Press Release Fun: Touring with Richard Peck

As I mentioned in my 2016 Day of Dialog round-up, Richard Peck was the kickoff speaker this year, just before Book Expo.  I was moderating the middle grade fiction panel that morning, so I got to hang out with Richard in the green room a little before the event.  Now I’ve met him in the past, but very briefly indeed (I think I moderated a table for him at a different Book Expo event years ago).  A little more recently I posted on this blog about the fact that actress Lena Dunham has a Fair Weather tattoo.  I was assured by Richard’s editor later that she sent Lena a signed copy of Fair Weather after reading my post.

In any case, long story short, Richard by all rights shouldn’t have remembered me.  The man meets hundreds of librarians monthly, and yet if he’d forgotten my face he faked it with aplomb.  “You reviewed my pocket square!” he declared, and indeed that does sound like me.  Story checks out.

When you listen to Richard speak, it’s not talking.  It’s not speechifying.  It’s pure oratory, in crisp, clean perfection.  It makes you long for a time when students were taught public speaking as an artform.  And now, you lucky ducks, you have a chance to hear him firsthand.  You see, Richard has a new book out.  The details, should you be interested, are:

THE BEST MAN by Richard Peck (on sale September 20^th; Ages 9-12; $16.99)

When Archer is in sixth grade, his beloved uncle Paul marries another man–Archer’s favorite student teacher. But that’s getting ahead of the story, and a wonderful story it is. In Archer’s sweetly naïve but observant voice, his life through elementary school is recounted: the outspoken, ever-loyal friends he makes, the teachers who blunder or inspire, and the family members who serve as his role models. From one exhilarating, unexpected episode to another, Archer’s story rolls along as he puzzles over the people in his life and the kind of person he wants to become . . . and manages to help his uncle become his best self as well.

And since Richard’s on tour for this book, you can see him yourself.  I don’t often post tour dates here, but I do make the occasional exception.  And Richard is worth seeing.

The dates:

Monday, September 19^th – DENVER, CO

6 PM

Tattered Cover

2526 E Colfax Ave

Denver, CO 80206

Thursday, September 29^th – BELLINGHAM, WA

4 PM

Village Books

1200 11th St

Bellingham, WA 98225

Friday, September 30^th – SEATTLE, WA

Time to Be Announced

Secret Garden Bookshop

2214 NW Market St, Seattle

WA 98107

Sunday, October 2^nd – DANVILLE, CA

11 AM

Rakestraw Books

3 Railroad Ave

Danville, CA 94526

Tuesday, October 4^th – PLEASANTON, CA

Time to be Announced

Towne Center Books

555 Main St

Pleasanton, CA 94566

Wednesday, October 5^th – SAN JOSE, CA

3 PM

Hicklebees

1378 Lincoln Ave

San Jose, CA 95125

Tuesday, October 18^th – NAPERVILLE, IL

7 pm

Andersons

123 W Jefferson Ave

Naperville, IL 60540

Wednesday, October 19^th –NORTHBROOK, IL

Time to be Announced

Book Bin

1151 Church St

Northbrook, IL 60062

Thursday, October 20^th – CHICAGO, IL

7 PM

The Book Stall

811 Elm St

Winnetka, IL 60093

Friday, November 4^th – Raleigh, NC

7 PM

Quail Ridge Books

4381-105 Lassiter at North Hills Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27609

Author Bio:

Richard Peck has won almost every children’s fiction award, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Newbery Medal, the Scott O’Dell Award, and the Edgar, and he has twice been nominated for a National Book Award. He was the first children’s author ever to have been awarded a National Humanities Medal. He lives in New York City.

Filed under: Press Release Fun