Easel Does It
Author Rachel Renée Russell and her daughters, Nikki and Erin, stopped by McNally Jackson in New York City while on tour for Dork Diaries #6: Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker (S&S/Aladdin). Activities at the event included a Dork Diaries trivia game, a reading from the book, and the chance for audience members to get “dorked out” in the style of the books’ illustrations. Shown here, Nikki draws a portrait of a fan a la her artwork for the series, while Erin (far l.) and Rachel look on.
Book Bugs
Bookstore1Sarasota in Sarasota, Fla., hosted a Father’s Day signing for author Dianne Ochiltree’s picture book It’s a Firefly Night (Blue Apple), illus. by Betsy Snyder, which depicts a firefly-lit evening shared between a father and daughter. Ociltree, sporting spiffy firefly antennae, read to audience members (who were offered similar headgear to wear). To help create a cozy ambiance, the reading area at the bookstore was decked out with a faux campfire, and firefly-shaped cookies and other treats were served. Though Ochiltree isn’t officially on tour, she did meet up with Snyder for another event, at the Strongsville Public Library in Cleveland.
The Unusual Suspects
Debut author Kristen Kittscher celebrated the release of her middle-grade mystery, The Wig in the Window (HarperCollins) with more than 200 guests at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif. The novel’s audiobook narrator, Amanda Philipson, and the author's aunt, actress Bess Armstrong, joined Kittscher for a theatrical reading from the lighthearted novel, about two amateur detectives who – due to a comic misunderstanding – suspect their school counselor of being a murderous criminal. Like the book’s main characters, who don silly disguises for their investigations, several audience members sported wigs for the event. Shown here are Amelia (l.) and Jackie (r.), who claim to be the real sleuths from the book and can be seen interrogating – er, interviewing – Kittscher in a video made for the HarperKids YouTube channel. Several Los Angeles-based authors, including Lisa Yee, Cecil Castellucci, and Ned Vizzini, joined the audience members for pictures in a spy-themed photobooth.
