’ll be at Bethany Beach Bookstore in June and I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be at the Amelia Earhart Festival in Atchison, Kansas, this July! I’ll keep the Events page of my site updated with all the details.
Last Friday I battled NYC traffic to travel to New Jersery (seriously–it took over an hour to drive three blocks to get into the Holland Tunnel) for a wonderful weekend of authoring. Saturday was the annual Princeton Public Library Children’s Book Festival, and it was amazing! Here’s a before picture of me with my books:
There is no after picture, because I sold them all! The five hours of the festival flew by–I had a fantastic time meeting so many wonderful readers and writers. If you want to check out what the day was like, the Princeton Public Library has some video posts on their Facebook.
The next day, I headed down to Neshaminy Falls for a Barnes and Noble event with Lauren Magaziner and Erin Entrada Kelly. We had a great discussion about writing MG, thanks to an enthusiastic crowd and bookseller extraordinaire Mandy Webb.
While I was signing books, I had a fun author moment–I found a copy of Summer‘s second printing. Fun to see that “1” drop off the copyright page!
Thanks to B&N Neshaminy Falls, the Princeton Public Library, and JaZams for helping me have a great weekend connecting with readers and writers.
I have a few fun events coming up:
I’ll be at the Princeton Children’s Book Festival on September 24. Over sixty fantastic authors will be there–it should be a very delightful day.
And the next day, Sunday, September 25, I’ll be doing a panel at the Neshaminy Falls Barnes & Noble in Bensalem, PA. Author friends Lauren Magaziner and Erin Entrada Kelly and I will be talking about middle grade–come say hi!
More info about those events and others is available on my Events page.
Also, I heard the good news recently that Summer of Lost and Found went into a second printing over the summer. Hooray! Thanks to all the readers who have joined Nell, Ambrose, and Lila (and Sir Walter Raleigh) on their adventures.
And for my next book adventure: I found out The Last Grand Adventure is tentatively set to release in March 2018. I can’t wait for Bea and Pidge to be out in the world–but I do need the next few months to edit their story. 🙂