Bookapalooza: in which I meet two of my favorite authors from my childhood

You know I love a good book festival.  But if that book festival happens to be in my own TOWN?  How could I resist?  I'll admit, the weather helped.  If it had been blazing hot, I'm not sure I could have forced myself out for hours but it was unseasonably GORGEOUS outside.  The other thing that helped?  An UNBELIEVABLE list of authors.  I couldn't believe they got all these talented artists to come to our little Baltimore-Washington-corridor town.  But come they did, here's the low down:

We got there late because of swim team and because I needed a chill out for a while.  Plus, Clint was out running with a friend and I thought the boys would do better staying at home this time.  I think, although there were times when I wished they'd been there, it would've been tricky to make them wait through all the other parts.

Oh, back up.  One of the authors that was speaking the morning - very first, I believe, was Katherine Paterson.  How I wanted to hear her.  It was, unfortunately, smack in the middle of swim and I felt like I needed to be there for my kids.  I was really bummed.  And here is why.  When I was a girl, there were a few books that I just kept reading over and over.  Comfort books.  One was The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye.  One was Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman.  But the one I read the most often, in the years that matter the most, was Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson.  I re-read it recently, and wrote this about it:

This book is dear to my heart.  It was my favorite as a teenager.  I have been mulling over why it is that this book appealed to me so much. I was so unsure of myself as a preteen/young teen. I was too tall, self-conscious, acne-ridden, you name it. I was so unhappy so much of the time. I lost myself in books and I luckily always counted my mother as a friend. The main character of this book, Louise, I think reminds me just so much of myself. Granted, I wasn't a twin, but I always felt like the world was against me and that I had nothing special to offer. Her feelings, even reading them now, are so familiar and comforting in the sense that I recognized that I was not alone. Her crabbiness was a bit damping when I read it this time - but it's probably that same crabbiness that made her such a relatable character to me when I was young. Strange that this book made me feel like I was not alone in my sorrow and loneliness.

Reading it through this time, probably for the first time in 12 or 13 years, I have a whole new appreciation for the work of art that it is. While I remembered that she lived on an island and her father worked the water, I had no memory of it taking place in MARYLAND. Right on the eastern shore - a place that is now familiar to me. And Paterson does a fine job of making the shore a tangible and real place. I enjoyed learning about crabbing and oystering, she mentions terrapins (go TERPS!!) and Louise even ends up at the University of Maryland, my alma mater. I feel even more connected to this book now as I did then. The final chapter is heartbreakingly beautiful to me - I would even sometimes just pull out the book and read just that chapter a couple of times. It gave me such hope to see Louise happy, having finally found the courage to take a chance, and find herself and a place where she belongs.

Okay.  So Katherine Paterson wrote a book that really mattered to me.  And I missed her talk.  But we arrived at the book festival, walked past all the fun crafts and games, over to where the authors were speaking.  Sheely was anxious to find out about one of HER favorite authors who was coming - Mary Downing Hahn.  When we got to the table to check in and get stickers for book signings (they gave you a line number to get your book signed so you didn't have to spend all day in line!  GENIUS!), I saw a little note on the program that said that Katherine Paterson would be available at another time to sign books.

I asked the worker, "Is this really TRUE?"

And she pointed over to a table with a lone woman sitting at it and just about no line.  

OH the joy.  I had even brought my original copy of the book that I'd read as a girl for her to sign, JUST in case.

So, I met her. And she was gracious and kind, of course.  And she let Sheely take a picture of us:

That was a really great moment.  I know that probably she hears from people all the time that her books mattered to people, but she'd never heard it from me. I kind of like imaging that younger Corinne, sitting in the crook of a tree over a lake, reading that book like it was some sort of elixir, not knowing what life had in store for her.  I kind of wish I could just hug her and tell her it is going to be hard but okay.

Okay, so that was just in the first five minutes we were there :)

Then we sat down and listened to the mother/daughters trio that write The Dork Diaries, which Sheely likes.  Rachel Renee Russell and her illustrator daughter, especially, did a fine job of talking about following your passions and about how how dorky they were when THEY were young.  They did a fun little trivia quiz too.

THEN were we in for a treat.  Tom Angleberger - heard of him?  If you have a nine year old son like me, chances are you HAVE (this was the part where I felt bad for leaving Xavey at home).  He wrote that Origami Yoda book.  And here is a secret about HIM; he is HILARIOUS.  I mean, I was having actual fits of laughter.   He had us all fold our own origami Yoda but he also played the "what am I drawing" game in which he called every person he called on to guess, "Larry."  I am now an even bigger fan and from his very silly and short synopsis of his non-Star Wars origami books, I am going to get a few others for my own boy to read.

And then, that other author from my childhood: Mary Downing Hahn.  Wait Till Helen Comes is one of the other staples from my earlier years, it was perfectly spooky, I read this one multiple times too.   What I of course did not know in my childhood is that Mary Downing Hahn LIVES IN MY TOWN.  Like, I could run into her at the Target.  During her talk she told about the settings of several different books (Wait Till Helen Comes is inspired by a converted church that's a few miles from where I live).  She talked about how afraid she was as a child but that somehow translated into loving mysteries and ghost stories.  Sheely sat on the grass at her feet, riveted.

She did a question and answer session at the end.  Who was the second question asker?  My daughter Sheely!!  I was so pleasantly surprised by what she asked!  Backstory: for reading this year, Sheely had to do a big poster project on a book and she chose Closed for the Season.  I decided to read it along with her so I could help and because I like to read :)  One of the major settings in the book is this old run-down and creepy abandoned amusement park.  I knew, by this point, that she lived nearby and I guessed that she based it on the Enchanted Forest, an old amusement park about 15 minutes from my house. 

So, Sheely asked if she based that amusement park on anything - and I was right!  She DID base it on the Enchanted Forest - she used to go there when her daughters were young!  Kinda love that. 

When she was finished speaking, Sheely waited in line to get a book signed (waited patiently for a LONG time - she was number 49 :) and have a chat with this most admired author.  Again, such a kind and friendly woman.  I love events like this that remind me that authors are PEOPLE - people with lives beyond the words they write.

While I waited for Sheely, I watched the last author speak: Marc Tyler Nobleman.  I had never heard of him but now, after hearing what he had to say, I am totally intrigued.  He has written a ton of books but the two he talked about (again, wish Xavey had been there), were about the men who created two different superheros: Superman and Batman.  Turns out, in both cases, the true creators of these iconic figures did NOT receive the recognition in life that they deserve and these biographical narrative books tell the true story that Nobelman discovered during his research.  

And then it was really time to go home, after more than three hours :)  I was never once uncomfortable in the weather.  We saw friends (TWO of Sheely's friends from different schools were there) and even Sheely's reading teacher :)  

My greatest hope is that they do this again next year!

National Book Fest 2010

cross posted on Littlest Bird

There is something about walking out onto the Mall in DC.

You could not count how many times I've been there, but it never gets old.

It's a rush of...belonging, Maybe? an awareness of the fact that you belong there just as much as any other American? Excitement? A crazy realization that yes, that IS the Washington Monument on one side and the Capital Building of our COUNTRY on the other.
And throw in a ginormous crowd of BOOK LOVE into that and you get one really happy me.

I found friends and a daughter to join me in the summertime heat.

We got our posters right off (phew, the most important thing to grab), but then it was a giant swagfest at the Pavilion of the States. Every state and territory has their own table - everyone giving away SOMETHING. An eraser shaped like cheese? Actual hardback books? Pencils, pens and more writing implements? TREATS? Seriously. Our giant C-SPAN red bags runneth over. I especially liked chatting it up with the people from those states, so fun and friendly. Mississippi may have been my best friend in the end, since they passed out those fans :)

Then we hit the Target Let's Read American Pavilion. That's where I got to write a huge postcard to my grandpa in Chicago and Target will mail it to him for FREE, postmarked Washington DC. Isn't that fun? Some postcards had pictures of the poster on the back, others had a madlib you could fill out :)
That's also where one of the highlights came to pass: I got photographed INTO the festival poster. Sorry, that is CLEV-ER. My favorite part is how Deb's got Long John Silver looking right over her shoulder. Also, Poe's Raven is ready to bite Sheely's hand :)

We went to the PBS kids pavilion where the swag was flowing - another bag and book!

One more tent - the Let's Read America part I tent where I was interviewed by some people from Scholastic (anyone who wanted to could go over to be interviewed on camera, it wasn't like they searched me out :). They're apparently celebrating their 90th anniversary and making some kind of video for their website. I was asked how reading has influenced my life and what book influenced me most. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, of course. Super fun that Sweet Kellie had videotaped the whole thing!

We tried to go in the book buying tent but I almost died of heat and sweat smell.

THEN we went and just planted ourselves in the Teens and Children tent.

We listened to the second half of Jane Smiley's talk - she was fantastic. Apparently, she is a big deal. I need to read something of hers - I'm thinking A Thousand Acres (since that's the one that won the Pulitzer).

Then, the woman I came for - Rebecca Stead. She wrote When You Reach Me (which I loved and which won the Newberry this year). She was gracious and unassuming, personable and like the amazing girl next door.She talked about her process of claiming the writer inside her (she took a writing class from Frank McCourt, for Pete's sakes, and yet never had the guts once to stand up and read her writing outloud in his class). She talked about how much of When You Read Me is autobiographical - her single mom WAS actually a contestant on $20,000 pyramid and she lived in a New York City neighborhood that had a laughing man on the corner. I could've listened to her for another hour. BUT. She had to stop and we were too hot to stay any more. We found a stranger to document the moment before we left (by the way, while she was talking, there was not a seat anywhere in the house - or even any standing room in the shade :)
And there you have it. A GREAT day. People I would have like to have listened to: Katherine Patterson, Suzanne Collins, Margarita Engle, M.T. Anderson, Mem Fox, Rosemary Wells, Judith Viorst, Jonathan Safran Foer, Michele Norris and Ken Follett. I did see Isabel Allende (she is absolutely as gorgeous sitting in a golf cart as she is on the flap of her books). Ah, next year, maybe, I'll do more sitting and listening :)

a bookshop explore: Politics and Prose in Washington DC

I'm a sucker for bookstores.

If you know me, you know this.

I'm so lucky to have bookie friends. When Kellie and I figured out that neither of us had ever been inside the rightfully famous Politics and Prose independent bookstore on Connecticut Ave, we made a plan to visit. If you haven't checked out their website, you should, and learn about its history. I'd driven by it dozens of times on my way to the National Zoo and always yearned to spend some time there.

We found a parking spot in the back and went in through the cafe entrance.

To celebrate the occasion, we indulged in a pain au chocolat and a hot chocolate - complete with heart shaped swirly cream. SWOON and DELISH.

I just really enjoyed holding that magnificently huge mug :)

And then, to explore. And explore and explore and explore. First, the sale section where both Kellie and I scored a copy of The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British, which I've been pining after for some time. A darling worker saw me interested in the full price copy and she told me about the cheaper one in the basement. What a girl. I also found a copy of Brideshead Revisited, a sweet-looking trade paperback for a steal.

In the children's room, we had a glorious time. We laughed side-splitting laughs at a new picture book we found called It's a Book by Lane Smith (THANKS Julia for the recommend!). Hysterical, as is the book I ended up buying for Xavier for his birthday called John Paul George and Ben by Lane Smith (a crazy funny story about the childhoods of some of our Revolutionary Heroes)!! I just realized RIGHT NOW that they are by the same author. Apparently, Lane Smith is a comedic genius because both Kellie and I laughed so hard at these two books that when we finally checked out, the nice women behind the counter told us that she was glad we'd had such a fun time :)

Of course, we did not stop there. We explored the fiction and nonfiction, travel and music. We looked at the Around the World in 92 books map.When my husband called and I looked at my phone, I realized we'd been browsing for TWO HOURS. Time flies :)

After paying we went down the road to Marvelous Market and had an alfresco sandwich lunch, watching the Connecticut traffic pass by and talking about any and all things.

After the long, here is the short: GO HERE. IT IS AWESOME. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES. I want to go back sometime and hear an author speak - they've got an amazing calendar of really famous people. Highly recommend it for the staff, the selection, and the love of books that simply oozes from the shelves.

To record the occasion, we tried some self-portraits.

I call this one: the two headed monster:

I call this one: book lovers and the bookstore parking lot pavement:

and finally: a friendly stranger helps out (aka the back door)

in which i am surrounded by book-lovers

cross posted on my personal blog...

Truly, a wonderful thing it is to spend some time at the National Book Festival in our nation's capital. My darling daughter joined me on this little adventure and what a great companion she was.

Our arrival on the mall at lunchtime meant that we hit probably the biggest crowds, but not to worry - they do a pretty fine job of organizing. Without too much hassle, we made our way over to wrestle up a couple giant purple bags from the C-SPAN wonder bus. Sheely was insistent that THIS was the first order of business for the day. However, I was distracted by two things along the way. FIRST, these awesome signs right near that glorious Washington Monument:
Isn't she cute?

And second, I had already brought with me three registered bookcrossing books that I was planning on handing out (perfect place, huh?) and as we walked along I saw a group of bookcrossers with wagons distributing books! Fortuitous, no? We had a nice chat, they told me about a group they have and I passed along one of my books. The other two I just handed out to strangers later on :)

SO. The giant purple bag to fill with loot. And fill it with loot we did, starting in the Pavilion of the States. Here, each state (and territory, actually - American Samoa? Puerto Rico? awesome) has a booth and you can gather info about local authors, literary sites, books set in that state and gather all kinds of bookmarks, pins, magnets, posters etc. etc. And BOOKLISTS, which thrilled me :) They also have a neat map of the country that you can take around to each booth and have them stamp your map! Sheely filled hers up in our two different visits there. She loved the soybean crayons from Nebraska and Utah gave away mint truffles from The Lion House!! Really, count on Utah to be the ONLY booth that gave away a refreshment :) I love it! At the North Carolina booth we got to put a sticker on our connection to the state - here's Sheely marking out where my in-laws live:After that, we wandered over to the PBS kids tent, but Sheely felt too old to get her pictures taken with the characters. We listened to the band for a while, though, and snagged some awesome green messenger bags. Then to the Target Pavilion where they handed out some SMOKIN red reusable grocery bags. LOVE those, heavy canvas and so Target-ish. I am such a fan of that store. They were the #1 sponsor of this event and you know what my friend Kellie realized later as we discussed? Target was also the #1 sponsor of the Shakespeare Free For All performance we went to. I love the programs that store supports. We should ALL patronize Target as much as possible. I know I do :)

Here is the 1st of 2 best parts of today's story. The only author I was willing to make my 9 year old daughter wait in line with me for a book signing was Shannon Hale. It's so rare and wonderful when you find an author whose every book makes you have a sigh of joy. I brought along the first book of hers I ever read just in the hopes that I could get my daughter to handle the wait. And who should I see as I was walking past the Children and Teens tent? Shannon Hale, standing and chatting just outside the tent with maybe a dozen people standing around. My heart had the thought that this was a SIGN that I was NOT meant to have to make my child wait in gigantic lines today!! So I waltzed myself over and waited my turn and met this fabulous lady.

And she is fabulous. Down to earth and lovely. She actually complimented me on my hair. I think my response was, "Um, you don't have to say that." And she didn't have to, but she did, and it's nice to know I'm not the only person who feels like my brown/gray hair deserves to live and let live. Anyway, we chatted for a moment because I also brought a long a copy of Forest Born that sweet Book Nut let me borrow (yes, from her home very far away). So we talked book blogging for a moment and we all agreed that Book Nut is a book review goddess :) She signed each of the books and then she graciously let me get a picture with her:That is fun, folks. Super fun. I honestly didn't know if the day could get any better but THEN!! I got to have a blogging buddy meet up. Stellar Tricia of Library Queue and I became fast friends oh so long ago on the blessed inter-web and we've tried on several occasions to be in each other's paths along this east coast. When she told me she'd be at the festival, it made my desires to get there increase one hundred fold. PLUS, she brought her 9 year old daughter along too!

Perfection, truly. Walking along near the cinnamon roasted almonds cart she found me and OH the joy! You know life is good when you hug a person you have never seen before in life and you feel just really pleased that the moment has finally come. We had long talks waiting in line for food and we had an al-fresco lunch right there on the grass of the mall. How wonderful that it wasn't awkward. I had a nice stranger take a picture of us:I call it "giant and three friends". Guess who's the giant :) HA! I actually really like it because we all look happy. Also, I like it because we aren't standing in front of the giant hamburger roasting tent like we were in the first picture we took. The Smithsonian Castle is MUCH more scenic :)

After we did the States tent some more with the girls, Sheely was ready to head home. She'd been such a great sport, it was just fine with me. We said goodbye to our new/old friends and walked in the rain back to the metro, filled with the kinds of memories that stay.

in which I visit The Book Thing

(cross posted on my personal blog)

I'd heard of it for a while - a store where all the books are free. The Book Thing of Baltimore. Really? For real? Free books? Read this article if you want, it's interesting. I knew I'd have to make my way there someday and FINALLY we made it. We were already planning to go to the Science Center for the afternoon and I figured since we'd be in Baltimore anyway...why not drag the whole fam over there? I packed up a bag of books to release into the wild and we were on our way.

It's not in a good part of Baltimore, but that's not saying much. Most everything outside one square mile of the inner harbor isn't considered "good," but I had my man with me and had no fear. Thanks to my GPS friend, we made it without a hitch and found street parking right away. Xavier told me he was pretty sure the building was abandoned, which made a guy reading outside the door have a nice laugh. Cause it DOES look like an abandoned building, but it is FULL OF FREE BOOKS. FULL, I tell you. All the walls are covered with bookshelves that are organized by genre. We found the tubs of kids books and I found a few treasures amongst the trash:











That Hailstones and halibut bones book is important to me because it's a book that you read in Joy School for an entire unit. It has peoms about every color and you read a poem a day during The Joy of the Earth. We always had to get it from the library and pass it around because it's not in print anymore (my "new" copy is from 1969!!). I love that I have it now. The words give me memories of the rapt attention of 3 year olds and that is a pleasure. Plus, it's just seriously amazing poetry. Also, amazingly enough, and also poetry related, I found a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses" - the EXACT copy I had as a child! The cover looked super familiar, so I took it and then as I looked at the illustrations later, I had strange flashback feelings as I saw pictures that made me remember being 5 years old myself. I don't remember the words so much, just those specific pictures. I love that I have that now too.

My children went to town. Sheely found a classroom set of this random self-published children's book about an oyster (NINETEEN BOOKS!) and she took them all to play school. She was so giddy and I loved that I could just let her do it :) For a time, both my boys were sprawled out on the dirty floor, books in hand, and I was so glad they were being still I just let them lay there as I scoured the "classics" shelf. JACKPOT! I found a small hardbound copy of "The Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" that someone gave as a gift for Christmas in 1929. It's beautiful. I read "The Midnight Ride to Paul Revere" aloud to Clint as we drove to the science center and I LOVE the idea that my hands are holding and owning and loving something that has been around for such a long while.

Okay, so it was REALLY SUPER FUN in there. And I want to go back when I'm not with people who are finished with digging through books after 20 minutes :) I'm not complaining though, it was really super fun.