Almost 20 years ago, I went to the recently-closed tiny Tower Books on Line Avenue to have Bill Joyce sign another beautiful book, "Santa Calls". I don't remember having to stand in much of a line at that time. I was prepared for a longer line this time, of course, but not this much longer! The signing was scheduled to begin at 6PM. Having bought my books earlier in the day, I knew I wouldn't have to stand on line for that part, so I thought that maybe arriving at 5:30 would be sufficient... maybe not to be first or second, but at least pretty near the front of the line. I was so wrong!
When I found the back of the line, I couldn't tell where the front of the line was. After much tip-toeing & neck craning, I could tell that the signing table was at the Pooh's Corner end of the children's area. The line made a huge circle around the whole circumference of the children's section, then exited there to start down the wall outside it. That was the point where I found myself just a bit after 5:30. People kept filing in behind me at a quick pace, all the way down that wall to the bathrooms in the far corner, then turning that corner. I heard talk that the line by 6:00 was back to the drink & food area near the front. New people regularly walked up to where we were near the entrance to the children's area, then would turn their heads to the right . When they realized that they couldn't see the line's end from there, they all shared the same look of disappointment & dread. But I doubt many of them left because that long line continued to grow. People who were on line in twos or threes had the luxury of spelling one another. The teenage girl who was directly in front of me with her Dad walked to the front of the line & came back with a head count. She declared that there were approximately 80 people ahead of us.
I was so disappointed that I hadn't brought along the latest book I'm reading so that I could occupy my time. But for the next 120 minutes I looked at the books around me & listened to conversations. Here's a list of some of what I learned:
1. There are a huge amount of workbooks available for children of all ages to learn or to brush up on their reading & math skills. Since the longest I stood in one place was directly by this shelf, I stared at those titles & thumbed through some, for a long time.
2. There is a Glee Yearbook in the Teen Section. It contains more beautiful pictures of more beautiful people than you would see in most yearbooks. No acne & unfortunate haircuts here!
3. Percy Jackson & the Lightening Thief is a fantastic book but a disappointing movie. Teen Girl and her dad struck up extensive conversations with Tween Sophie & her mom during our stint online. They were concerned that those who saw the movie but didn't read the book would miss out on reading it and the rest of a wonderful series. They wondered if the author really consented to the drastic differences in the movie.
4. The Giver is a great book that can spur exciting class discussions. I haven't read this book, but as our group passed by the shelf it was on, Teen Girl commented about it.
5. You can't use a Starbucks giftcard for a Starbuck's drink at Barnes & Noble. Tween Sophie had been gone awhile to get some refreshment for herself & her mom, armed only with the giftcard her mom handed her. She returned disappointed after having stood in that line, only to find out this fact. Having no cash on her, she returned empty-handed. Sorry, Sophie!
6. Barnes & Noble employees check on the people in line. Every 30 minutes or so, someone with a name tag would walk by, asking people if they were okay & reminding them not to "lock their knees".
7. The Tim Burton movie "Dark Shadows" should have been & might possibly be rated R. Sophie's mom took the kids to see it on vacation, where it was rated PG-13, & said they were bothered by what they considered R-rated material. When they came home she said that she noticed it was rated R here. I didn't see it, so can't comment on that.
8. There's an app for that!! Fantastic Flying Books director Brandon Oldenburg was there among the crowd. He was demonstrating the I-Pad app for the book. If you aimed your I-pad at pages in the book, it would come to life on your screen. So cool! Wish I had an I-pad...
9. An Oscar is heavy!! During glimpses of the signing table on my circumnavigating of the children's section, I could see that the Oscar was there on the signing table with William Joyce & Joe Bluhm (his co-illustrator of the book.) Occasionally I would notice someone picking it up. When Husband texted me that he was done with his meeting & was now home, I texted back my request that he come to Barnes & Noble & bring my camera. As we approached the table, the next half dozen or so people had only commented on the Oscar & not touched it. But I wasn't about to be apprehensive about it. I told Mr. Joyce how beautiful I thought the book was & thanked them for being there. Then I said, "Haven't I seen other people picking up your Oscar?" They laughed at me & said that was a different approach. (They must not be too familiar with passive aggressive types.) They said I could hold it while they signed and Husband took my picture.
(The camera setting was wrong for the lights there, so the picture could have been better. But that's me and that's a real Oscar.)
10. If you don't support local things that are awesome, then they leave. As I was getting so near to the signing table, Teen Girl's Dad said this to Bill Joyce. Mr. Joyce had thanked them for standing in line for an hour and a half (he had not accounted for the 30 minutes we had stood before he started signing). His full quote was, "Like I learned from my favorite hockey team, if you don't support local things that are awesome, then they leave." I supposed he was missing the Mudbugs.
Moonbot studios & all its creative people are a local thing that is awesome. You can learn about them online at www.moonbotstudios.com.
Thanks, Mr. Joyce, for signing books for Ben, Will, Carolann & Adeline, and for writing & illustrating it so beautifully. (Also thanks for letting me hold an Oscar!)
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