Memo to authors: if you are ever invited to the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival, also known as TBF Live, SAY YES.
You might get to ride around in a stretch limo with Matt de la Pena (not a bad gig, right?):
(David Levithan took this picture and after one or both of us blinked in every frame, I concentrated on opening my eyes REALLY WIDE.)
Someone along the red carpet might make rock-concert devil horns for you:
You will meet fans:
You will have your very own team of student handlers to escort you everywhere, and cater to your every whim:
You will sign merch. And t-shirts, and programs, and posters, and cell phones (yes, two fans asked me to sign their cell phones), autograph books, scraps of paper, tote bags, and the like, until your hand cramps up.
And you’ll hang out with a bunch of fun, funny, kind, and talented peers:
(This photo also courtesy of David L. And, going left to right, more or less: Matt de la Pena, Linda Sue Park, Tim Green, Jack Ferraiolo, Jenny Han, Terry Trueman, me, Ken Oppel, Sharon Flake, Cinda Chima, Geno Salvatore, Michael Buckley, Ellen Hopkins, Daphne Grab, Robin Brande, and the men known as “David Van Etten”: David Ozanich, Chris Van Etten, and David Levithan. Svetlana Chmakova was also there later, but not in this pic. Such a great group of authors and people.)
Then there are the dozens of volunteers that make it all possible and go all kinds of above and beyond to make you feel special.
You will come home exhausted and possibly with no voice and a little head cold, but it will be so incredibly worth it. Many, many thanks to everyone who made it one of the best weekends ever.
Tomorrow I will cover TLA. And now, to bed!
10 comments for this post
This looks like so much fun! What a great opportunity for the teen community in Rochester – makes me want to get involved with something like it somewhere ELSE!
Amazing event! And was great to hang out with you and the other awesome authors, kids, librarians, teachers, parents, etc. etc. I didn’t sign cell phones this time, but did sign a couple of . . . well, they didn’t promise to tatoo my signature this time anyway….
I was so glad you came to Rochester! I always feel like I’m missing out being in the same state as NYC but too far away to actually go to any of the events.
I loved your talk–and I finally started Story of a Girl last night. I’m completely engrossed.
I’m a school librarian that attended TBF over the weekend. I bought ‘Story of A Girl’ and when I returned to school on Monday, I let one of my students borrow it. She brought it back to me the next day and raved about it; she loved it so much that she finished it in one day! Can’t wait to read it!!
This sounds like so much fun. I’m going to add it to my list of things to do in my life… go to an amazing book festival!
I can’t believe I have never heard of TBF until now! I’m so glad I went! I’m also happy that someone shares the same opinion about analyzing literature as I do. It was great to meet you!
This looks like a blast! I also adore your bright eyes photo at the top.
Ellen – I wish we’d had more time to talk. Next time!
Tina, Adrienne, Stephanie – you gals are SO LUCKY to have such an amazing event in your area! Trust me, there is nothing else like it.
Sue, the Utah Book Fest isn’t bad. It happens in October, so keep your eyes peeled.
Thx, Melissa. Looking at all these pictures together makes me tired of my scarf.
Just wanted to say I really enjoyed your break-out session. And I like your scarf.