I don't know what it is about an event at Words in Maplewood. It always involves traffic. Last year, it involved rain and terrible traffic. Oh! And, the parking! It's terrible! But it's always worth it. I had made a mental note to trek there for the Versify Tour well before a FB Memory popped up in my timeline. A year ago, on April 3, 2019, I tolerated a truly horrendous experience on the Garden State Parkway to hear Kwame Alexander talk about and read from Rebound.
Thursday evening, I dashed from my yoga nidra class to the GSP only to sit in stop-and-go traffic from exit 165!!! Yeah, it took over an hour to get to Words, and it wasn't raining. Once I got there, it too another fifteen minutes to find a parking space. Yikes! This town needs a few lots. Thankfully, the event started late. I did get a seat though. Here are the pix:
Introductions by the rather stressed-out and standoff-ish co-owner of the store. I know these things are stressful, but...
she could be a bit more welcoming and happy about turnout and such.
Kip Wilson went first and, performed a poem from her debut, White Rose, without reading from her book! Impressive. We Will Not be Silent is one of my favorite non-fiction books ever. White Rose looks like a perfect fiction/ non-fiction pairing.
Lamar Giles read from his delightful MG debut, The Last Last Day of Summer. I had actually read and reviewed this fun novel here.
Raul the Third read from ¡Vamos! Let's Go to Market. This looks like such a fun book.
Kadir Nelson speaks about the fact that he now just about only illustrates what he writes, but made an exception for The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander.
Finally, our emcee and all-around ice-breaker, Kwame Alexander, sporting a shirt that I covet (and googled and found not only tees but mugs), read from The Undefeated. My heart nearly stopped and my eyes definitely brimmed with tears with his reading.
I got my books signed and headed out. I wonder if HMH used the same bus from the Rebound tour and repainted it:
ETA: I reread my post, found a typo, fixed it and then realized that I never talked about Versify. The authors on tour are on the initial list of Alexander's imprint - Versify. I love the name and he chose a great bunch to launch his imprint. Good luck Versify!
So I gave up my yoga class today to attend an author signing about 25 miles away from my home. Yeah. That's big. I practice daily and don't like to miss a single class. But I did -for Kwame Alexander. I am a huge fan of his work. Just today I read Animal Ark and just last weekend I read Solo with my ears.
He was appearing (with his bus) at Words Books in Maplewood. I was very happy to learn that this signing was at five instead of the usual four. Four o'clock signings during the week are impossible for me to leave school and arrive on time. Five o'clock is doable. But what with the rain and the usual Garden State Parkway traffic, a 35 minute ride was close to an hour. Believe me, I almost turned around. But it was Kwame Alexander and all I could think about was the two students who are his biggest fans at my school and how happy getting to read Rebound would make them.
I did arrive late, but didn't miss anything. It started a bit late. Didn't get a seat either, but I'm used to standing. Here's what I learned about Rebound:
While it took him five years to write The Crossover, it took two years to write Rebound.
He had never intended on writing more/ a sequel to The Crossover, but as he traveled and visit with kids, they kept asking for a sequel. If you haven't read The Crossover, I won't spoil why a sequel would've been hard. Once he nailed down the possible plot, he wrote. He wrote in planes and hotel rooms and at his mom's hospital bedside. Rebound is dedicated to his mother.
He brought along a friend with a guitar. His name, Randy Preston, rang a bell. Once he started singing, I recognized him as the singer in Solo. More about that book in a Teen Tuesday blog post later this month.
There were about twenty-five kids sitting on the floor at his feet so eager to hear what he had to say. It was so obvious that they all read his books - closely. They finished his rhymes. They laughed at the in-jokes and even made some. They had inhaled and assimilated his books. There was even a young beat boxer in the audience who provided beats for part of the reading.
Here are some photos:
