Hey, New York! I’ve had a wild and wonderful two months touring North America promoting DRAMA…but now I’m back home (and especially glad to be cozy in my own apartment, while this hurricane terrorizes the neighborhood), and I want to celebrate…so, I’m having a book party and signing this Saturday, November 3, at Bergen Street Comics!

Kids and adults are welcome. Please feel free to bring your friends!

DRAMA HOMECOMING PARTY & BOOKS SIGNING!
Saturday, November 3
7pm
Bergen Street Comics
470 Bergen Street (near Flatbush Avenue)
Brooklyn, New York 11217
(718) 230-5600

There will be snacks, beverages, prizes, live readings, music, and shenanigans! And books, of course. I hope you can join me.

Subway directions:
2/3 to Bergen Street
4, 5, B, and Q trains to Atlantic Avenue
D, M, N, and R trains to Pacific Street
Long Island Rail Road to the Atlantic Avenue Terminal
Bus routes B65, B63, and B67

At the MIBA Movable Feast. Renaissance Depot Hotel in Minneapolis, which doubles as a pretty sweet train museum.

Thank you to EVERYONE who made the last three weeks simply amazing for me: the booksellers, reps, drivers, publicists, and event coordinators; friends, family, and those who count as both; authors, illustrators, and speakers; librarians, teachers, principals, and secretaries; my tirelessly awesome husband Dave, and most importantly, the fans. Everywhere. You are so humbling and amazing and I am lucky to have you in my life.

Live reading from DRAMA with Jen Vincent, David Levithan, and Heather Brewer at Anderson’s Bookshop, Chicago.

These young ladies introduced me at a school visit, Chicago.

School visit, St. Louis. We found this speaker exactly like this, and the bookseller used it to set up the stock!

Being introduced by awesome bookseller Shane, at Left Bank Books, St. Louis.

Cousins on my Telgemeier side, at Left Bank Books, St. Louis.

Possibly the coolest bookstore ever: Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis.

With my hardworking Scholastic publicist, Sheila Marie, in Minneapolis.

A fabulous school crowd, Minneapolis.

Signing for a great group at The Bookcase, Minneapolis.

Cartoonists with their co-creation, Portland.

The crowd at A Children’s Place bookstore, Portland.

Renata, who helped me draw the soccer ball, at A Children’s Place bookstore, Portland.

The sweetest father-son combo you could ever hope to meet, at Bridge City Comics, Portland.

An adorable fan at my first Kidsbooks event, Vancouver.

Bookseller extraordinaire, Maggie, introducing me at Kidsbooks South Surrey, Vancouver.

Young artists, Vancouver.

Super-enthusiastic students at an all-boys school, Vancouver.

Indigo branch bestseller wall, Vancouver.

Shelf-talker at University Bookstore, Seattle.

Going Graphic panel at Tweens Read Book Festival, Houston.

Going Graphic panelists Rachel Renee Russell, me, Dave Roman, and Amy Ignatow!

My view for the past three weeks.

(See more photos here!)

I’m moving into the home stretch of this here tour! Day 16 away from home is wrapping up, and I have just been having the best time. Thank you SO much to everyone who has showed up, bought a book, and made me feel welcome at my events all over the continent! I have the best readers of all time.

From the road. A well-loved copy of Smile.

Here are the remainder of my events, going right up till Thanksgiving.

Ravenna Third Place Books
DRAMA signing!
6504 20th Ave. N.E.
Seattle, WA
Tuesday, October 16
7pm

Tweens Read Festival
Bobby Shaw Middle School
1201 Houston Avenue
Pasadena, TX
Saturday, October 20 (all day)
I’ll be on the graphic novelists panel track with Dave Roman, Amy Ignatow, and Rachel Renee Russell!

Portland Public Library
5 Monument Square
Portland, ME
Thursday, October 25
4pm

Curtis Library Author Event
Curtis Memorial Library, Morrell Meeting Room
23 Pleasant Street
Brunswick, ME
Friday, October 26
4pm
“This free event is geared to elementary and middle school age students and older. Grown up fans of comics will also enjoy her talk.” To sign up, contact Melissa Orth, Teen Librarian, 725-5242 x227, morth@curtislibrary.com

Awesome Casablanca Comics flier by Melanie Tingdahl

Casablanca Comics
DRAMA signing!
151 Middle St
Portland, ME
Saturday, October 27
11am-2pm

Bergen Street Comics
DRAMA HOMECOMING PARTY!!
470 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Nov. 3
7pm
Well I HAD to have a signing at my favorite NYC comic shop, right?! Friends, I hope you’ll join me for an evening of celebration, music, snacks, live readings, and shenanigans! Kids and adults welcome.

Miami Book Fair
Miami, FL
November 15-17
I don’t have my panel schedule yet, but I’ll announce it when I do!

NCTE
Las Vegas, NV
November 20
This is a trade show and not open to the public, but I hope to see many of my teacher and author friends there! My panel is eeeeearly on Tuesday morning, so come watch me talk comics as I blink away the tiredness! This is also my final, final tour stop…so it’ll be a little bittersweet.

Now, I’m off to bed before one last Vancouver event tomorrow afternoon! (Tickets are already sold out, sorry!) And then I’m coming back to you, lovely United States…see you all soon!

~raina

Hello from my hotel room in Portland, OR. Day…14 of my tour, I believe?

Figured I should make a quick post about my upcoming Vancouver, BC events! They’re all hosted by the amazing Kidsbooks (one of the best children’s bookstores in North America).

Each event requires a purchased ticket to enter. Be sure to click on the links below to purchase your tickets!

Westpoint Grey United Church
Purchase tickets here
4595 W 8th Ave
Vancouver BC
Thursday, October 11
7pm

Kidsbooks South Surrey Event
Purchase tickets here
The Boulevard at South Point Exchange
15033 – 32 Ave
Vancouver BC
Friday, October 12
7pm

Capilano Branch of North Vancouver District Library
Please call the store for remaining tickets: 604-738-5335
3045 Highland Blvd
North Vancouver BC
Saturday, October 13
2pm

After Vancouver, I’ll be heading back to Washington State. *****UPDATE!!! HERE IS MY SEATTLE EVENT INFO!

Tuesday, October 16
Ravenna Third Place Books
6504 20th Ave. N.E.
Seattle, WA 98115

Come say hi! See you soon!
7pm

Hello to my west coast friends–I’ll be visiting Portland, OR in just about a week! I’ve added two last-minute events to my calendar. I hope to see some of you there.

Saturday, October 6
A Children’s Place Bookstore
4807 NE Fremont Street
Portland, OR
I’ll be at ACPB at 2 pm, talking about and signing my books!

Wednesday, October 10
Bridge City Comics
3725 N. Mississippi Ave
Portland, OR
6-8pm
Join me for an informal talk and DRAMA signing!

Please help me spread the word! See you soon, PDX!

I’m at home today recovering from an astounding weekend in Washington, DC, for the Library of Congress National Book Festival!

I got to hang out with some of my fellow Scholastic authors…including Sonia Manzano, also known as Maria from Sesame Street!! Talk about a lifelong role model. Sonia is warm and funny, and so genuine. I was extremely honored to meet her, and may have done a little bit of fangirling, too.

Scholastic authors James Dashner, Maggie Stiefvater and I in front of the Washington Post offices, where we all attended an author breakfast.

The Festival’s opening reception was held at the Library of Congress. That building is jaw-dropping. I spent a fun hour running around looking at Thomas Jefferson’s library, the Reading Room, and a gallery of 100 Books That Shaped America. A really fun evening.

Here are some photos from the festival itself! A crowd of 200,000 gathers on the lawn of the National Mall each September for this event. It’s well organized, friendly, and free. I absolutely loved it.

My presentation! Each speaker got their own sign language interpreter, which I loved. I made an improv comic based on an audience member’s crazy story! It was a blast!

A sea of faces.

Another view of the sea.

The audience rushes to the front of the stage to take the mic during Q&A…

Superfan Emily and I! It was Emily’s story I drew during my improv comic presentation.

Superfan Molly and I!

Jarrett Krosoczka and I! I’ve known Jarrett since…well, we met on MySpace, if that tells you anything. He’s such a rad guy and a fabulous author/cartoonist/illustrator!

My signing line awaits…

…and rushes forward!

To summarize: Go to the National Book Festival if you get a chance. I certainly hope to go back in the future! I also had a wonderful time visiting the DC area in general–I went to the National Portrait Gallery, ate at some great restaurants, and met some really really nice people.

I visited some awesome bookstores in the area, too!

Barston’s Child’s Play in Chevy Chase…

Big Planet Comics in Vienna, VA…

Big Planet Comics in College Park, MD…

…and Children’s Book World in Haverford, PA! Here, CBW sets up the window display for my visit…

The readers gather…

My delightful, smiling crowd at CBW!

Thank you so much to the booksellers, readers, festival hosts and organizers, and of course, Scholastic for helping make this whole thing happen!

Later this week I head to the midwestern states! I’m visiting Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis before heading to the west coast for the next leg of the tour. Looking forward to it!

Quick tour post! Just want to get my next round of events up in one chunk! I’ll post my photos from my amazing weekend at the National Book Fest soon.

Here’s the midwest locations where you can find me during the next couple of weeks:

Young Adult Event at Anderson’s Bookshop
123 West Jefferson
Naperville, IL 60540
Friday, Sept. 28
7pm

Anderson’s Young Adult Literature Conference
Purchase tickets here
Hotel Arista
2139 CityGate Lane
Naperville, IL
Saturday, Sept. 29
8:15am-4pm

Left Bank Books
DRAMA signing!
399 N. Euclid Ave.
Saint Louis, MO
Monday, October 1
7pm

Wild Rumpus Bookstore
DRAMA signing!
2720 West 43rd St.
Minneapolis, MN
Wednesday, October 3
6pm

The Book Case
DRAMA signing!
607 Lake St E
Wayzata, Minnesota
Thursday, October 4
7pm

After these, I’m going to the Pacific Northwest: Portland OR, Vancouver BC, and Seattle! I’ll post dates and info AS SOON AS I HAVE THEM–Vancouver events are listed on the sidebar up there, and Portland and Seattle are coming ASAP. Promise!

Have a wonderful first week of autumn!

Here’s a roundup of events I’ll be doing within the next week or so, all on the east coast!

Brooklyn Comics & More
DRAMA Signing!
Wednesday, September 19
Join me and Dave Roman as we sign copies of DRAMA, Astronaut Academy, and Teen Boat!
Brooklyn Comics & More
493 7th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
3-5pm

Big Planet Comics Vienna
DRAMA Signing!
Saturday, September 22
Big Planet Comics
426 Maple Ave. East
Vienna, VA
11am-1pm

Big Planet Comics College Park
DRAMA Signing!
Saturday, September 22
Big Planet Comics
7315 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20740
3pm-5pm

National Book Festival
Sunday September 23
The National Mall
Washington, DC
2:45-3:30: Presentation in the Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Graphic Novels Pavilion!
4:30-5:30: Book signing!

Children’s Book World
DRAMA Signing!
Monday, September 24
17 Haverford Station Rd
Haverford, PA
4pm

All events are free to attend. Hope to see some friendly faces!

After that, I’ll be visiting the midwest and the Pacific Northwest! I’m still adding new events to my calendar, and will be making stops in St. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland OR, Vancouver, Seattle, and Spokane! I’ll update my site with all the complete info as soon as it’s available.

The Bay Area never fails to impress me. Some of the best bookstores, readers, and people live here–including my family and many of my best friends!

James, Raina and Doug on top of Twin Peaks

The past week was a fast-paced tour of schools and bookstores all over the bay, with my friends and fellow Graphix authors Doug TenNapel and James Burks! We had a blast, visiting at least one (and sometimes two!) bookstores each day, and visiting seven schools in all! I got to meet so many wonderful new people, and even had some time to visit my favorite spots in the bay. (I was our driver for the week, which meant I could detour to the best burrito places.)

Here are a bunch of photos, just a few highlights of the trip.

Live DRAMA reading at The Reading Bug in San Carlos

My friend Bea’s daughter proves SMILE is delicious, at The Reading Bug

Drawing the crowd’s suggestions at Green Apple Books in San Francisco

Me and Theresa (from SMILE, remember?) with her delightful kids at Green Apple Books

Talking with everyone at Towne Center Books in Pleasanton

A gigantic crowd gathering at A Great Good Place For Books in Oakland

Squished into the tiny kids’ area at AGGPfB