Three reasons why.

1. Because within minutes of meeting her, she told us an elaborate lie (a fiction, if you will) about how she grew up on a berry farm and she was half-Mexican—and we believed it.

2. Because her novel incorporates footnotes, half-chapters, open letters to George W. Bush, lost episodes of Mister Rogers, and a 3rd grader’s report on the mating habits of spiders. She found a way to dump her personality all over the pages, and still complete a girl-powered, Iraq-conscious story about love. And she did all this on her first try.

3. Because she encouraged us to write a story related to her novel, and then she published it on her web site. So you can add our humble riff on a character from Miss Harper Can Do It to the swollen ranks of fan fiction about Kirk and Spock, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

If you missed Jane’s first reading on Monday, come out to Brooklyn tonight for a book signing with the world’s best author who can also dance-fight in the Brazilian style.

Go Jane, go!

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