Monday, May 2, 2011

A Book Review and a Book Festival

My daughter came home with an ARC that she'd gotten from a friend. She didn't pull her nose out of it until she was finished. And then she insisted that I read it. I'm so glad I did. What an amazing story! From the award-winning author of IDA B, this new novel will please fans and earn her plenty more.

If you want to read my review, you can visit my Goodreads page. But today, I'm going to give you a link to my daughter's blog. She'd love to have you read her review. Maybe she'll even convince you to pick up this book when it comes out on May 15 :)

We spent most of Saturday at the L.A. Times Festival of Books at USC. What a blast! With hundreds of booths, nine stages and 
Andrew Smith, Shannon Messenger, Me, Ally Condie
attendance in the thousands, it was an overwhelming experience for us small town book lovers. But it was also a chance to meet up with internet friends like Catherine Linka from Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse and MMGM founder Shannon Whitney Messenger.  Yeah, that's us between Andrew Smith and Ally Condie and omigosh, Ally Condie knew who I was! How cool is that? Just one more reason to love blogging :)

In addition to getting books signed, listening to fabulous author panels and trying not to get lost as we sought out specific booths, we also scored a bunch of cool free stuff: a Judy Moody movie t-shirt, a Narnia DVD, Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Yes! Free Ben & Jerry's!), bookmarks and pencils galore, airbrush tattoos and these awesome glasses that my son immediately had to wear. There was so much to see, we didn't even get to half of it. At least now that we know what to expect, we'll be better prepared for next year.

My daughter was most excited about getting her book, Aloha, Kanani, signed by Lisa Yee. Yes, lucky Lisa Yee has written two books for the current American Girl doll of the year. And she scored a trip to Hawaii for research. That's my kind of research! Can I have her job? My daughter is especially proud of this doll because she saved up her own money to buy it. (And the lovely person at the American Girl doll store didn't even complain as she dumped the money out of the jar to pay for it!)

The YA panel of (left to right) Gennifer Choldenko,  Robin Benway, Gayle Forman and Allen Zadoff was moderated by author Cecil Castellucci. They talked about finding inspiration for stories, choosing character names and balancing magic and reality in their writing. Halfway through the talk, my son turned to me and said, "Listening to this makes me want to go home and write."

Yeah. My sentiments exactly.

Looking for more Marvelous Middle Grade Books? Check out these bloggers:
Shannon Whitney Messenger
Shannon O'Donnell
Ben Langhinrichs
Joanne Fritz
Brooke Favero
Myrna Foster
Barbara Watson
Natalie Aguirre
Anita Laydon Miller

20 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

Awesome picture. Sometimes I feel like I live in the wrong part of the country! :)

TerryLynnJohnson said...

wow! thanks for this. Sounds like wonderful fun! And I'll be looking up this book.

Kelly Polark said...

What a fabulous event!
I love what your son said afterwards. Very mature comment!
I'll go check out your daughter's review. How do her friends get ARC's????

storyqueen said...

What an incredible event! And your son's comment made me a little teary...inspiring a whole new generation of writers is the absolute best reason in the world to have a book event to begin with

Shelley

Sherrie Petersen said...

Kelly, her friend's grandma owns The Book Loft, our local indie, and she shares the ARCs she gets :)

Kristan said...

Uh oh, your daughter got bit by your blogging bug, I see! ;P

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Oh, man! Too much fun, Sherrie! :-)

Off to check out your daughter's review.

bfav said...

I love going to events and conferences, they make me want to neglect my kids and write all day. Sadly, I can only write at night. What a great weekend.

Barbara Watson said...

I reviewed 'Ida B' today!! In prep for a bookstore meeting with Katherine Hannigan in a few weeks. I haven't read her new one, but after reading 'Ida B,' I sure will.

Kristine Asselin said...

OMG that sounds like a blast! How cool, and what great pictures.

Tiana Smith said...

Looks like it was a lot of fun, and now I'm jealous!

Joanne R. Fritz said...

I adored IDA B. Maybe I should try again to read TRUE(...sort of). When I tried months ago, I couldn't get into it. Good for your daughter for blogging, and your son for wanting to write. You're starting a dynasty there, Sherrie!

How wonderful that you got to meet Ally Condie and that she knew who you were!

Thanks for the link.

Krispy said...

Oh man, sounds like lots of fun! I'm kinda regretting not going! Glad you had a great time though!

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

#evenmorejealousnow

And your daughter has a blog?? There's SO MUCH TALENT in your family. Very cool. :)

Christina Lee said...

YOur daughter is adorable with her american girl doll!!
And I saw that picture on Shannon's FB page (Do I recognize tht necklace your wearing?) :):) So glad it was a great time for you!

cindy said...

You are such a fabulous person Sherrie. I love reading your posts and I think about you and your incredible nature each time I do.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

What an amazing festival! Your daughter must've been so happy!!

Stina said...

wow, we don't have anything like that. At least I don't think we do. Okay, I'm positive we don't have awesome authors come to ours if we do.

Cool arm paintings. I want the fairy one. :D

Anita said...

That's awesome that you're passing on this love of books...and I want one of those tattoos!

Lisa Yee said...

I love that your daughter brought in a jar of money to pay for her doll!!! That would have made a great photo.

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