Kid Konnection: Teen Event at Aaron's Books

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. Today, I'm going to share with you a very fun event for teens that Booking Daughter and I (and our friends) attended at Aaron's Books this past week.

Teen Authors Elizabeth Eulberg and Jen Calonita

Last Thursday evening, Booking Daughter and I (along with our good friends) attended the Spring Fling for Teens Event with Jen Calonita and Elizabeth Eulberg at Aaron's Books in Lititz, PA. I absolutely adore the folks at Aaron's Books and I love to support them; however, they make it so darn easy because they have so many awesome events. For this teen event, they had two fabulous authors along with cupcakes and a sundae bar!

Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't get the word that it should have been a nice day and she dumped 2 inches of rain on us. The trip was long and visibility was awful, but we weathered the storm. (I have to give a shout out to my friend for driving us!) I have a feeling that the weather kept the crowds away, but (and this is going to sound awful...) it allowed us to have so much quality time with both Jen and Elizabeth!

And quality time it was.... These two women not only write fantastic young adult writers, but they are also truly wonderful women. They are incredibly cute and friendly and funny (I could go on and on...) and they kept both the girls and their moms entertained for over and hour. They each read from their latest books and they were extremely gracious when they opened the floor for questions. No topic was off limits and I loved how they provided so many worthwhile messages to the girls in attendance. They spoke about their teen years, their prior careers (Elizabeth was a publicist and Jen wrote for magazines including Teen People), the famous people they've met, and their writing. They also offered so many words of wisdom for today's young girls. I can't even tell you how much I loved both of them!

I have been a huge fan of Elizabeth Eulberg's ever since I read her first novel THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB (my review.) And then, I fell in love a little more with her writing when I read PROM & PREJUDICE (my review.) Her books have great characters and fun stories, but they also have some super messages! Elizabeth's novels are exactly the types of books that I want Booking Daughter to read.

Booking Daughter, Elizabeth Eulberg and Booking Friend

I was familiar with Jen Calonita as the author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series, but I had never read any of her books. That will definitely be changing, especially since Booking Daughter is now the proud owner of four of her books including the first three in the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series and SLEEPAWAY GIRLS. Jen's books sound like so much fun (the first one of the Secrets series is kind like the Hannah Montana idea... but Jen did it first!) And SLEEPAWAY GIRLS is based on the summer when Jen was a camp counselor. I am super excited that all of her books are clean enough for teens and tweens.

Jen Calonita and Booking Daughter

Overall, I have to say that the Spring Fling Teen Event was one of my best experiences with authors. I absolutely adore both Elizabeth and Jen and I can't rave enough about how sweet they are. Now I just want to hibernate and read! Booking Daughter also had a wonderful time and couldn't wait to go to school today to show her Reading teacher all of her "goodies."

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!