Shoshana Flax

For once, my Boston Book Festival experience began with a panel of adult authors. Robin Young moderated the kickoff panel Friday evening: “Storytelling for Page and Screen” with Emma Donoghue, Maria Semple, and Tom Perrotta. The authors shared their varied experiences of having their books made into movies (Donoghue’s Room; Semple’s forthcoming Where’d You Go, Bernadette; Perotta’s Election and others), and shared their irritation with people who ask about movies while they’re still writing the books. The discussion also meandered over to their more recent writing…and now I need to find time to read quite a bit of it. #booknerdproblems.

On Saturday, Elissa and I set up the Horn Book booth with a wealth-and-then-some of materials. If you’ve ever doubted that there’s a lot going on at The Horn Book, feast your eyes. We’ll wait. There’s a lot to feast on.





Festival-goers began dropping by, and they feasted their eyes, too. Some knew exactly who we were, and eagerly donned our custom-made stickers (the ones bearing Roger’s bow-tied likeness were especially popular). Others were less familiar with us, but pored over the Boston Globe–Horn Book–winning books we had on display.

Eventually, I snuck off to “Middle Grade: The Power of Friendship,” a panel moderated by Simmons College's Cathie Mercier, with authors Ali Benjamin, Paul Griffin, and Jo Knowles. The authors discussed the friendships in their books, and also many aspects of the writing life. Pro tip from Griffin: If you want to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to write, just adopt three dogs.

Elissa Gershowitz

On Boston Book Festival Eve, I attended a fabulous soiree held at the Boston Public Library in the Johnson Building's newly renovated entryway and hosted by the Boston Book Festival. There, I mingled with BBF organizers (Deborah Porter, Sarah Howard Parker, Norah Piehl), children's book creators (Katrina Goldsaito, Christian Robinson), Simmons College professors and alumnae (Cathie Mercier, Susan Bloom, Jo Knowles, Liz Wright), most excellent children's librarians (Laura Koenig, Liz Phipps Soeiro), WBUR personalities, and many more authors and luminaries.



The next day, I donned my fanciest hat (which I borrowed from my mom: "This is not my hat!") to host the Kids' Keynote, sponsored by Simmons College, delivered by the charming and talented (and funny!) Jon Klassen, who afterward signed books — with a smile — for two to three hours. (By the way, according to Klassen, the bear definitely eats the rabbit.) I saw Christian Robinson's storytime in the beautiful BPL children's room and said a quick hello to Voice of Freedom illustrator Ekua Holmes before wrangling my own children. We played in Copley Square, ate free ice cream, grabbed Horn Book swag, and collected a free Where's Waldo? sticker book. It was an unqualified success — though there were tons of things we didn't get to see or do. What's that hashtag Shoshana used? #booknerdproblems. There's always next year.

For more, check out our slideshow below:

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