I'm baaaaaack

Hello, my pretties!
Did you miss me? Sorry for the long blog delay...I was wrapping things up in Paris, and then I returned home to a horrifically disordered house and a To-Do list that could double as a phone book, except with a lot more incidents of the word "laundry" in it.
Anyway, I wanted to share the news that I'll be celebrating my return to the states this weekend in true literary style, by participating in the awesome annual BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL! See below for Sunday's "Youth Stoop" events--I'm on the Happily Ever After panel with absolutely SWOON-worthy authors, so come check it out. (Actually, you should just make a day of it...you'll want to once you see what else is going on during the day!)

*You’ve Got to Be Kidding. Former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka (Spaceheadz), National Book Award Finalist E. Lockhart (The Treasure Map of Boys) and Mac Barnett (The Brixton Brothers) take on the absurdity of life in books and writing and talk about their ways of making us laugh, including hamster space aliens and panicky smart alecks. Moderated by Betsy Bird. THE YOUTH STOOP 10:00 AM

*DRAWN! Illustrator Draw-off. Illustrators bring magic to words with the simple stroke of a pencil. Watch award-winning illustrators create in response to a few energetic prompts from the audience, and hear them discuss the magic behind their illustrative work. Mike Cavallaro (Foiled), Shane Evans (Olu’s Dream) and Vanessa Brantley. Moderated by Darren Farrell (Doug Dennis and the Flyaway Fib). THE YOUTH STOOP 11:00 AM

*Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made. Laura Toffler-Corrie (The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz), Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich (8th Grade Superzero) and 2009 Newbery Award winner Rebecca Stead (When You Reach Me), bring us relatable, inspiring characters embracing challenges with friendships and popularity—while trying to solve a mystery or two—set against very different New York landscapes. Moderated by Wendy Lamb. THE YOUTH STOOP 12:00 PM

*About a Boy. Newbery Honor-winning Jacqueline Woodson (Peace, Locomotion), debut author Torrey Maldonado (Secret Saturdays) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Charles Fuller (Snatch: The Adventures of David and Me) offer us a rare look into the minds and hearts of young boys who could really use a second chance. THE YOUTH STOOP 1:00 PM

*Happily Ever After? Lauren Oliver (Before I Fall), Jenny Han (It’s Not Summer Without You) and Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars) talk about characters who are forced to relive their past, come to terms with haunting memories and who have committed terrible acts. Moderated by Kirsten Miller (The Eternal Ones). THE YOUTH STOOP 2:00 PM

*When it All Goes Wrong. Adele Griffin (The Julian Game), Tracy White (How I Made it to Eighteen) and Sofia Quintero (Efrain’s Secret), discuss what happens when life gets out of hand, from online stalking to addiction to the lure of living double lives. THE YOUTH STOOP 3:00 PM

*Making It. Mitali Perkins (Bamboo People), Francisco X. Stork (The Last Summer of the Death Warriors) and Kate Milford (The Boneshaker) bring tales of their characters’ extreme survival to the stage, from a teen soldier in Burma to an orphanage in Mexico to a girl in 1913 Missouri who finds herself in the middle of a battle between good and evil. Anjali Wason, moderator. THE YOUTH STOOP 4:00 PM

Tiger Beat. Teen author band Libba Bray, Daniel Ehrenhaft, Natalie Standiford and Barnabas Miller perform at the Festival. THE YOUTH STOOP 5:00 PM