'Maggie' Fans Flock to Book Signing and Reading at Watermark Books
An overflow crowd of nearly 70 Maggie Steele fans gathered at Watermark Books & Cafe Thursday night, April 11th, to hear Grant Overstake read from his new sports novel, Maggie Vaults Over the Moon.
It was an overwhelming show of support for the gutsy teen from Grain Valley, Kansas, whose compelling story of courage and triumph is capturing the hearts of readers young and old."Words can't express how great it was to see so many people at this event," said Overstake, a Wichita native. "I saw some people I hadn't seen since third grade and met many new friends. To experience a reading and book signing event at Watermark was one of the highlights of my life. To see them putting out more chairs to seat all the people, well, it was just awesome." 
Maggie Vaults Over the Moon retells the story of a Kansas farm girl who pours her broken heart into the daring and sometimes dangerous sport of pole-vaulting. The story climaxes at the Kansas State High School Track & Field Championships, the largest track meet in the nation, held at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University.Just five months after it was published, the novel has been endorsed by four former U.S. Olympic pole-vaulters and bestselling author Christine Brennan, the top female sports writer in the nation (USA Today). Kirkus Reviews calls the book, "A fine young adult novel about perseverance in sports and in life."
A former Miami Herald Sports Writer, Overstake is a lifelong participant in the sport of track and field who competed in the decathlon for the University of Kansas Jayhawks. A multiple award winner for excellence in journalism, Maggie is the author's premiere work of sports fiction.
"One of the highlights of last evening was being asked to sign the authors' wall in the downstairs gallery at Watermark," Overstake said. "Another huge thrill was meeting fellow Wichita author and Newbery Award Winner, Clare Vanderpool, who asked me to sign a copy of Maggie after the reading. I was so glad that I didn't know she was there beforehand, because I'm pretty sure I would have been overwhelmed to know that she was in the audience!"
Maggie Vaults Over the Moon is a wholesome and inspiring read for fourth graders to adults. From now through August, 2013, the author will make a $1 donation to the Kansas High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) Sports Hall of Fame for each copy sold at the Watermark Books store, located at the corner of Douglas and Oliver in Wichita, or through the Watermark Books' website.