Olivia Birdsall writes reel good

Every once in a while, a book comes along that combines a fresh original voice, a sense of humor, cool experiments with form, and draws original insights from cured meat products.


This, my friends, is such a book. Plus, it's about an entire family named after Woody Allen characters. Here's an excerpt from one of my favorite chapterettes, entitled "love means never having to eat your pepperoni."

I hate eating pepperoni, but I like the way it makes pizza taste...so I always order pepperoni pizza and then pick off the pepperoni. That way I can still sort of taste the pepperoni, but I don't have to eat it.

I lean over and look down the couch to where Julian sits with a small stack of pepperoni on his plate, yelling out answers in the form of questions.
He's never touched my pepperoni before.
I want to frame this piece of pizza and hang it on my wall. I want to call Haley and tell her that Julian knows how I feel about pepperoni; he cares about my pepperoni needs, and he has met them.

"He's never touched my pepperoni before." Now there's a killer line.


Olivia and Utah's Grand Dame of YA writing Louise Plummer will be reading at the Gateway Barnes & Noble tonight at 7 p.m. I highly recommend you attend. And buy a book. And get it signed. And then READ it.


You will be smarter and happier.