Saturday April 30th was National Independent Bookstore Day, hooray! My favorite local bookstore, Over the Moon Bookstore and Artisan Gallery in Crozet, VA, hosted a bonanza of activities throughout the day, from face painting to on-the-spot three-word poem-making to a book trivia raffle, all designed to support the Valley Children's Advocacy Center for the prevention of child abuse. I was pleased to do a session at the "Ask the Author" table, where I met up with a few of my friends from Brownsville Elementary. Following me at the table were YA author Lex Thomas and then National Book Award winner Katherine Erskine -- what a blast! Thanks so much to Over the Moon for hosting a great event and for being such a beautiful book oasis in our town.