Last week was NYC Teen Author Festival, and since not all of you could attend this fantastic gathering of YA authors and their fans, I decided to attend as much as I could and give you the scoop. The idea for the festival was created 10 years ago by David Levithan, Sarah Mlynowski, and Daniel Ehrenhaft when they realized authors based in NYC should get together more often. This was the sixth festival to have taken place! Events occured from Monday March 18th through Sunday March 24th.
This blog post will cover events on Saturday, March 23rd.
This blog post covers events on Tuesday, March 19th and Friday, March 22nd.
Saturday March 23, Symposium
Before attending the second full day of NYC Teen Author Festival events, I was able to meet up with two Teenreads.com reviewers for brunch at the fanciful Alice's Tea Cup: Chapter II, which was covered in quotes from THE ADVENTURES OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND! It was the perfect setting to talk about YA and our favorite books from back when we were teens, most of which were either creepy or mind-bending reads. Then, we were off to the author panels!
Defying Description: Tackling the Many Facets of Identity in YA
A huge part of being a teenager is figuring out who you are or who you'd like to become --- some of this is within your control, but a lot is just discovering the real you and accepting yourself for who you are. As YA literature evolves, and is more open to exploring LGBTQ characters and plots, there is additional nuance in teen identity that is explored. This panel was AMAZING because these authors were able to explain their mindset going into writing characters with minority identities and the struggle with being true to real life experience.
Panelists:
Marissa Calin, author of BETWEEN YOU AND ME
Emily Danforth, author of THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST
Aaron Hartzler, author of RAPTURE PRACTICE
A.S. King, author of ASK THE PASSENGERS
Jacqueline Woodson, author of BENEATH A METH MOON
moderator: David Levithan, author of EVERY DAY
Discussion topics: Biggest thing about identity is being able to see people who are like you; finding your voice; A.S. King wanted her book to be about questioning because that's what happens; "usually when it comes to love, I'd like a conversation first"; identity is community; it's still life and death for many people out there; so much of what we write is autobiographical; lead by example to make it not an issue; struggle of always being the minority; complexity of need; complex culture of legitimacy; the essence of childhood never changes; the message has changed to not only will you survive this, but you will live a life.
New Voices Spotlight
I always really enjoy hearing debut authors read from their first published work. It's exciting to see who the next "headline" authors will be. Here are the authors who read a brief piece of their book.
Authors:
J. J. Howard, author of THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS
Kimberly Sabatini, author of TOUCHING THE SURFACE
Tiffany Schmidt, author of SEND ME A SIGN
Greg Takoudes, author of WHEN WE WUZ FAMOUS
Under Many Influences: Shaping Identity When You’re a Teen Girl
Being a teen girl is TOUGH. I guess not everyone will experience this (sorry guys,) but I know that some YA really helped me through hard times in high school. Meg Cabot and Megan McCafferty were my heroes! This panel turned into a marvelous girl chat about a girl's early relationships with her family, friends...and of course, BOYS. First love and first friendships define your teenage years; no doubt about it.
Panelists:
Jen Calonita, author of the Belles series
Deborah Heiligman, author of INTENTIONS
Hilary Weisman Graham, author of REUNITED
Kody Keplinger, author of A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE
Amy Spalding, author of THE REECE MALCOLM LIST
Katie Sise, author of THE BOYFRIEND APP
Kathryn Williams, author of PIZZA, LOVE, AND OTHER STUFF THAT MADE ME FAMOUS
moderator: Terra Elan McVoy, author of BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS / CRIMINAL
Discussion topics: Parents are really key in high school; separation from parents is a huge part of being a teenager; what has changed since the authors' high school years: technology, bullying, lack of optimism, opening up freedom; is it harder to break up with a friend or with a boyfriend?; "heart friends" vs "friendlets"; friend for the moment vs. lifelong friend friendship-making techniques.
Born This Way: Nature, Nurture, and Paranormalcy
No matter what your current opinion of paranormal or science fiction is (there's much more to the genre than TWILIGHT, I swear,) these stories certainly have a way of making the reader feel more powerful. Who wouldn't want to be able to time travel, cast spells or have a personal genie all to yourself? These authors discussed how assigning a paranormal ability to a teen can help them amplify the nature of growing up.
Panelists:
Jessica Brody, author of UNREMEMBERED
Gina Damico, author of the Croak series
Maya Gold, author of SPELLBINDING
Alexandra Monir, author of TIMEKEEPER
Lindsay Ribar, author of THE ART OF WISHING
Jeri Smith-Ready, author of LUST FOR LIFE
Jessica Spotswood, author of BORN WICKED
moderator: Adrienne Maria Vrettos, author of BURNOUT
Discussion topics: The decision for how and when paranormal power emerge; discovery of what it is that is different about you; all teens feel like they are completely different from everyone else; paranormal or science fiction can up the stakes; it can blow up issues for the authors to look at them.
The Next Big Thing
The symposium ended with another goofy event: these four authors were given the task of analyzing what the next big thing in YA will be. Ideas went from THE CARRIE BABIES, a precursor to both SEX AND THE CITY and THE CARRIE DIARIES, to adult books for the aging teens, to 50 SHADES OF GREY for kids (example titles included BULLY ME SOFTLY, SAY UNCLE and I KNOW WHERE YOU KEEP YOUR BANDAIDS) and the ever elusive unicorn book genre. Think any of these would actually work?
Authors:
Leanna Renee Hieber, author of the Magic Most Foul series
Barry Lyga, author of I HUNT KILLERS
Maryrose Wood, author of The Incorrigible Children of Astor Place series
Emil Ostrovski, author of THE PARADOX OF VERTICAL FLIGHT
