Blythe's Second Best Day Ever

This evening, Blythe and I got to attend an author interaction at the Provo Library with Shannon Hale, LeUyen Pham, and Raina Telgemeier.  Shannon Hale is one of Blythe's favorite authors, and the person she selected to represent at last year's fifth grade wax museum.  She was very excited when I told her we were going to be able to not only listen to Shannon Hale, but meet her, too.  We also got new books from Shannon and LeUyen, and Raina.

Blythe will now give us an account of the evening.

It was the second best day of my life. The first one was when Jessica Day George emailed be back. We got there and were seated with their newest books. I brought my own book to read so I read that but then started reading Best Friends. Then Shannon, LeUyen and Raina came out and talked and drew. It was awesome!!! They made me feel welcome and then we got to have a picture taken!!! It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's quite some report.  I'll add a bit more.  Both Best Friends and Guts are graphic novels.  Raina began talking about how she came to write and draw comics.  She showed wonderful early art work, including her parents with pizza faces.  Three of her books are memoires, and this newest one is about her lifelong issues with irritable bowel syndrome and the anxiety it has caused in her life.  She was funny!  They all were funny!  Then Shannon and LeUyen talked about their collaborations.  LeUyen is an illustrator, and spoke about how wonderful it is to be able to create images for a best friend's life story, but how painful it can sometimes be, too.  Real Friends and Best Friends are Shannon's memoirs about her friendships in elementary school and then in specifically in sixth grade, the very grade and age that Blythe is right now.  Some of her experiences were hard as she worked to navigate interpersonal relationships.  They pointed out that while we might not all have the same experiences, we have similar enough experiences that we can relate to each other.  They talked about writing, illustrating, graphic novels, connecting with others through good stories, and being friendly.  LeUyen and Raina did some drawing, they answered questions, and then we got to have an actual meet-and-greet and a photo or two!  It really was AMAZING!!!!!!!!  Blythe began reading Best Friends while we were waiting for things to begin, and she was practically finished by the time we got home.  She finished as she had a bowl of cereal before going to bed.  As we were leaving, she said, "Mom, nothing can quash my happiness right now."  How's that for a win?

We told Shannon that Blythe had been her for wax museum. 

She was surprised and delighted and then asked, "What did you do to look like me?"

LeUyen, Raina, Shannon