Books of Wonder!!

I love this poster.

I really, really love this poster.

I may have to steal a copy of this poster.

Seriously, larceny is in my future. Cue the Mission Impossible music. I'm goin' in. Who's with me?

As the above poster says, this Saturday at noon, I will be appearing at Books of Wonder with Gail Carson Levine, Scott Mebus, Claudia Gray, and Diana S. Zimmerman. To say that I am excited about this would be an understatement. HUGE understatement. Like unicorns-are-rare kind of understatement.

For one thing, it's at Books of Wonder, which is a fantastic children's bookstore in Manhattan. I want to read every single book in this store. Also, it shares space with a cupcake store. And rumor has it that it also has a secret underground lair filled with first edition signed copies of Harry Potter guarded by ninja-trained cats and a shark-infested moat. The sharks, of course, have laser beams on their heads.

For another, I will be reading from and signing copies of Out of the Wild. This will be the very first time that I get to sign copies of Out of the Wild. (The actual official publication date is June 19th.) I may end up petting them and cooing at them as I sign. They're so BLUE! Pretty, pretty blue!

Lastly, look at that author list! Scott Mebus, Claudia Gray, Diana S. Zimmerman, and GAIL CARSON LEVINE! AHHHH!!! I know that I'm going to totally make an idiot of myself in front of Gail Carson Levine. I love her books. Ella Enchanted. The Two Princesses of Bamarre. The Princess Tales. I am bouncing in my chair as I type this.

If you're going to be in NYC this weekend and would like to see me totally lose my cool next to Gail Carson Levine and/or join me in sneaking past the laser-beam-wearing sharks to claim my beloved poster, here are the event details:

June 14th (Saturday) from 12-2pm
Books of Wonder - Reading/Signing
18 West 18th Street, New York, NY

Hope to see you there!

Ooh, and I almost forgot. Today I had a wonderful bit of coolness: Ms. Editor sent me my very first beautiful blue hardcover smells-like-a-new-book finished copy of Out of the Wild. The package arrived midday, but (showing remarkable self-restraint, if I do say so myself) I waited until my husband came home from work before opening it. He's been with me every step of the way, so I wanted to share the moment with him.

I then proceeded to hug the book for the next hour. :)

8 days until the Wild returns...