Supreme Court Justice headlines kids event

‘Pete the Cat’ writer also making an appearance at book fest.

Every year, the folks programming the children’s and young adult (YA) events at the AJC Decatur Book Festival seem to up the ante, but this year will be hard to beat. After all, how do you top a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice?

Justice Sonia Sotomayor will present her new children’s book “Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You” on Sunday afternoon at Agnes Scott College. Colorfully illustrated by Rafael López, the book encourages children to engage with people who have different physical or medical conditions or disorders.

Sotomayor’s appearance speaks to how far the festival has come since its debut in 2006.

Diane Capriola, co-owner of the Decatur bookstore Little Shop of Stories and the festival’s manager of programming for children and teens, has been there since the beginning, witnessing and contributing to its evolution.

“Our first year we had a small children’s stage and seating for 50. The next year we bumped up seating to 250,” she said. “The idea that the children’s program was going to be a very big part of the festival, that happened really very quickly. And the same for YA.”

This year, both the Children’s Stage and the YA Stage are located in the Decatur Recreation Center, and each seats about 250 people.

Unfortunately, those who don’t already have seats reserved for Sotomayor are probably out of luck because all 600 free tickets were snapped up within five minutes of being released, said Capriola.

But there are plenty of other kid-centric events on the schedule. The kidnote on Friday evening, called Graphix Con, is a nod to the growing popularity of graphic books for children and teens.

“Graphic novels are really a big part of the children’s book market right now.

CONTRIBUTED BY THE AJC DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL The festival features more than 150 exhibitors promoting books and literacy.