Fast Track to Harlem

CHEAPEST THRILL: If you're a bookworm like me, it's the coolest thing ever to meet the authors and shake their hands. I got to meet Ian Smith, Gordon Parks and Walter Mosley.

BIGGEST SPLURGE: I could have bought a beautiful handmade quilt for $200. But since this was not a shopping spree and I am a teacher, I moved on.

BIGGEST CULTURE SHOCK: Just because it's the Harlem Book Fair doesn't mean it's restricted to people who have been "kissed by the sun." There were quite a few white and Asian guests there (both as patrons and sellers).

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: I got lost. There were road closures and one-way streets, and no one looked friendly enough to ask for directions. Did I mention this happened in Baltimore, when I was on the way home from Penn Station?

FAVORITE SOUVENIR: A free Book TV tote bag. Teachers love freebies (compensation for our low wages).

NEXT YEAR I MIGHT WANT TO . . . study a map of Baltimore.

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