2025 Press Release

The Book Worm Book Fest 2025 in downtown Powder Springs is a week-long series of special events Monday, April 28 through the all-day Festival Saturday on May 3. Organized by The Book Worm Bookstore in partnership with the City of Powder Springs and Cobb County Public Library, the Book Fest is a celebration of literature and is designed to bring together readers of all ages.

A highlight of the festival is the One Book, One City literary event that encourages members of the Powder Springs community to read before the festival the same book at the same time. The selection for this year is Can’t We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe by Denny S. Bryce and Eliza Knight. The authors will lead the One Book One City Discussion and Book Signing on May 3 at 6 p.m.  at the Thurman Springs Park’s Amphitheater.

Events are scheduled at various locations for weekdays before the festival on Saturday.

The Saturday schedule starts 9:30 am with the Character Parade with Dog Man and Elephant and Piggie. The festival’s Open is at 10 am followed by a poem reading by Tony Keith Jr. From 10:15 am to 5:30 pm, the program will include a keynote message and author panels.

The festival will include food trucks, vendors, author signings, a Kids Carnival themed area, a Cobb Library booth with crafts, kids’ activities with Cobb Collaborative and more.

The keynote speaker is Breanna J. McDaniel, a best-selling author and illustrator of children’s books and self-described “recovering scholar.” McDaniel’s debut novel, Hands Up!, was named by the Georgia Center for the Book as a Books All Young Georgians Should Read selection. The prestigious 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award went to the metro Atlanta native for Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller.

The panel discussions include the Mayor’s Reading Club, Independent Bookstores, and panels of authors of children’s, middle grade, young adult and adult books. Confirmed authors include: Kelly Young Silverman, Vanessa Riley, Tanisia Moore, Andy Runton, Natalie Lloyd, Katrina Moore, Lauren Agra Deedy, Ellery Adams, Valarie Burns, Lynn Cahoon, Traci Hall, Lee Hollis, Molly MacRae, Allie Pleiter, Chris Negron, and James Riley.

Unique to The Book Worm Book Fest will be a panel of independent bookstore owners discussing the importance of community bookstores. The panel will consist of the owners of Brave + Kind Bookshop, Read It Again Bookstore, A Small Place Bookshop and All Things Inspiration Giftique.

The weekday events begin with Evening at the Library, One Book One City Book Discussion on Can’t We Be Friends at 6 pm Monday, April 28 at Powder Springs Library, 4181 Atlanta St.

“An intimate and powerful portrayal of an unlikely pairing, a bond that blossoms and thrives in quiet moments between gal-pals but isn’t enough to save them from their demons. Bryce and Knight pen a jaunty ride that captures Ella Fitzgerald’s zeal for life and Marilyn Monroe’s passion for the moment…,” Vanessa Riley, (Island Queen, Queen of Exiles, A Wager at Midnight) said of the novel, adding, “Readers will enjoy Can’t We Be Friends and devour the special bond of a magical two-decades-long friendship of icons.”

Powder Springs Library will host the Alice in Wonderland Celebration, a tea party with themed crafts and activities, at 4 pm Tuesday, April 29. Children are encouraged to dress for the party as a favorite character or in theme.

Author Karen Good Marable, author of the children’s book Yaya and the Sea, is the special presenter for Storytime with the Cobb Library Bookmobile at 4 pm Wednesday, April 30, location to be determined. “A lively and lovely tribute to spring, to ritual, and to letting the sea know how much she is loved,” author Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming) said of Yaya and the Sea. “I’ve not seen this story told before and am so happy it’s out in the world! Beautiful.”

Open Mic Night with poet Tony Keith Jr. (How the Boogeyman Became a Poet) at the building beside Book Worm Bookstore at 4460 Marietta St, is at 6:30 pm Thursday, May 1.

Jazz Music and Marilyn Monroe Film Screening at 7 pm Friday, May 2 will feature local musicians at Thurman Springs Park.

For information on the festival, visit www.thebookwormbookfest.com.