Princeton Children's Book Festival 2008

This Saturday, I will be a participating author at the Princeton Children's Book Festival. I attended last year too and loved it. Allison Santos and the Princeton Public Library staff put on an awesome event.

I will be signing books at a table from noon to 5pm, and I'll be reading from Out of the Wild at 3:10pm in the Green Presentation Tent on the Plaza.

If you're interested in stopping by, here are the details:

September 13 (Saturday) from 12-5pm
Princeton Children's Book Festival 2008
Princeton Public Library
65 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ

There's a huge list of participating authors, including Michael Buckley, Margery Cuyler, Wendy Mass, Donna Jo Napoli, Rebecca Stead, and many other super-fabulous people.

And I'm gonna bring a bowl of candy!!

I'm really excited for this event. And not just because it was fun last year. Or because of the candy. I'm also excited because I get to see my alma mater again and feel all warm, fuzzy reminiscing feelings.

I remember people saying to me when I was in college, "This is the best time of your life!" I always thought that was the most depressing thing to say to someone. What? It's all downhill from here? And you are telling me this, why?

I can happily report that it's NOT true. At least, it's not true for me. The best time of my life (so far) is right now.

But I did really love college. And I do think it's a unique time in one's life. It's the very first time that you have the full freedom to choose what you do with your days. It's where who you were really begins to solidify into who you are.

It's also the time when you learn more about your hair.

This is a photo of me in my freshman year dorm room. As you can see, I'm sporting my poodle-do (my haircut in which I most resemble a prize-winning poodle).


All through high school, I had more of a sheep hair-do (picture a giant halo of sheep wool). This was the result of my always wanting to have long hair and my parents always wanting me to have short hair so instead I had hair stuck right in the middle. Middle-length might be fine on people with thin hair or straight hair, but on someone with incredibly thick, fuzzy hair? Yeah, no. Middle-length thick curly hair stands straight up. When I finally did cut my hair poodle-short for college, I turned out to be two inches shorter than I thought I was. Only after college did I let it grow long, ending years and years of hair-trauma.

Um, yeah, I definitely had some hair issues... Guess what I wrote my college admissions essay about -- my hair!! Seriously. It's something of a miracle that I got in.

Anyway, I will be in Princeton this Saturday, reminiscing about college, talking about books, eating candy, and trying to forget the hair-dos of my past. If you're in the area, please stop by the Princeton Public Library and say hi!