Thursday, February 3, 2011

Flintridge Book Store and L.A. Parent Magazine Host Mother/Daughter Book Party

I’m very interested in girls’ issues, girls’ empowerment and books for girls. So when Catherine Linka (writer, and children’s book buyer at Flintridge Bookstore) invited bloggers to come to an event at the bookstore for mothers and daughters, I was happy to go. L.A. Parent magazine joined together with the bookstore to host the mother/daughter Author Book Party, highlighting mid-grade and young adult book authors. Ronna Mandel, associate editor and book reviewer at L.A. Parent, was on hand too, co-hosting and representing the magazine. She blogs about books at Good Reads With Ronna.

The event was well-attended though the day was cold and rainy. It was great to see so many girls chatting with their favorite authors and perhaps finding new favorites as well. The books ranged from historical to contemporary and even fantasy. (There were also refreshments and prizes.) The first hour and a half was devoted to books for grades 3-6.

The writers for this age group (3rd to 6th grade), were Kathleen O’Dell (the Agnes Parker series), Naomi Hirahara (1001 Cranes), Carol Hughes (The Princess and the Unicorn), Carol Hennesy (the Pandora books), Randi Barrow (Saving Zasha) and Gayle Brandeis (My Life with the Lincolns).

The authors who had books for 6th to 9th graders were Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof), Sherri Smith (Flygirl), Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures), Amy Goldman Koss (The Girls), and Morgan Matson (Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour).

Below are some photos I took of the bookstore, authors and bloggers. I enjoyed the authors’ informal sessions – learning about them and their books. It was a well done, successful get-together for mothers, their daughters and the authors of some of the next books that girls will be reading.
 
Carol Hughes

Kathleen O'Dell

 
Carol Hennesy
 
Randi Barrow and Gayle Brandeis

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Sherri Smith

Cecil Castellucci
 


8 comments:

  1. Oooohh, fun! Where was this held? Do you know if this is a national thing? Do you think they might come to the west coast?

    http://sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com

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  2. I am sorry we did not meet you there. I loved Abiah Rose. It was a wonderful event and Pen and Ink loaded up on books and great stories.

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  3. Thanks, Diane!
    We've had amazing response from the moms, daughters and authors. One mom told me yesterday that all her daughter usually read was fluff, but she was completely inspired after meeting Sherri Smith and hearing about Flygirl. That makes all the work worthwhile.

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  4. It was fun Sandra! It's an event Catherine Linka organized in Flintridge, California (near Glendale). Hope she'll do it again!

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  5. Hi, Pen and Inkers and thanks Bubba-Bubba-Lupe. It was a great event. I'm looking forward to your interviews.

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  6. Catherine, your work was definitely worthwhile! As Megan said, it was a great theme! It's always wonderful when kids are inspired to read. Hope there are more of these events to come!

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