May 7th, 2007
Princeton Teen Book Bash Recap: Special Namedropping Edition
(Or: Why I Am Still in Middle School)
I kind of get overwhelmed in any big social situation. For the record, I’m such a hermit that the term, “big social situation” can be defined as any activity outside my home that involves me and more than one other human being.
I don’t mind telling the readers of this non-retro (retro)blog entry that I’m a bit of a spaz. In big social situations, I find myself wanting to talk to Everyone. I find myself feeling bad about not getting the chance to talk to Everyone. I find myself having anxieties that Everyone I’m taking to might want to be talking to Someone Else, or that Someone Else I didn’t talk to might have wanted to talk to me and is like, “Why is she talking to Everyone but Me?”
It’s all very middle school.
Perhaps this is why I always seem to wake up on the morning of any big social event with a throbbing, make-up defying zit, one that usually clamors for attention in the prime facial real estate right below my mouth where it is guaranteed to be noticed by Everyone.
So. The morning of the Teen Book Bash was no exception, only my middle-school anxieties were compounded by a new and very unfortunate haircut (a diffuser was involved–a diffuser is like, my folicular Kryptonite), one that needs to be corrected ASAP which is why I’m going to pause for a moment and call my hair salon to plead my case.
I’m back. 11:15am. The unfortunate haircut will be made less unfortunate at 11:15am.
This is not to say that I had a bad time at the Teen Book Bash, as it was customary for me to have a bad–if not downright apocolyptic–time at every single middle school dance I attended. On the contrary, I had a fantastic time. It was a smashing success, and Susan Conlon and Allison Santos and everyone else at the Princeton Public Library deserve enthusiastic thanks for their efforts. The five hours absolutely flew by, and I was genuinely charmed by Everyone I met. I came away so impressed by the range and depth of talent working in the Teen Book world right now. I swapped books with several authors:
21 Proms, edited by Daniel Ehrenhaft and David Levithan
I was lucky to be seated next to the very funny Daniel. We both realized early on that a lot more people would have come over to our table if we had been smart enough to set out some candy. Next time I will bring Jujyfruits.
Ordinary Ghosts, by Eireann Corrigan
We discussed how David Levithan is the nexus of the teen book industry. The band Odette Magritte recorded an original soundtrack for Ordinary Ghosts, which made me sort of jealous because I don’t know anyone in any bands who could do that for my books.
Hail Caesar, by Thu-Huong Ha
Thu is a freshman at Princeton University. I’m very impressed with her ability to juggle academics and all the first-time-author hoopla.
Ruby Tuesday, by Jennifer Ann Kogler
I thought that Jennifer was a blonde. My son and I were walking around the tent trying to track her down (he was calling out, “Jennifer! Oh, Jennifer! Where are yoooooou?”) and we probably walked past her ten times before she finally came over and introduced herself and put an end to our fruitless searching for a blonde named Jennifer.
I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader, by Kieran Scott
Kieran is blonde, which is ironic considering the title of her book. And for some reason, Kieran and I got into a conversation about my history of a cappella singing, and how my low alto range often relegated me to the bass line for which I would be required to go, “BOOOOOW BOOOOOW BOOOOOW…” the entire song.
The Girlfriend Project, by Robin Friedman
Robin was wearing a Jersey Girl t-shirt similar to one I used to wear until I shrunk it beyond wearability. We discussed how being a Jersey Girl is more a state of mind than of geography.
The Breakup Bible, by Melissa Kantor
My mom stole this book before I got to finish it, which is annoying because I was really enjoying it.
Perfect Girl, by Mary Hogan
Mary was wearing a perfect spring dress, which I admired from afar and up close.
Paranoid Park, by Blake Nelson
As I’ve mentioned before,
Blake’s first novel was a huge inspiration for Sloppy Firsts. So to meet him in person was such a pleasure, especially because he and his wife were just as warm and down-to-earth and witty as anyone would hope the author of one of her favorite books would be. (I really am a big, book-loving dork.) And to hear him give voice to Andrea Marr was definitely a highlight that brought me straight back to 1995 when I read it for the first time.
I got excited for soon-to-be-published first-time authors Sarah Beth Durst (Into the Wild) and Marie Lamba (What I Meant…) whose novels come out in June and July, respectively.
I was so happy to chat with writers I’ve met before but haven’t seen in a while including Ned Vizzini, K.L. Going, Wendy Mass, E.R. Frank, Carolyn MacCullough and David Lubar. I was equally happy to chat–albeit all-too-briefly with writers I’d only previously “met” via email, including the incomparable Patricia McCormick, E. Lockhart (who was also wearing a lovely dress I admired from afar and up close) and Leslie Margolis. And I tried to have an intelligent conversation with Maureen Johnson about the evils of book banning, “tried” being the operative word because my son was tugging on my arm and spinning me around in circles and shouting to COME ON ALREADY because he wanted chocolate chip mint ice-cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. I waved and said hi to Maryrose Wood who has one of the best titles of all time with Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall In Love.
So that’s about all the namedropping I can handle. But I had such a great time, even with my huge zit and unfortunate hair. Speaking of, I must abruptly end this entry now so I can get the latter taken care of.
Thanks to everyone who came!
