San Diego Comic-Con is upon us! Here's where you can find me over the course of the crazy weekend.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 - SUNDAY, JULY 15

I'll have some Smile t-shirts for sale at the Bolt City Booth (formerly the Flight booth), #2235. I'll be hanging out there when I've got downtime, too!

THURSDAY, JULY 12

2:00-3:00pm SIGNING: CBLDF Booth #1920 All proceeds from books sold go to a great cause.

FRIDAY, JULY 13

2:00-3:00pm SIGNING: Cartoon Art Museum Booth #1930 Come get a drawing of anything you like! All donations benefit San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum.

SATURDAY, JULY 14

11:00am-12:00pm SIGNING: Explorer: The Mystery Boxes Bolt City Booth #2235 Come get a copy of Explorer, signed by the creators!

1:00-2:00pm SIGNING: Cartoon Art Museum Booth #1930 Come get a drawing of anything you like! All donations benefit San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum.

SUNDAY, JULY 15

11:00am-12:00pm PANEL: Kids Read! Room 11AB Listen to four great graphic novelists read LIVE from their latest works! With Jorge Aguirre (Giants Beware!), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules), Raina Telgemeier (Drama), and Colleen AF Venable (Pet Shop Private Eye). Moderated by Scott Robins (A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics). ***I'll be reading a scene from DRAMA!!

1:30-2:30pm PANEL: What's Cool in Graphic Novels? Room 8 Six authors with great new graphic novels discuss their inspiration, creative process -- and their new books! Authors Zack Giallongo (Broxo), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet: Prince of the Elves), J. T. Petty (Bloody Chester), Thien Pham (Sumo), Doug TenNapel (Cardboard), and Raina Telgemeier (Drama) are joined by moderator Calista Brill (First Second Books).

3:00-4:00pm SIGNING IN AUTOGRAPH AREA AA4 Books will be on sale, and I will have a limited quantity of DRAMA galleys to give away to those who make a purchase!

See you there!

This coming weekend is one of my favorite comics events: KIDS READ COMICS!

If you live anywhere near southeast Michigan, I hope you'll join us for this FREE kid-focused event! This year, the festivities take place in and around the Ann Arbor District Library (Downtown Branch). There are activities for kids and teens running throughout the entire weekend, and I will have a table in the Artist Alley where you can buy books, artwork, and T-shirts! I'll be happy to sign any books you bring from home, too!

Vitals: Kids Read Comics Celebration July 7-8 Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown Branch 343 South 5th Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734) 327-4200 Directions

Here are the events I'm doing over the course of the weekend:

SATURDAY JULY 7

10:30 am – 11:30 am Comics Quickfire! Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Comics Quickfire attendees are encouraged to participate, even if they can only draw stick figures or make silly suggestions. Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Chris Houghton (Reed Gunther), Gale Willams (Patbird & Galesaur), Jerzy Drozd (The Front) & more! AADL Multi-Purpose Room – All Ages

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Turn Your Life into a Comic! Raina Telgemeier, author of the graphic memoir Smile, shows how everyday moments of your life can be made into a comic strip! LOCATION: Robot Repair & Supply – 826 Michigan (115 East Liberty Street) – All Ages

SUNDAY, JULY 8

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Comics Quickfire! Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Comics Quickfire attendees are encouraged to participate, even if they can only draw stick figures or make silly suggestions. Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Chris Houghton (Reed Gunther), Gale Willams (Patbird & Galesaur), Jerzy Drozd (The Front) & more! AADL Multi-Purpose Room – All Ages

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Interactive Graphic Novel Theater A live comics reading involving lots of audience participation and silliness. Raina Telgemeier (Smile) and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) will perform chapters from their all-ages graphic novels, including a scene from Raina’s upcoming book Drama! Illustrated panels will be projected onto a large screen for all to see, and volunteers from the audience will be chosen to play some of the characters. AADL 4th Floor Meeting Room – All Ages

All of the programming can be found here. There is so much to do, it's kind of mind-boggling! Come for a few hours, or come for the weekend.

And, if you're interested in how this sort of event comes together, the four organizers of KRC (a comics writer, a librarian, a comics retailer, and a cartoonist/teaching artist) were recently interviewed in an episode of the KIDS' COMICS REVOLUTION podcast! If you've ever wondered how to organize a comics event in a library, this is a great resource.

I'll be flying straight from Michigan to California for San Diego Comic-Con, but I'm going to put my schedule for that in a separate post. Needless to say...it's going to be a fun couple of weeks!

Gene Yang, myself, Derek Kirk Kim, Faith Erin Hicks, and Thien Pham -- photo by Lark Pien

A fantastic time was had at this year's American Library Association Annual Conference.

ALA was in Anaheim this time, which meant Dave and I went to Disneyland...twice! We brought our friends Jerzy and Anne Drozd along on the first trip...it was Jerzy's first time at a Disney theme park, which is incomprehensible to me! I've been going since I was a tiny kid, and it's still my favorite, favorite thing.

Then, Dave and I went back by ourselves on our last night in town. We rode the new CARS ride (so much fun!) and the Little Mermaid ride (I admit I teared up!), and revisited a bunch of rides I haven't been on in years. Snow White's Scary Adventures really holds up!

California Girl, California Adventure

Right, so also, there was a conference!

Highlights: Signing DRAMA galleys for the never-ending line of librarians; the Scholastic Literary Brunch where I read a scene from my book with three other authors...and David Shannon did a bang-up job with one of the singing parts; the first few hours of Cartoonist Artist Alley on Friday evening, where we were all loopy and excited; the COMICS QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE event on Saturday; riding to the Scholastic dinner with a bunch of authors in a red stretch Hummer limo with an open back; the Newbery-Caldecott banquet, watching the Legend of Korra finale with a bunch of fellow geeks...and of course, all the meetups, parties, hang-outs, and great conversations with so many awesome people!! Everyone I meet at ALA instantly feels like a friend.

Thank you SO much to everyone at Scholastic, as well as all the amazing people I got to spend time with in Anaheim--cartoonists, librarians, kids, teachers, READERS! You are all awesome!

This coming weekend I'm off on a two-headed adventure: Kids Read Comics in Ann Arbor, MI, and then on to Comic-Con International in San Diego. Which means I'll be posting again SOON! Till then...

I mentioned recently that Dave started up a new project--it's a podcast, called Kids' Comics Revolution! (And hey, I created the banner artwork!)

We're big fans of both kidlit podcasts in our house (Brain Burps About Books and Kidsmomo are our kidlit faves) and comics podcasts (we love Comics Are Great, Art & Story, Paper Wings, Fanboy Radio...), but we realized that there was nothing that really merged the two. So, Dave teamed up with our friend Jerzy to create a brand-new podcast!

"Kids’ Comics Revolution is go! Dave Roman and Jerzy Drozd have teamed up to create a series of audio shows connecting the worlds of comics, graphic novels, and kid lit. The series will feature interviews with and contributions by the people who help make the kids’ visual storytelling landscape a better place for all involved."

And wouldn't you know it: I'm the special guest on the very first episode! We talk all about book launch parties. You can listen to it here, or subscribe in iTunes. In fact, we'd love it if you gave the podcast some iTunes love--star ratings, as well as reviews, really help out!

There are two episodes of the podcast live as of this blog posting, but new episodes will be posted every other Wednesday. They'll feature interviews, reviews from teachers and librarians, reviews from actual kids, and a regular KCR Book Club! The first Book Club episode is going to be all about Ben Hatke's wonderful graphic novel Zita the Spacegirl--and we'd love for YOU to contribute! For information on how to participate, see the bottom half of this page. Submissions must be in by July 19!

Dave, Jerzy and I will all be at ALA in Anaheim, CA this weekend, and we'll have free KCR bookmarks at our Artist Alley tables! (Dave and I are at #473!) We'll even have recording equipment on hand, so if you want to help out and provide some soundbites...let us know!

This has been really fun so far, and we only want things to get better. So swing by the KCR page, listen, send an email, send an audio review, post a star-rating on iTunes...we're starting a revolution, and we can't do it alone!

I'll be in Anaheim, CA for this year's ALA Annual Conference, June 22-25! I had a terrific time at last year's conference in New Orleans, and I'm looking forward to seeing my librarian friends again.

This year, I'll be attending as one of Scholastic's featured authors, which means that DRAMA galleys will be available in full force! You can find Scholastic at booth #2634...or, just look for their giant red display in the exhibit hall. It's usually pretty hard to miss. :-)

Here's my schedule of events:

FRIDAY, JUNE 22

6:00 - 6:30pm Iron Artist Tournament Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage

SATURDAY, JUNE 23

10:30 – 12:00pm Putting the Laughter in Literacy Panel Anaheim Convention Center, Ballroom A Come join best-selling authors Sarah Pennypacker, Raina Telgemeier and Alan Sitomer in a session devoted to illuminating the power of smiles, the tools of modern authors and the importance of books, reading and literacy.

12:00-1:00pm Graphic Novel Panel: What's New? Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage Raina Telgemeier, Derek Kirk Kim, Thien Pham, and Faith Erin Hicks will be talking about their new books. Moderated by Gene Luen Yang.

3:00-3:30pm Getting Graphic with Kids Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage Author/illustrators from the acclaimed EXPLORER: THE MYSTERY BOXES anthology discuss creating and writing graphic novels for children and young adults.

SUNDAY, JUNE 24

10:30-12:00pm Scholastic Literary Brunch (Invitation is required to attend)

1:00 - 2:00pm Scholastic Booth Signing Anaheim Convention Center – Booth #2634 Come get your galley of DRAMA signed!

3:00-4:00pm Comics Quickfire! Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (SMILE, DRAMA), Faith Erin Hicks (Friends With Boys) Jerzy Drozd (The Front), Dan Santat (Sidekicks), and more!

MONDAY, JUNE 25

10:30-11:00am Raina Telgemeier in Conversation with Snow Wildsmith Graphic Novel Pavillon Stage A one-on-one interview with Raina about her forthcoming graphic novel, DRAMA.

11:30-12:30pm Graphic Novel Open Forum Graphic Novel Pavillon Stage A unique opportunity to not only ask questions of graphic novel authors, but have them ask questions of you! Come and share anecdotes about how graphic novels have (or haven’t) worked in your library, what you’d like to see more of, and what kinds of books your patrons really respond to. The authors will also share stories about library visits and other cool stuff they do to get kids excited about reading. Featuring Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, Jerzy Drozd, and Faith Erin Hicks.

*****

Whew! That's quite a lineup. I'll also be attending the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet, which will be your opportunity to see me wear a fancy dress.

During any and all downtime, you'll most likely be able to find me in the GRAPHIC NOVEL ARTIST ALLEY area of the exhibit hall, where I'll be sharing a table with my partner-in-crime-and-life, Dave Roman! We'll be set up at Table #473, where you can find our books, SMILE T-shirts, postcards, original artwork, bookmarks for our new kids' comics podcast, Kids' Comics Revolution (more about that soon!), and of course, information about our school and library visits. Please come visit us, we would love to see you!

Look for Dave's ASTONAUT ACADEMY banner (and, uh, us) to spot our table in Artist Alley!

Get your mouse ears ready...we'll see you in Anaheim!

This has been quite a week. Things started off strong on Monday morning, when I accepted the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award for SMILE in Monteplier, VT. A separate post all about that is coming soon. We rushed straight to the airport as soon as the ceremony ended, and flew back to New York--and when the plane landed, I turned on my phone and immediately learned that DRAMA received a STARRED review from Publishers Weekly--my first starred review ever. I was so excited, I think the whole plane heard me squeal!!

From the airport, I headed straight to Scholastic HQ in Soho, where I was presenting at a bloggers conference in conjunction with Book Expo America.

Myself and several other authors presented READERS THEATER, which is where everyone reads a chapter from their respective books, and provides voices for each others' chapters. I read/showed a chapter from DRAMA, with hilarious results!

What a lineup! Here I am with (L to R, top to bottom) Eliot Schrefer, James Dashner, Jeff Hirsch, Kate Messner, Donna Cooner, Sharon Cameron, and Maggie Steifvater!

So that was a pretty good day.

Tuesday evening I participated in a NYPL event called COMING NEXT! I spoke on a panel with Dave Roman, John Green, and Michael Kupperman, moderated by Chris Butcher. We had fun talking about how we make comics, our upcoming books, and lots of other stuff! Thanks to everyone who came out to the event.

Wednesday was my "big" day at BEA, starting bright and early-ish with a Graphic Novels panel!

My co-panelists were Zack Giallongo, Mark Seigel, and Noah Van Sciver. Our moderator was Jenny Brown of Shelf Awareness. This was a lot of fun! The photo above is courtesy of The Daily Hey Now!, where you can see more photos and get a rundown of what we discussed.

My next event was AUTHOR SPEED DATING, which I have no photos to share from, but which was a total blast. An hour and fifteen minutes, twenty tables full of booksellers, and twenty authors--each author spends exactly 3 minutes at each table, talking about their new book! So I got to tell a huge roomful of people about DRAMA! Several booksellers I already knew, having done so much travel and promotion for SMILE these past few years. And many of them, whom I hadn't yet met, were already familiar with my work and excited to hear about what was new. It was exhausting and exhilarating!

Right after that, I had a signing in the Autograph Area!

(Thanks to Scholastic's Twitter feed for the photo!)

What fun! My lineup lasted the full hour, as I signed galleys of DRAMA for enthusiastic fans. It's wonderful to know how many people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new book! I only wish September 1st would get here sooner...

I got to sit down for a few minutes after my signing, and then it was off to the ABC Art Auction. What a great event--the food was cheese, crackers, fruit...and a mashed potato bar!! Now that is MY idea of a party! My favorite combination was red bliss mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, topped with asparagus, cheese, and chives. OMG.

The party was a who's-who of kidlit stars, and I got a chance to talk with a bunch of awesome creators, booksellers, marketing folks, and agents.

Me and Dave with Mo Willems!

Me and Maggie, who won my piece in the auction!

Finally, Dave and I stopped by the Kidlit Drinks party happening in midtown, and had fun talking to friends and colleagues...but couldn't stay long, because I was beat! I heard accounts of all the fun people had after we went home, but the benefit of living in New York is that the fun is never away for very long. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Thanks very much to everyone at Scholastic, for organizing everything and featuring DRAMA so prominently in their lineup for this year's BEA!

My next big event is ALA, in Anaheim, and I seriously can't wait. In the meantime, though, look for more posts here on my site about what's going on closer to home! See you soon!

Here's my full and complete schedule for this week's BEA. TUESDAY, JUNE 5

6:00 PM CREATING COMICS--COMING NEXT! Grand Central Branch, New York Public Library 135 E. 46th Street New York, NY Open to the public, but registration is required. Artists participating include Raina Telgemeier, Matt Madden, Dave Roman and John Green, and Michael Kupperman. Moderated by Chris Butcher.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6

(All events take place at NY's Javits Center)

11:00-11:30 AM Graphic Novel Panel Uptown Stage Featuring Raina Telgemeier, Mark Siegel, Noah Van Sciver, and Zack Giallongo. Moderated by Jenny Brown.

12:15-1:45 PM CBC Author Speed Dating Program Room 1E14-1E15

2:00-3:00 PM BEA Autographing of DRAMA Table 24

5:00-8:00 PM ABC Art Auction & Reception Javits South Concourse

Here's part of a video Scholastic made, for their Fall 2012 Librarian Preview. My editor Cassandra introduces me, and then I have a special little...moment on stage! Then, you get to see a few interior pages from DRAMA.

You can see the video in its entirety here.

I'm between events and projects at the moment, which is rare and wonderful. Last weekend was my birthday, and I took a few days off to enjoy life and spend some time with friends. Even freelance cartoonists need a little break occasionally! Several big things are shaping up, though: a couple of short projects, my next full-length graphic novel project, and a stretch of summer travel followed by my upcoming DRAMA tour in the fall! Since people ask me on a regular basis if I'll be visiting _____ anytime soon, let me just remind you that I always post my upcoming public appearances on the right-hand sidebar of my site's home page, next to this very blog. If I'm going to be near you, that's where you will find out! I do plenty of traveling and speaking unadvertised, but that's because schools frequently hire me for private events, and announcing them doesn't do much good. I often post about them after the fact, though!

My next event is BEA. Click to see my schedule there!

Here are a couple of other bits and blurbs from the past few weeks:

+++SMILE T-shirts are back in my store!

+++An Interview with the creators of GIANTS BEWARE on Tor.com

+++An Interview on Creating a Little Niche in publishing

+++I was recently featured on Girl Scouts' THE STUDIO website! Click for an interview and a behind-the-scenes look at my comic-making process, step by step! Includes photos of me as a Girl Scout in 4th grade.

That's all for now, but I hope to have more to share soon! Enjoy the beginning of summer...I know I will!

I had a really nice time in Portland, ME, last weekend at MeCAF! Super fun meeting fans, seeing friends, and eating good food in a picturesque city. My packed panel on Sunday at MeCAF

Dave, John, and CBLDF Deputy Director Alex Cox eating ice cream

While I was there, I was presented with the Maine Student Book Award! I don't have a good photo of it, but this one was snapped of me when I received it--it's HUGE! A giant piece of slate that came from a historic Maine building. Thanks again to the MSBA committee, all the students who voted, and the fine folks at Casablanca Comics in Portland, for helping make the trip possible!

*****

Next up on my calendar is Book Expo America, or BEA, June 4 - 7 right here in NYC.

BEA is a trade show, which means it's not open to the public, but plenty of people from the book world will be there, so I'm posting my schedule for their benefit!

Monday, June 4, 6 PM Scholastic Readers Theatre/blogger event! Invite only. I'll be performing a scene from DRAMA!

Tuesday, June 5, 6:00-8:00pm NYPL Comics Event! Invite only.

Wednesday, June 6 11:00-11:30am Graphic Novel Panel 12:15-1:45pm CBC Speed Dating Program 2:00-3:00pm BEA Signing, Autograph Area 5:00-7:30pm ABC Reception & Silent Auction

Galleys of DRAMA will be available at the Scholastic booth (#3439), so if you're around, come by and grab one! I'll be happy to sign it for you at my 2pm singing on Wednesday afternoon.

Following on the heels of BEA will be ALA, in Anaheim, CA! My schedule for that is going to be nutso, and I'll post all of my events and programming in a couple of weeks.

It's time for another of my favorite comics events: theMaine Comics Arts Fest, or MeCAF for short!

I'm headed up to Portland for this fun one-day show, taking place at the Ocean Gateway, right on the water and near Portland's downtown shopping district. Since SMILE just won the Maine Student Book Award, I'm really excited to meet the kids, teachers, and librarians who voted for me! Here are the event details:

MAINE COMICS ARTS FESTIVAL Sunday, May 20 10am - 5pm Admission: $5; Kids 12 and under are FREE!

Location: Ocean Gateway Fore Street Portland, ME

MeCAF Website Driving Directions

I'm doing one panel Sunday, which is open to all festival-goers: 12 Noon: Join Raina Telgemeier, winner of the Maine Student Book Award, for a fun visual talk about her book, SMILE, and what exactly it means to be a graphic novelist! Raina will do some live drawing and give away some prizes, too, including a preview copy of her yet-to-be-released graphic novel, DRAMA!

Programming will be held on the first floor of the main building. It is accessible from both the walkway and a flight of stairs from the main exhibit room.

And for the rest of the day, I'll be stationed at my table on the show floor--look for my big SMILE banner! I'll have copies of SMILE in both hardcover and softcover; SMILE T-shirts, DRAMA bookmarks, and some original art! Joining me at the table will be Dave and John, who just released their superfun graphic novel, TEEN BOAT! All three of us look forward to seeing you there!

Been a busy few weeks here at the Comics Bakery headquarters! April 28-29 we had MoCCA, right here in NYC, and I spent some time signing and wandering around at the show. A few days later I boarded a plane for Vermont, where I was giving an endnote speech at the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference. The DCF Award is given out every year to a book voted on by 4th-8th graders in Vermont. I was invited to speak because Smile was one of 30 nominees...and shortly before the conference, I found out that it WON!

So, I was speaking as the winner of the DCF Award, which was especially exciting! The morning keynote speech was by amazing writer and Ambassador For Children's Literature, Jon Scieszka, who is basically a legend in hilarious speech-giving. Following that up was a challenge, but I had a great time talking to the 150 teachers and librarians there about comics, and why I love them. I'll be going back to Vermont in less than a month, to accept the award itself and meet the kids who voted for me. So thanks, Vermont!

From there, I flew straight to Toronto (and by 'straight,' I mean by way of a triangular flight pattern that had me laying over in Philadelphia). That's where TCAF is!

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is easily one of my favorite comics-related events anywhere. This year was no exception. I had a fantastic weekend! Highlights include speaking on a panel with Alison Bechdel (!), Michel Rabagliati (!) and both Holm siblings (!!) about depicting childhood in comics...hanging out with some of my very favorite comics-making friends...the Comics Quickfire! Challenges...and of course, meeting a huge number of my wonderful readers and fans!

I was delighted to see so many new faces at TCAF. OwlKids Magazine took out some advertisements, and the local Toronto papers ran ads too, and this year's programming was extremely kid friendly...so, I got to meet a lot of parents and kids who were checking out the show for the first time! I'd like to think it's a great introduction to the wonderful world of indie and self-published comics, as well as the books especially for kids that me and many of my friends create!

You can read more about TCAF and see tons more photos in Dave's write-up of the Comics Quickfire! Challenge, over on his website.

Next up: the Maine Comics Arts Festival, May 20 in Portland, ME! I'll write up a separate post about that, soon...

The galleys, or Advance Reader Copies, of DRAMA have arrived!! This means that reviewers, booksellers, and some librarians will soon get to read my new book. Well, this version anyway--the first 16 pages are in color, but the rest of the galley is in black and white. The final, print version will be in full color, of course!

It's not for sale until September, but I made a little video showing it off. I'm so excited, it looks GREAT. Enjoy!

***Pre-order DRAMA

***Add DRAMA to your Goodreads shelf

***Raina's Facebook Page

This coming weekend I'm heading up to Toronto for one of my very favorite comic events, the Toronto Comics Art Festival! (Or TCAF, for short.) TCAF is FREE to attend, and draws one of the best crowds (of both cartoonists and attendees) in all of North America. Where to find me! Click the image to see it LARGE.

I'll be at TABLE 265 with Dave Roman and John Green, who are debuting their graphic novel TEEN BOAT! at TCAF! Table 265 is on the second floor of the library, in the OwlKids Exhibitor Area--we'll be near Jenni and Matt Holm (Babymouse), Andy Runton (Owly), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), and Kean Soo (Jellaby), which is awesome. We're right by the upstairs bathroom, and on the way into the OwlKids panel space. We're at the end of the row, but you should be able to find us! Look for the TEEN BOAT! banner! I'll have some copies of Smile, as well as Smile T-shirts and some art for sale! And, I'll have Drama bookmarks!!

If you're looking for me, I will be at the table signing and sketching for most of the show, with the exception of the following fine programs!

Saturday, May 5

1:00pm-1:45pm: Kids Comics Quickfire! Location: Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor: Appel Salon, Novella Room Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy),Raina Telgemeier (SMILE), John Green (Teen Boat) and Bob Flynn (Heeby Jeeby Comix).

1:45 – 3:00 – Comics Childhoods Location: The Pilot Tavern, 22 Cumberland Street What was your childhood like? Four cartoonists discuss their depictions of their own childhoods in comics. Why does childhood have strong pull on cartoonists’ stories? And what’s involved with visually recreating youth? With Alison Bechdel, Jenni Holm, Michel Rabagliati, and Raina Telgemeier. Moderator: Robin Brenner

Sunday, May 6 12:45 - 1:30 - Turn Your Life Into A Comic! Location: Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor: Appel Salon, Novella Room The inspiration for Raina Telgemeier’s book, Smile, comes from her own life as an eleven-year old girl who injures her two front teeth. Are you ready to tell your life story in comics? Get tips on how to pick ideas from your own life to create your own autobiographical comics.

2:45pm-3:30pm: Spotlight: Explorer The Mystery Boxes Location: Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor: Appel Salon, Novella Room Join the creators of Explorer: The Mystery Boxes: Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), Jason Caffoe (Flight), Stuart Livingston, Raina Telgemeier (Smile), and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), as they read their stories live on stage, with a little help from the audience!

Here's a map of all the event locations, and there should be one in your printed program, as well. Some of the programs will be very popular, so try and get there a few minutes early!

There are also tons of panels I'm not on, but that are still connected to what I do! Please check out the programming guide for panels and workshops given by my Scholastic editors David and Cassandra, and featuring lots of other great kids' cartoonists. I can hardly believe it's all being squeezed into two days. See you in the great white north!

Here's a new piece of art I created, to promote the Kids Read Comics celebration in Ann Arbor, MI, this July! It's a free event, so I hope you'll consider joining me there this summer! It was a lot of fun drawing downtown Ann Arbor for this piece--I've only been there once, but it is a terrific town.

If you'd like to download a print-ready version of the poster, click here!

Special thanks to Gale Williams for helping me flat the colors! (She'll be a guest at the festival, too!)

Once again, it's time for the MoCCA Art Festival!April 28-29 Lexington Ave Armory 68 Lexington Avenue (between 25th & 26th Streets) NYC

MoCCA holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first comic convention I ever exhibited at, 10 years ago, where I fell in love with minicomics and the small press comics scene as a whole. The show has long been a favorite of mine, and although I won't have a table there this year, you can find me in a few places:

Saturday, April 28: I'll be sketching at the MoCCA Fest Sketch Table (near the front of the exhibition hall) from 1 - 2 PM!

Sunday, April 29: PANEL, Graphic Novels for Young Adults 11:15am Panel room A The New York Public Library's Betsy Bird talks to some of the brightest talents--Raina Telgemeier, Kevin Pyle, MK Reed, Derek Kirk Kim--in one of comics' fastest growing demographics. ***I MIGHT have a super-special, advance copy of DRAMA to give away at this event...! SIGNING, Abrams Comic Arts table 12:15pm-1:15pm I'll be signing EXPLORER: THE MYSTERY BOXES at the Abrams booth! Check the program for table number!

And of course, the weekend kicks off on Friday evening with the annual
DRINK AND DRAW LIKE A LADY, which I did the poster for this year: (Colored by Lucy Knisley!)

DDLL is a chance for all women who are enthusiastic about comics to get together, have a drink, draw some doodles, and have a good time. The event is FREE, and open to all comics artists, writers, editors, librarians, educators, students, designers, letterers, booksellers, and reviewers, but it's ladies only! Here are the details:

Drink and Draw Like A Lady Friday, April 27 7 PM 192 Books 192 Tenth Avenue (at 21st Street) NYC We have a Facebook invite page, if you'd like to RSVP! Or, just show up, bring minicomics and business cards to trade, and of course, bring your ladyfriends!

Just a few days following MoCCA, I'll be exhibiting at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so look for information about that, soon!

I spent Wednesday talking with middle school girls (and workshopping with the fifth graders) at a school near Cleveland. It was great! The kids were talented and very inspiring. Everyone was wearing purple to celebrate a school administrator who'd had a housefire recently (this lady loves purple, you should see her office!)--so the pictures turned out especially fun! Here are some of the students with their freshly-signed copies of Smile.

Thanks to everyone who took part; I had a great time!

Over the weekend, I learned that Smile had won the 2011-2012 Maine Student Book Award! I don't even think I was aware it was nominated--sometimes I find out about these things from my publisher, and sometimes I don't. However, about a week ago, I received a bunch of letters from students in Maine, telling me they had all voted for me and were hoping I would win. Cut to a few days later, and I found out that I did! From the MSBA website:

"The Maine Student Book Award is designed to expand literary horizons of students in grades 4-8 by encouraging them to read, evaluate, and enjoy a selection of new books and to choose a statewide favorite by written ballot each spring."

4,077 kids voted, and Smile took it home with 746 votes. Thanks so much to everyone who voted, as well as the Maine Library Association, Maine Association of School Libraries, and Maine Reading Association.

***

To celebrate, I've added a new event to my calendar: the Maine Comics Arts Festival, happening on Sunday, May 20 in Portland, ME! I was there 2 years ago and it is a lovely, relaxed, family-friendly event. 12-and-under attendees are FREE, so I'm hoping I'll get to meet some of the students who voted for me, and the librarians and teachers who encouraged them to read and nominate in the first place. Dave Roman and John Green will be tabling with me, in support of their brand-new Teen Boat! graphic novel--perfect for an event that takes place right on the water, in one of the U.S.'s cutest port towns.

Nope, it's not an April Fool's joke. I'm doing a reading and signing this Sunday, April 1, at The Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn starting at 11 AM. Myself and several other artists from the NURSERY RHYME COMICS anthology will be there for storytime shenanigans! Join us!

Last week I spent three days in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. Everything I did was within a 20-minute radius of the airport, and I never got into the city, but...I still had a blast.

My first stop was Des Plaines, where I gave a workshop for 50 talented students! This included my friend Kaprice, whom I met last time I was in Chicago two years ago...she was one of my very first fans, and it was great to see her again! Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of us. :( I spent the next day giving a talk and workshops at a middle school in Bloomingdale. Here they are filing in for the morning presentation...425 students in all! The students had made dolls (out of Pringles cans) based on historical figures for a project, and one girl decided to do ME! So here's Raina from Smile, complete with glittering braces, a Girl Scout sash covered in badges, and the curly hair I suddenly developed in 8th grade.

On my final day, I was a guest author at LitWorks, a Teen Read Workshop! I gave two talks and one workshop--my workshop was so popular I had students sitting on the floor and on top of tables! The workshop got cut a little bit short, but the attendees produced some really terrific comics. I didn't manage to get a picture of myself with the other authors (Carl Deuker, Ron Koetrge, Julie Halpern, and Ellen Hopkins) but they were all wonderful and a joy to spend time with.

From there it was straight to the airport...but look what I found in the YA section of a bookstore at O'Hare: First airport sighting of Smile (or any of my books), ever!! That was a really proud moment for me, and a nice way to cap off a great trip. Thank you, Chicago! I hope to be back soon!