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Just stay home. Please.

Find something else to do.

Each year I do this event, which features more than 60 amazing children’s book authors and illustrators, and it’s always such a disappointment. For starters, check out some of the people who’ll be there, and you’ll understand why I’m so bummed:

Tony Abbott, Nora Raleigh Baskin, Nick Bruel, Bryan Collier, Katie Davis, Bruce Degen, Jean Craighead George, Charise Mericle Harper, Susan Jeffers, Peter Lerangis, Gail Carson Levine, Carolyn MacCullough, Rafe Martin, Wendy Mass, Matthew McElligott, Helen Perelman, Wendell Minor, Gloria Pinkney, Lizzy Rockwell, Todd Strasser, Mark Teague, Jean Van Leeuwen, Eric Velasquez, Sarah Weeks, Ed Young, and more.

Why so down-in-the-dumps you ask? Because I never get to talk to any of them. I never get a chance to meet the new (to me!) people, like Will Moses (Mary and Her Little Lamb), Lena Roy (Edges), Daniel Kirk (Library Mouse), Peter Brown (You Will Be My Friend!) . . .

. . . and Jerry Davis (Little Chicken’s Big Day). Who are these people? Might they become my new best pals? Um, not likely! Because they are sitting at tables forty feet away, surrounded by happy children, shopping grandparents, and strong-armed educators, hauling bags of books like Sherpa guides.

Best I can do is throw rocks at ‘em.

And, oh, hey, look over there, it’s Jean Craighead George. She’s only a freakin’ legend. I can’t throw rocks at Jean Craighead George. She’ll throw them back — and her arm is a bazooka.

Oh,  wait.  Here’s old friends like Mark Teague and Helen Perelman and Peter Lerangis. Can I talk to any of them? Can we hang out? Maybe shoot the breeze? Commiserate?

Nooooooo. I’m too busy signing books, meeting young readers, gabbing with families, prostrating myself before the cheerful & smiling hordes.

Writing is a solitary business, folks. And it’s frustrating for me to sit there at gorgeous Sunnyside . . .

. . . just feet away from my peerless peers, and never have a free minute to chat with them.

So my dream is for just one year, nobody comes. No book sales, no signings, no musicians, no storytellers, no-bah-dee. Just us authors, finally (finally!) enjoying a few moments when we can hang out and complain about the crappy jobs our publishers do with publicity and marketing. It’s how we bond. We bitch and moan about Kindles.

So this coming Sunday, clean the garage, watch football, wax the car. But if you insist on coming . . . click

I love when authors have this ability to take an innocent child, put them in a complicated situation, yet allow them to keep their innocence throughout the experience. It makes a middle grade book great for kids, keeping things simple and pure, as emotions at that age level should be. Nora Raleigh Baskin has succeeded at this wonderfully, in a sweet middle grade book that mixes preteen emotions with the desire to understand more about one's past.

Though Caroline has always known she was Jewish, her parents have raised her in a rather non-religious home, not following the traditions of the Jewish faith or talking about the beliefs with Caroline. After her devoutly Jewish grandmother passes away, Caroline becomes interested in Judaism and what is means to be part of the Jewish faith, wondering if she can possibly be a true follower of the religion, even within a non-religious family.

A very nice book for middle graders, whether Jewish or not, Caroline exhibits real-to-life thoughts and emotions, appropriate for the age group the author is attempting to reach. The religious aspect is a main plot point, but sub-topics of friendship and crushes play a role as well. A good choice for libraries or as a gift.

To learn more or to purchase, click on the book cover to link to Amazon.

The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah
Nora Raleigh Baskin
144 pages
Middle Grade Fiction
Aladdin
9781416974697
April 2009