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My daughter is ten now, but when she was five she was an avid soccer player. Better put, I was an avid soccer dad. She'd throw on her bright red uniform, and I'd speed her to each game, talking strategy all the way. Once in the parking lot, she'd jump out, skip onto the field, and find some other girl to hold hands with while they'd bounce around for a half hour. Oblivious to everything except how wonderful life was. Roughly every other game, if the ball came rolling right to her, she'd kick that bugger. Then I'd strut around, point her out to all the other dads with inferior children.

It had been a while since one of those strutting moments, and I was second guessing that soccer scholarship when it happened—the rarest event in kiddie soccer—the breakaway. Somehow, my girl ended up with the ball, the herd was on the far side of the field, and my precious was about to score. She actually dribbled right down to the goal. I was moments away from immortality. She couldn't miss if she tried. The goalie was sitting down, picking grass. All she had to do was kick it.

But she stopped, turned, and scanned the sideline. Her gaze found me and her face lit and she jumped and waved.

"Look at me, Daddy! Look at me!"

"I am!" I started to make kicking motions, and she must've figured them out because she took three steps back (like all kids before they kick big), and was completely engulfed by fifteen screaming children. The next thing I saw was that ball flying the other way, the herd in pursuit. But not my girl. She just stood in front of the goal, that huge smile still plastered on her face.

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Penguin Speakers Bureau (PSB) speakers have been receiving praise as they share their messages with audiences across the country. Below are just a few glowing reviews from some recent events.

• Junot Díaz at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan
  
  “We’ve had ten years of important, incredible writers,” wrote event coordinator Diane Seuss, but Pulitzer Prize–winner Junot Díaz “was by far the best.” Junot discussed his recent book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and his life as a writer for a crowd of students, faculty, and community members at Kalamazoo College. Diane told us, “He talked to the students in a way that was both challenging and respectful. He was funny and incredibly moving. He provided them with everything they need to think about as they enter college—what books are for, that the end result of critical thinking is compassion,” and the importance of “an awareness of our own history. He was gracious—and he brought the house down.”





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• Dr. Daniel J. Levitin at the Human Link Conference, Atlanta, Georgia
  
  Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, neuroscientist and author of This is Your Brain on Music and The World in Six Songs, recently spoke at the Human Link Conference. Dr. Levitin’s lecture on creativity, music, and the brain, “entranced” the crowd, wrote Lynda Hawkins, the Barnes & Noble manager who provided copies of Dr. Levitin’s books for the event. “We sold 101 books today—and would have sold more if we had them … Levitin was a great speaker.” Dr. Levitin has been booked by the Human Link Conference for another event this upcoming weekend in Denver, and we expect to hear even more positive feedback.




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• Jan Crawford Greenberg at The Purnell School, Pottersville, New Jersey
  

  ABC News correspondent and author of the bestselling Supreme Conflict, Jan Crawford Greenberg recently addressed students at The Purnell School in New Jersey. Jan adapted her speech on the struggle between conservatives, moderates, and liberals for control of the Supreme Court for her young audience, effectively engaging the Purnell School crowd. According to event coordinator Donna Martin, “Jan’s talk was warm, full of wonderful stories, the importance of the election and women in the court. Everyone in the audience was enchanted by her... The line for her book was almost out the door of Brook House and we sold all of the books, plus have orders for 17 more.”





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  Krista Tippett at St. John’s University, Queens, New York

  Freshmen at St. John’s University were assigned Krista Tippett’s Speaking of Faith last summer as a common reading experience, and her speaking event at the university this month was a great success. St. John’s Assistant VP of Student Affairs, Darren Morton, said, “Krista’s visit was wonderful. She had a great message… with some very appropriate challenges for [the] age group.” A number of faculty members have since requested copies of her speech to share with their first-year classes, and many more bought copies of her book.






• John Perkins at Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan

  Days after John Perkins, author of the bestselling Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire, spoke at Olivet College, the PSB was told that students and faculty were still raving about his visit to campus. Event coordinator Shannon Tiernan wrote to tell us that they “packed the house like I’ve never seen before—we even had to open a room for overflow seating. I would say we had 450 students, faculty, staff and community members… The students I talked with really enjoyed his lecture and we sold most of his books!”