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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Vicky Angelo got the first autograph from Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi at the City Center Barnes & Noble, where a line of eager fans wrapped around the building Saturday afternoon.
Angelo, 21, said she was excited and nervous at the same time while meeting the star of the hit reality television show "Jersey Shore," whose third book, "Gorilla Beach," was released Tuesday.
Mamaroneck residents Bella Vigil, 14, and Isabella Escobar, 13, wore the sunglasses handed out to those near the front of the line. Like the two teenagers, Leann Abreu of Brooklyn, arrived early Saturday. Meeting "Snooki," she said, was worth the wait.
"I'm excited because she's a carefree person," Abreu said. "She doesn't care what other people think about her, which is a problem I have. But she doesn't care, she just has fun."
Next to Abreu in line was Hector Alonzo, of Eastchester, who said he went to Polizzi's Oct. 28, 2011, book signing for "Confessions of a Guidette" at the same Barnes & Noble. That day, fans lined up inside the bookstore, which led to people climbing the bookshelves to see her, and it was "just a mess", Alonzo said. This time, the event seemed much more organized, he said.
"It was nerve-racking," Alonzo said moments after meeting Polizzi.
Nikki Torquado of White Plains bought a copy of "Gorilla Beach" on Wednesday, when she heard about the signing. After getting her copy signed Saturday, she said, she was shaking.
Before getting her copy of the novel signed, Deb Biondolillo of Stamford, Conn., presented Polizzi a specialty red velvet cake she had baked for the star the night before. The cake was designed like the "Gorilla Beach" book cover, with "Snooki" in a bathing suit and two "Guidos" holding her up.
"I just like that, she's real," Biondolillo said.
"Gorilla Beach" picks up where Polizzi's first novel, "A Shore Thing," left off. Gia Spumanti and her cousin Bella Rizzoli return to Seaside for the summer, only to get banned forever. The scandalous duo are forced to flee to Atlantic City, where, of course, they run into even more trouble.
Read The Daily White Plains' interview with "Snooki."
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