***Event Information Update | October 9, 2018***

• Book sales will begin at 4:00 p.m. Books purchased will include a signed bookplate.
   
• The event has been moved from the Montgomery Auditorium to the Parkway Central Library lobby
   
• There will no longer be a Q&A; only a photo op. In order to join the photo line, you must purchase a copy of the book at the Free Library on the evening of the event.

I’m accidentally obsessed with professional wrestling, yet will purposefully point the finger of blame at the Free Library. Here’s how it happened: One evening after work my husband popped over to our neighborhood Free Library location and picked up a DVD. Turns out it was a WWE compilation, which he promptly popped in, reliving the glory days of his childhood and admitting he’d been watching wrestling behind my back in the many years since. My initial skepticism quickly morphed into a lot of questions—about the characters, the storylines, and the crazy moves—that further morphed into the obsession I find myself dealing with today.

What can I say? I just love watching people slam other people off those ropes! Whoops?

So suffice it to say, I totally lost my cool when I heard that John Cena—wrestling royalty if there is such a thing—was visiting the Free Library on Friday, October 12 to talk about his first children’s book, Elbow Grease. It seems things have come full circle.

But the connection between piledrivers, spears, the five-knuckle-shuffle, and the Free Library isn’t just limited to DVDs and a special visit. Believe it or not, the connection between Cena—one of the most popular and celebrated professional wrestlers of all time—and the Free Library extends to our Children’s Literature Research Collection (CLRC).

One of the Free Library’s unique special collections, the CLRC presents workshops, critique groups, and story hours that promote the works of local and debut illustrators and authors, a prestigious group Cena is poised to join with the debut of Elbow Grease.

What’s more, the CLRC preserves and archives material that highlights the changes in children’s literature throughout history, recording the morals, attitudes, and ideas being taught to our youngest readers over time. The CLRC’s Historical Collection even has a subcategory of "celebrity authors" because these are the voices that many caregivers go to for moral and social guidance.

And that’s what makes us all so excited to welcome Cena to the Free Library for the first time this fall. It’s a perfect "match"!

So pop on your best wrestling gear and head to Parkway Central Library on Friday, October 12 at 6:00 p.m. to celebrate Cena’s foray into children’s literature—and hear from the man himself about his inspirational career,  from Attitude Adjustments to Elbow Grease. You better believe I’ll be there!