Inspired by The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Algonquin), Anderson's Bookshops, Naperville and Downers Grove, Ill., celebrated April Fool's Day by becoming Island Books. The front windows displayed large signs announcing, "Now Island Books! New Owner!" The store had a new logo and "an all about the new owner" poster, as well as "the Abandoned Bookstore Baby," a doll in a basket, with a pinned note from her mother. (Anderson's owner Becky Anderson holds the doll, below.) For the month of April, customers who take a selfie with the baby and post it on social media tagged #abandonedbookstorebaby will be entered in a contest to win a signed book, a special T-shirt and be first place in line when Zevin visits Anderson's on April 30.
Island Books also appeared on Anderson's website, which featured this note about the new owner: "A.J. Fikry is a thirty-nine year old widower. He's cranky, he drinks too much, and don't get him started on the state of publishing. Some may use the word curmudgeon to describe him and yet others see some heart there. He has a love of short stories, especially Edgar Allan Poe. Please make him feel at home...."
Ginny Wehrli-Hemmeter, an Anderson's staffer, reported that the event garnered more than 60 mentions on Twitter and others on Facebook and Instagram. The store's April Fool's e-mail blast received a dozen responses, which included lines like, "Oh for cryin' out loud!!! I almost had heart failure! You got me." and "I was so sad when I really thought that you were going out of business. Don't do that to me again! LONG LIVE ANDERSON'S!!"
The local TV station ran two videos about the event, and, Wehrli-Hemmeter said, "We fooled our local paper for a bit too!" And yesterday the Chicago Tribune ran a story about the prank.