Favorite Philly Review . . . and Young Author Celebration

Philadelphia is in the house!!!

For years, my Aunt Iris clipped the young adult book reviews from the Philadelphia Inquirer and mailed them to me in South Florida.

I loved getting those reviews!  

In fact, I e-mailed the reviewer, Katie Haegele, to tell her how much I enjoyed her reviews.

You can imagine my delight to find that my book, OLIVIA BEAN, TRIVIA QUEEN, appeared in today's young adult book reviews, among the likes of books by Walter Dean Myers, Pete Hautman, Cecil Castellucci, etc. 

My favorite part of the review was this:  "Local kids will smile when they see that Olivia lives in Philadelphia, goes to Phillies games, and mentions her favorite place to go out to eat: the Country Club Diner."  (That's right; I proudly set this novel in Philadelphia, which is why I'm so blasted happy it's reviewed in the Philadelphia Inquirer.)

Thank you, Katie Haegele!  (And thanks for your awesome advice about cutting soy out of my diet.  It's reduced my migraines to nearly zero!)

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And in related reading/writing news, I was the speaker at my favorite event of the year yesterday -- The Young Author Celebration at Manatee Academy for St. Lucie County.

Uber-media specialist and President of the St. Lucie Reading Council, Debbie Remington and her trusty sidekick, Vince, organized and ran the event.  They gave the students certificates and food (including giant cookies) and books and more books!

Debbie Remington and Donna

And my trusty sidekick and fantabulous hubby helped out.

Hubby missed his weekly basketball game to help out at this event.

 What a delight to meet these young, talented writers and readers and their very proud parents and grandparents.

Celebrating Young Authors

My last event of the school year was speaking at a wonderful luncheon at Manatee Academy to celebrate young authors from schools in St. Lucie County, FL.

The amazing Debbie Remington, Media Specialist at Manatee Academy and president of the St. Lucie County Reading Council, invited me to speak at this special event.



These award-winning young authors didn't write a poem or a story. They created BOOKS with chapters and artwork and dazzling covers.

About 200 people attended the event.



Attendees were treated to lunch, a book fair and a short talk by someone who once sat where those young authors sat (hint: me). Then winners were presented with certificates, free books and prizes.

It was inspiring to see adults celebrating these young authors. But my favorite part occurred before hubby and I even walked in. As we headed to the event, a young author and her mother walked behind us. We overheard the mother say, "I love you and I'm so proud of you."

That is what the event was all about. Hubby and I left with a warm feeling. It was great meeting these young authors and celebrating their hard work. Kudos to Debbie Remington, the St. Lucie County Reading Council and all the dedicated people who created such a special event to celebrate these remarkable young authors!