The past few days at Word Up have buzzed almost as much as the days leading up to our grand opening. We have more light. Our toilet works. Our donation premiums—T-shirts, magnets, buttons—are displayed proudly around the shop. This afternoon, we felt the breeze of cool air . . . And we have seen lots of YOU, our neighbors, giving your support and expressing that this is a place we all want to keep around. Please continue to visit us this week, this one time of year we have asked for event entrance fees, so that we can continue to keep our books affordable, our event prices free/low, and our rent paid.
The children’s book authors who visited this Saturday morning during Kids Rule Word Up! included Elizabeth Balaguer, author of Mi Carnaval/My Carnival, one of our most popular kids’ books at the shop; 
Melanie Hope Greenberg, whose Mermaids on Parade has been a hit all over town and is now available at Word Up, to put us in the right mood for summer; 
Jen Leach, author of Not Now, Ollie!, which will launch at Word Up on June 23;
and Robin Glasser, whose penchant for rhyming does well in the kids’ circuit too, and whose book Baboon Bob will be ready for readers soon enough. Musician GioSafari performed for all. And, what’s a Saturday morning event without a little bit of face paint?
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In case you missed the start of our birthday celebrations, you can see what passed at our Kickoff Party with special guest Junot Díaz on Uptown Collective, DNAinfo, and El Diario. More photos and audio from Thursday night are also available on our Flickr page and on Art by DjBoy’s website. And, this past Saturday night, Channel 35 was to air a recap of Friday’s Noche de Poetas y Trovadores, which featured “La Romantica” Bernarda Dávila, Mary Gratereaux, Diogenes Abreu, Claudia Prado, Rafael A. Reyes, Eleana Reynoso, Gladys María Montolío, and more, with music by Sabrina Lastman and Roberto Poveda. We haven’t seen it yet, but will post it soon if all aired as planned!
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And this Sunday, from 2pm till we’re done, for $10 we have another packed day of readings with local poets and fictioneers during 9Cubed and MayDayAtDingDong Present. (Archival info about May Day at Ding Dong, one of the events under many names that was a precursor to Word Up, can be found here.) Come early and stick around, or pop in while you’re waiting to transfer your soon-to-be-clean clothes to the dryer. That’s the beauty of a community bookshop in your very own neighborhood—you can do the things you do on Sundays yet still take a time-out with literature. . . . IF you keep that community bookshop in your neighborhood. Do it! Yeah! See you Sunday!
Word Up Books 