On a highly overcast Saturday morning, I got in my car, drove up to the Springfield-Franconia Metro Station and rode the Metro up to Washington D.C. for what many of my peers regard as an excessively nerdy thing to do early on a Saturday morning; I was headed to Washington D.C. for the National Book Festival. I exited the Metro train at the Metro Center stopand quickly made my way to the Barnes & Noble located at 555 12th Street to meet up with the group of friends who were going to the festival with me. We proceeded down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the National Mall, which is where the National Book Festival is held each year, and when we arrived, we felt as if we were in heaven.
It is a very rare occasion when you see so many pedestrians crowded around booths and under tents to look at books. There were many things to do at the festival. There was a full list of authors who were going to be speaking and signing books. C-SPAN was there with a Presidential Campaign 2012 bus and free book tote bags (something which was much appreciated by those of us who had not brought enough of a bag to put all of our swag and our books in). Barnes & Noble had set up a massive book sales tent where they were selling books by authors who were at the event. Also, the Magic School Bus was there in attendance for children and adults alike. I must confess, I went through the Magic School Bus much too excitedly and took a picture with my group in front of it. But that's the great thing about being able to proudly announce to the world that you are a nerd or geek—you are allowed to be unabashedly and overly enthusiastic about anything and everything.
From the Magic School Bus, we walked into the books sales tent, not knowing quite what to expect. Having checked the author signing list in advance, I had a list of books which I wanted to purchase and then have signed. On that list were only two books—quite amazing if you know me at all. If I had the resources, I would have bought many more books, but I had a budget and only one bag in which to carry my books. I walked up to the register with two books in my hands, "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire and "Strega Nona's Gift" by Tomie dePaola, but ended up buying an additional book because the title was "Nerds," and how could I resist that?
After the whole group had finished at the book sales tent, we walked over to the signing area and I hopped in line to have my brand new copy of "Wicked" signed by Gregory Maguire, while a few of my friends hopped in line to have their book festival posters signed by Julianne Moore—yes, the Julianne Moore from the movie "Benny and Joon" wrote a book. I sat in the line to meet Gregory Maguire for almost an hour before making it to the front of the line and finally getting the opportunity to meet a man who had written so many great books. He signed my book, I jumped up and down for a few seconds, and then walked over to meet up with my group.
At 2 p.m., the line for the Tomie dePaola signing began to form, and I hopped into line, not wanting to be stuck towards the end and run the risk of not being able to have my book signed by the man who had written the books which I voraciously devoured from the tender age of three. At 4 p.m., Tomie dePaola began signing, and when it was my turn to have my book signed I told him I had been a huge fan since I was three, and that his books were responsible for my being such a voracious reader. He gave me a hug, thanked me for saying so, signed my book, and took a picture with me. It was very exciting!
Shortly after meeting Mr. dePaola, I hopped on the Metro to head home, clutching the spoils of my day tightly so I would not lose them and drove home in a hyper excited mood. For how overcast it had been that morning, it surprisingly did not rain on the festival. (Good thing too because books and rain are not a good mixture). I had met two of my favorite authors, and been hugged by one of them, met an awesome group of friends and had a completely amazing day. For more information about the festival, visit http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/.
