My Charlie consumes books in one sitting.  He often is drawn into a storyline from chapter 1 and just can’t put the novel down.  This is one of the things I adore about this child.  I love to read (nonfiction is my jam), but there just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to get hooked on a book the way Charlie does.  So, I live vicariously through him.

During yesterday’s carpool pick-up, I spotted a big orange bus, featuring the title of one of Charlie’s most recent novels.  Rebound by Kwame Alexander was his book fair purchase a couple of weeks ago.  He immediately devoured the book, as he did the Crossover and Booked by the same author.

After some quick research, we found that Kwame Alexander would be making an appearance at the downtown library in an hour and a half.  We hustled home to collect all of our Kwame books.  Because he writes books and poetry for all ages, my boys both own some of his titles.  Racing downtown, Henry had some regrets about having doodled on the cover of Surf’s Up.  After all, he didn’t want to offend the author.  I assured him that Kwame would probably appreciate the creative addition.

In all of our excitement, I never imagined what an incredible experience it would be for my kids to hear a Newberry Award-winning author talk about his work.  He shared excerpts from his book, spoke about his writing process, and discussed the people and events that inspired his stories and their characters.  He fielded questions from the audience, children and adults alike.  Kwame was moving, witty, and so incredibly funny, keeping my kids on the edges of their seats for his entire talk.

On our way out, Kwame, sitting alongside his friend Margaret Heath Wentworth (South Carolina’s Poet Laureate), signed our armloads of books and didn’t bat an eye at Henry’s worn-out Surf’s Up paperback.

Thanks to Buxton Books for bringing amazing authors to our community!  They partnered with the library to host Kwame Alexander and regularly offer events to “support the local reading and writing community through book-based walking tours, author events, and conversation.”  Be sure to check out their calendar at buxtonbooks.com on occasion to learn of awesome literary opportunities.