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!
If you’ve ever read this blog or met me in person, you know two things to be true:
1) I love independent bookstores
2) I love the beach
So combining the two is my dream, right?
Last week it came true: I drove down the East Coast to lovely Bethany Beach for a visit to its fabulous independent bookstore, Bethany Beach Books. On a somewhat chilly (for June) night, I got to meet its beach readers and chat with the friendly staff. It’s really a delightful shop, with an amazing lineup of author events, so if you’re ever in coastal Delaware, you must stop in.
The bookstore!
Ready to chat and sign–and give out historical candy, of course.
The beach and boardwalk
Look at the amazing collection of books for upcoming author events!
My next adventure will be at the Amelia Earhart festival in Atchison, Kansas, on July 21. Can’t wait!
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!
Time flies when you’re having fun–I can’t believe summer is over, and September almost is, too. It was a busy month:
The new Books of Wonder opened! I love both stores, but it’s so exciting to have a children’s bookstore (and its awesome events) uptown.
Of course I visited Nell and Ambrose when I stopped by to check out the new space.
Meanwhile, at the downtown location, I went to a fabulous panel with Tara Dairman, Jessica Lawson, Alison Cherry, and Tracey Baptiste. Lots of author friends were there–we even had a mini reunion of our 2014 debut author group. Here we are: Jessica Lawson, Tara Dairman, Lauren Magaziner, me, and Michelle Schusterman. We all have new MG releases in either 2017 or 2018!
Speaking of new releases, I got a delightful surprise from the UPS man one morning: ARCs (advance reader copies) of The Last Grand Adventure!
Aren’t they pretty? It’s so exciting to finally see this story in book form.
Now it’s back to work on some new projects, and starting to think of fun ways to share The Last Grand Adventure with readers.
What have you been up to lately?
It’s no secret that I love history and I love the beach (I mean, it’s right there in my bio, along with doughnuts and laughing). Last week my husband and I explored Bermuda, and I got to combine the two in one fun, relaxing, and inspiring vacation. Here’s a little of what we saw:
The town of St. George, which is the oldest continually inhabited English settlement in the Americas. (It’s also a UNESCO world heritage site.) It was founded after ships on their way to rescue the starving colonists at Jamestown (the colony that followed Roanoke) wrecked offshore. The statue of George Somers reminded me of Prospero in The Tempest–turns out Shakespeare may have been inspired by those “current events” while writing the play! The ship is the Deliverance, called the ship that “saved America” by sucessfully resupplying the colonists at Jamestown. Learning about the colonial history and relationship with American colonists reminded me a lot of Roanoke, and made me think about Summer of Lost and Found. If the Roanoke colony had survived, would it have eventually looked like this?
We also checked out the Crystal Cave, which two twelve-year-old boys discovered in 1907. They were playing cricket when their ball disappeared down an unfamiliar hole in the yard. After getting a rope and a lantern, the boys descended to find a beautiful cave with a 55-foot-deep underground lake. While they explored, the lantern went out–and they were lost in the darkness for hours. They found the rope and made it out–the rest is history. (Let this be a lesson in the bravery of middle-graders!) The stalactites and stalagmites were so cool.
And at the Royal Naval Dockyard, we checked out the Victualling Yard, where crews prepared all the food and drink needed to keep sailors well fed on their long voyages. It was kept guarded, to prevent any pilfering. It was a hot day (no surprise), so we stopped in a pub with lots of books.
And, of course, here’s the beach. I spent a lot of hours reading on it, under a peppermint-candy-looking umbrella and with lots of SPF.
What have your adventures been this summer?
It might be a little chilly and gloomy this week, but Summer is finally here–at least in paperback.
It was a real treat to come home from a great day at #nErDcampNJ last Saturday and find a package with some early copies inside. It’s the same gorgeous art by Robyn Ng and lovely design by Laura Lyn DiSiena, but there is a surprise inside . . .
A teaser for my next middle-grade novel, The Last Grand Adventure (which is coming in March 2018 from Simon & Schuster).
I was a huge paperback reader as a kid–and still as an adult. Hardcover editions are beautiful, but they are not so easy to put in a bike basket or a beach bag, or to lug on the subway. I’m excited to think of Nell and Ambrose heading off to camps and swim clubs and cabins in the next few months.
And finally, I have winners to announce for the Educator Giveaway! Jennifer Pickrell and Kristy Guerriero won the reading-group sets. You should have received an email from me, and I’ll get those books and guides to you ASAP. Thanks to all who entered!
I wouldn’t be the reader–or the writer–I am today without the influence of many wonderful educators. My childhood teachers and librarians in Madison, WI–at Thoreau Elementary, the Sequoya Library, Cherokee Middle School, and West High–were always putting books in my hands and providing me with a welcoming space to read, learn, and dream.
So to celebrate the paperback release of Summer of Lost and Found on May 23, I’m doing a special giveaway for educators (including teachers, librarians, support staff, and administrators*). Two winners will receive:
The giveaway starts today and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on May 22. I’ll announce the winners on Tuesday, May 23.
Good luck!
Note: If you have trouble entering through the Rafflecopter widget above, feel free to leave a comment on this post, and I will manually input your entry. Thanks!
*Not an educator? Feel free to enter on behalf of a school or classroom!
I’m excited to share that I have two stories appearing in Scholastic’s classroom magazines this month! The March/April issue of Storyworks has “Lost and Found,” realistic fiction that was inspired by my time in the Outer Banks doing research for Summer of Lost and Found.
I love the artwork and photographs that appear with the story–along with all the great questions and resources on the Storyworks website!
For Scholastic Scope, I wrote “What We Left Behind,” an original short story about the infamous Black Sunday dust storm in April 1935. This was a storm so massive and powerful that it carried dirt and debris all the way from the Plains to the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. But this is also a story about two sisters who are brave enough to fight against the dust to save their family.
If you’ve read either story in your classroom, I’d love to hear what you think!
Last week I traveled back to Wisconsin for a couple of book events, and it was perfect timing for fall color:
The view from Ski Hi, my favorite orchard. The pies are amazing!
Hiking at Devil’s Lake
Madison has great coffee 🙂
The famous farmer’s market is at its very best in fall.
Green and gold
The view from my Sunday morning coffeeshop
What’s missing? Photos from my talk at the Reedsburg Public Library and my school visit at EAGLE School. I was so excited to meet with readers and writers that I never quite got around to taking pictures . . . oops! But I had a great time talking about reading, researching, and writing.
Now I’m back in NY, working on short fiction and researching a project, and getting ready for nErDcampLI!
How does fall look where you are?
Last Sunday, I had a great conversation with author-friends Melanie Conklin and Sarah Darer Littman at Bank Street Bookstore. We spoke about writing three very different books all set (or, in my book’s case–partly set) in the big city. It was a great discussion–thanks, Bank Street!
(I loved sharing a shelf with the HRC books)
This week, I’m off to Wisconsin for a great event at the Reedsburg Public Library and a chance to visit some schools. Hoping to get in a trip to the apple orchard and my favorite state park while I’m back, too–there’s nothing quite like autumn in Wisconsin. 🙂
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.