The Book Scoop: The Voracious Reader

Yeesh!  I got all tied up with work stuff last week and didn't complete my east coast recap!  I told you about Children's Book World in Haverford, and Books of Wonder in Manhattan, so today it's all about The Voracious Reader in Larchmont!

This was another Stages on Pages tour stop, and my co-horts at this one were Gretchen McNeil, Sheela Chari, Roseanne Parry, Stasia Kehoe, and Jessica Martinez.  We scored a major treat at this bookstore, because owner Francine made us pots of an insanely good Earl Grey tea that she correctly dubbed "heaven in a cup."

At The Voracious Reader, Stasia (our ringleader) and Francine tweaked the Stages on Pages formula a little, and invited the community to be part of the appearance.  It makes perfect sense — we're Young Adult authors who were all teens in the performing arts, so why not include current teens in the performing arts?  So in addition to the six of us doing our (figurative) song and dance about how theater/music/dance inspires our writing, local teens performed their (literal) song and dance!

We shared the stage with one solo singer, one duo, an actress, and a string quartet.  I ended up doing my spiel after the solo singer, Jenna Doherty, and she was not an easy act to follow — she was terrific.

As the evening wound down and we signed books, I got to chat with a few of the teen performers.  I loved their energy and passion — brought me right back to high school and college, when everything about a future in the arts was bright, shiny, and magical.  It's still bright, shiny, and magical, but with a nuts-and-bolts-of-the-business side that never had a place in my teen fantasies.

Huge thanks to Francine at The Voracious Reader, and even huger thanks to the teen performers who brought their zest for the arts to our Stages on Pages event.  Honestly, I have only one complaint about the event.  See the picture up above?  The insanely cute King Charles Cavalier Spaniel?  His name's Franklin, and according to The Voracious Reader's website, he's there every Friday.  We were there on a Friday, and had Franklin been there as well, I guarantee he'd have been on my lap the entire appearance.  As it was, my lap was notably Spaniel-free.

Clearly, we were robbed of some quality Franklin time.  I'll have to go back and rectify that.  I'll bring doggie treats.