Some fans at the event.

Now we can move on to the actual event. Every seat in the house was filled (some kids were even sitting on the floor)! From book clubs to sisters doing their brother a favor to parents, there were people from every walk of life attending. Luckily, I was able to interview some people from the crowd. Here are some of the questions I asked them:

1. What are your thoughts of the series?
   “Fun and exciting” was the opinion of Jonathan, a book club member that has been to quite a few of BookPeople’s teen events. From a more laid back Eric, a “good series” was his response. Ruth, a kind sister who wanted to do her brother a favor, gave me a much more in depth response, describing the series as “fascinating…and interesting”.
2. What was your favorite book of the series?
   Elizabeth’s answer was by far my favorite, telling me that “all of the above” were her favorite when I started listing the books.
3. What do you think the event will be like?
   Everyone agreed on one answer: that the event would definitely be “exciting and “interesting”.

Michael Scott greeting a fan.

And exciting it was. All throughout the talking portion, Michael Scott was interacting with the crowd, making jokes and occasionally actually talking with them, rather than at them. As I was listening, I noticed that Mr. Scott made a lot of points about this series. The main ones were that he started this book because he wanted to introduce teens and young adults to the mythologies of the world that were less known along with historical characters that he found interesting. Mr. Scott then went on to read a chapter from The Enchantress and gave some very important warnings:

1. DON’T READ THE LAST PAGE/CHAPTER FIRST! – It will ruin the rest of the book
2. Have a box of tissues nearby – this one book is a real tear-jerker

Now that you have been sufficiently warned, on we go with this recap of this event. After the reading of this riveting chapter, the question section began. I particularly liked this portion because Mr. Scott answered a lot of questions, making sure to answer each one in depth.

Now for some fun facts revealed during the beginning of the event:

• When Michael Scott first started writing The Alchemyst, John Dee was the original hero. It wasn’t until Scott went to Paris and ate at the restaurant that was once the Flamel’s home and kind of explored there that Nicholas became the hero.
• John Dee, who was a spy for the queen, was the original 007.
• After the death of Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, grave robbers decided to raid their house. However, all they found was a completely cleaned out home. After that, they went to their grave, hoping to find any expensive bobbles worth taking. Even more strangely, they found the tomb of Perenelle and the grave of Nicholas completely empty and never used. Years later, Nicholas and Perenelle were spotted in Berlin. Centuries after this, they were once against reported being seen by Queen Victoria herself.

That’s all folks! Now before I sign off, I have one more exclusive piece of trivia that has never before been revealed:

In The Alchemyst, when Sophie and Josh first come to the world tree, Scatha mentions an unnamed man who was killed with a hailstone. That man was Michael Scot. Now don’t be confused, this Michael Scot is not our author, but an old, Scottish magician!

Now, there are lots of places you can buy ebooks these days, but did you know that one of these places is BookPeople?  That’s right.  BookPeople and lots of other local indies around the nation participate in the Google eBooks program.  If you have an android or IOS (Apple) device, just download the Indiebound Reader app, and you are set.  If you have something else, like a Nook or Kindle Fire, do not despair.  You can still support your local indie and get your ebooks downloaded into these devices.  In fact, we have an entire section of our website dedicated to helping you get our ebooks onto your device.

And once you’re ready to start shopping for ebooks at BookPeople, let me make a few suggestions of some great books to download for your kids: (Click on any book to go to its page.)

First Chapter Books:

Chapter Books Series:

Tom, who is best known for his Bluebonnet Award winning book, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and its sequel Darth Paper Strikes Back will be speaking and signing books. Let’s just hope he leaves the Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven mustache at home. It grants you Powers, and with all of you wearing your own mustaches, there’s only so much Power one event can take.

And for the celebration, the fine folks from Austin’s Pizza will be here with their tasty slices of pizza pie.  It’s a not-to-be-missed event!

For more information on the event, visit our website.  See you there!

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle (offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group)
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa (nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group)
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins (anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence)
4. My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler (nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group)
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group)
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint)
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit)
8. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones (nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit)
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar (drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit)
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (offensive language; racism)

Fake Mustache
by Tom Angleberger

Fake Mustache is the funniest book I’ve read in a looooooong time! A light hearted romp in which Lenny Flem Jr. and his new pal Jodie O’Rodeo (maybe you’ve seen her on TV – the Jodie O’Rodeo Showdeo?) save the world from a short man-about-town and his Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven mustache that grants him Powers.

Be sure to come by and grab your copy of the book, and for more event info, visit our website.

To see the very first poet (Allan Wolf of Blood Hungry Spleen Fame), click here, and then work your way up to today.

Poetry abounds in our world whether it’s classically rhymed, a sonnet, or something more modern or post-modern in its feel.  Today, I wondered into the kids’ department and my fellow staff members and I sat in front of the poetry section finding some of our favorite poems and poets.  Of course we lovingly remembered Shel Silverstein and Robert Louis Stevenson, but when it came time to pick our favorites, here’s what we selected:

Merilee:
The Best of Ogden Nash
By Ogden Nash

According to Merilee, “Ogden Nash is just so terribly clever.”  She would have continued reading and reciting the various poems in this collection to us probably all day if I hadn’t dragged it from her arms so I could write this post.

Wil:
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
By T.S. Eliot

Wil says that this book, ” should be read aloud in the presence of children and cats repeatedly — as they will never tire of these verses — before the introduction of any Andrew Lloyd Webber. The jellicles will thank you!”
Meghan:
If Not for the Cat
By Jack Pretulesky

and

Water Sings Blue
By Meilo So

Meghan, our kids’ buyer, actually had two favorites.  If Not for the Cat has been one of the poetry books she’s been recommending for some time, but she’s “very excited” about the new poetry book, Water Sings Blue.

Madeline:
100 Great Poems for Boys
Edited by Leslie Pockell

Personally, I like anthologies that collect lots of poets together — kind of a best hits kind of book.  One of my favorites with many of my favorite poets like Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Tennyson, or William Blake is the 100 Great Poems for Boys.  Definitely these poems would appeal to boys, but I find that many of the poems would be just as appealing to girls too.

And to see more poetry books, we have an entire display on the table in front of the kid’s information desk on the second floor.  Come see some more of our favorite poems, and chat with us about some of your favorite poems too.

As you can imagine, this does not go over well with the pigeon.

And, of course, all this talk of cookies leaves me hungry and wanting a big batch of chocolate chip cookies too.

Fortunately, Mo and the folks at Disney Publishing have already thought of this.  They are currently running a sweepstakes to win free cookies for a YEAR!  That’s right a year.  (Oh, and there’s a whole Mo Willems prize pack that includes things like a copy of the Don’t Let the Pigeon Run the App! and other cool stuff.) But really, the important thing is free cookies, for a year!  And that should be enough to keep even the hungriest little brood of ducklings satisfied.

To enter the contest, head on over to Pigeon Presents!

And to pre-order your copy for Tuesday (because no Pigeon library is complete without it), drop by BookPeople.

So, naturally we are thrilled that one of our favorite author/illustrators has been awarded this prestigious prize. This year the illustrator honor went to Peter Sis.

Peter Sis has been a staple here at BookPeople for years now.  We have often featured his works in various places throughout our store including one year in our yearly catalog when we highlighted his book, The Wall, in 2007.  A prolific illustrator, Peter has drawn images for more than just his own books.  You can also find his illustrations in such diverse places as The Whipping Boy and more recently, Pam Munoz Ryan’s book The Dreamer.

The point of all my rambling is that we are excited for Peter, and we congratulate him on winning such a wonderful and well-deserved award.

In Chronal Engine, characters Max, his brother Kyle, and their friend Petra are forced to use their grandfather’s time machine to go back to the Cretaceous Period to save their kidnapped sister, Emma.  Unfortunately for them, the Cretaceous is covered in dinosaurs, and not just the sweet herbivores you meet in the Land Before Time movies.  These dinosaurs are fierce (even the herbivores), and the danger the kids face comes from all sides.  Soon, it’s not just a matter of rescuing Emma, they also need to save themselves.

Of course, this is only the beginning of the adventure, and really if you want to know more about the book, you shouldn’t just read it, you should come down on Saturday and let Greg tell you all about it.  And of course, since it’s a release party, we’ll also have cookies, and other food, and Greg will be signing.  You don’t want to miss it.  I know I won’t.

Event Details:
Time: Saturday, March 24 @ 2pm
Where: BookPeople
More info