An Afternoon With Beth Kephart

            Nearly every book lover I chat with about young adult fiction and memoir knows who Beth Kephart is.  So I probably don't  need to introduce her here, but I will, if only because it's so enjoyable to write an introduction for a writer of her accomplishments.  Beth's first book, a memoir, was A Slant of Sun:  One Child's Courage, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1998.  Her subsequent books--novels such as Undercover, The Heart is Not a Size, Dangerous Neighbors, Small Damages (this is just a partial list!)--have garnered too many starred reviews and "best of" designations for me to count.  Beth is also a master teacher, speaker, and essayist.Apart from the pleasure of telling you about someone you probably already know, here is why I'm talking about Beth:  this coming Saturday, July 27, I will have the opportunity to spend an afternoon with Beth at Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, Virginia.  We'll be talking about books and the line between fiction and reality, and you are welcome to join us.  Beth will talk about two of her books in particular, the novel Small Damages and her brand-new Handling the Truth: On The Writing of Memoir.  I'll focus on my brand-new novel, Imperfect Spiral, and on my nonfiction-in-verse The Year of Goodbyes:  A True Story of Friendship, Family, and Farewells.  We'll each read briefly from these books and talk about their creations.  The afternoon's theme is "Get Real," so you can be sure that most of our discussion will be about reality in writing--the lines between fiction, nonfiction, and memoir and all the places in between.  For those who are inclined to write, we'll have in-store writing exercises related to our discussion.                So:  Saturday, July 27, 3:30-5 p.m., Hooray for Books!, 1555 King St.  Alexandria, Virginia 22314, 703-548-4092.Beth and I look forward to seeing new and familiar faces there!