Dan Santat - A First Time for Everything

Monday, September 18, 2023 - 6:00pm

Left Bank Books presents Dan Santat, Caldecott Medal-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend and the road trip/time travel adventure Are We There Yet?

Join us for a conversation to celebrate all things awkward, funny, and poignant about middle school in Dan Santat's middle grade memoir A First Time for Everything! Dan will be in conversation with Amy from the book!

Santat will personalize and sign copies after the presentation! If you are unable to make it to the event, leave a personalization note in your online order.

Order your book from Left Bank Books to support local independent businesses! You can pick up your book at the event or have your signed book shipped to you after the event.

Join us at Left Bank Books

399 N Euclid Ave

St. Louis, MO 63108

Watch the livestream on Left Bank Books' YouTube Page

About A First Time for Everything

A middle grade graphic memoir based on bestselling author and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's awkward middle school years and the trip to Europe that changed his life.

Dan's always been a good kid. The kind of kid who listens to his teachers, helps his mom with grocery shopping, and stays out of trouble. But being a good kid doesn't stop him from being bullied and feeling like he's invisible, which is why Dan has low expectations when his parents send him on a class trip to Europe.

At first, he's right. He's stuck with the same girls from his middle school who love to make fun of him, and he doesn't know why his teacher insisted he come on this trip. But as he travels through France, Germany, Switzerland, and England, a series of first experiences begin to change him--first Fanta, first fondue, first time stealing a bike from German punk rockers... and first love.

Funny, heartwarming, and poignant, A First Time for Everything is a feel-good coming-of-age memoir based on New York Times bestselling author and Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat's awkward middle school years. It celebrates a time that is universally challenging for many of us, but also life-changing as well.

About Dan Santat

Dan Santat is the Caldecott Medal-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend and the road trip/time travel adventure Are We There Yet? His artwork is also featured in numerous picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels, including Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series. Dan lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, and many, many pets.

Reviews

A Junior Library Guild selection

"[Santat] unpacks his transformational experience with vulnerability and raw honesty--the sincerity is heartening and the outcome inspiring." -- Shelf Awareness, starred review

"[A] relatable story of self-discovery... the perfect balance of humor and poignancy." -- Kirkus, starred review

"[A] great read among a crowded field, especially for sensitive middle-grade boys." -- Booklist, starred review
"A thoughtful memoir with lots of humor and heart." -- School Library Journal, starred review
"[E]motionally perceptive" -- Publisher's Weekly, starred review
"This is Santat at his best." -- Horn Book
"Without preachiness or condescension, Santat gives readers a story that is both a reassuring hug and a nudge to get out there and experience the world beyond what they know." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Dan San tat perfectly captures all the humor, confusion, awkwardness, and pure joy of being a young person stepping out into the world. Read this book! You're going to love it, and you are going to laugh and cry so much!" --CHRISTINA SOONTORNVAT, two-time Newbery Honor Winner

"A humane, hilarious, and gently awkward story of seeing [your] world open up for the first time. It almost makes me wish I was a teen ager again. Almost." --VERA BROSGOL, New York Times-bestselling creator of Be Prepared
"Dan's book manages to capture all the things that make you fall in love in the first place--awkwardness, humor, a bit of teen pathos, and most of all, sincerity and vulnerability." --LEUYEN PHAM, New York Times-bestselling illustrator of the Friends series

"A hilarious, beautiful, and cap tivating memoir about the cringeworthy catapult into adolescence." --JARRETT J. KROSOCZKA, National Book Award Finalist creator of Hey, Kiddo