Rick Riordan Author Signing

Provo was one of only eight stops on Rick Riordan’s tour promoting his latest book, The Serpent’s Shadow -book three of the Kane Chronicles.  BYU Bookstore was honored to be the bookseller for the event.  And it was an EVENT.  

picture via http://rickriordan.blogspot.com

If you worry about the future of books you should have been there.  The excitement was palpable.  Rick Riordan clearly has established a rock-star status with these readers.  All he had to do was mention the name of a character in the books and cheers would erupt.  He announced that his next series will be housed in Norse Mythology and the cheers may have loosened the roof girders.  

The audience was the perfect blend of courtesy and enthusiasm.  They loudly expressed their love of the books but they listened just as avidly.  My booklover’s heart reveled in the sight of young readers caressing the covers of favorite titles and flipping through books they could hardly wait to meet.  

Call it hyperbole if you will, but lives were changed that night.  Reading was validated.  When readers experience that magical rapport with an author the possibilities of writing and its power changes them, I believe, forever, empowering them to dream without bounds, to read further, to discover the world beyond their limited scope.  

Mr. Riordan was gracious, unpretentious and charming.  He signed over one thousand books in an hour and a half.  You can buy signed copies of most of the books at the BYU Bookstore or at byubookstore.com.  Provo Library merits high praise in their presentation, their dedication to readers and books, and not least of all, for providing this magical experience at no charge. Kudos to them!!


-Anita


See Rick's post on his signing party in Provo here.


Get the first book of the Kane Chronicles at byubookstore.com.