Every Labor Day Weekend I have the exciting opportunity to attend the Decatur Book Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. This year marks my fifth straight year in attendance, and each year it has only been a better and better experience. The 2018 festival featured some very popular authors like Angie Thomas, Becky Albertalli and Jason Reynolds. This year, I even got to serve as media as a Teenreads blogger. I also had many more wonderful individual conversations with authors this year than ever before.

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Every labor day weekend I have the wonderful opportunity to attend the largest independent book festival in the nation! Every year I get to meet and hear from a bunch of fabulous YA authors! The AJC Decatur Book Festival takes place in Decatur, Georgia, and showcases authors from almost any genre as well as art, music and so much more. This year was one of the most memorable festivals I have ever attended!

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Getting to book signings in the suburbs of Atlanta where I live is harder than you would think. Let’s just say they typically consist of me annoying my parents to drive me one hour each way into downtown Atlanta for a one-hour signing. Occasionally my city’s independent bookstore, The Foxtale Book Shoppe, hosts events for YA authors that I must attend, and luckily, this store is only ten minutes away from me. I always make sure to take advantage of every convenient signing opportunity that I have. Naturally, I was super excited to find out that they were hosting an event for authors Mackenzi Lee and Becky Albertalli. Read on to learn all about the event.

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Every year, librarians, authors, publishing professionals, educators and students convene at ALA Midwinter, a conference held by the American Library Association. The ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world, and their mission to enhance learning and ensure access to books and information for readers of all ages is one they take very seriously. This year, Teen Board member Grace P. had the opportunity to attend and participate in a teen feedback panel. Along the way she picked up dozens of books and had some great interactions with popular YA authors. Although her TBR pile is now nearing a record high, she took some time to answer questions for us about her awesome experience. Read on to learn more!

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Eleanor and Park, the protagonists of Rainbow Rowell’s best-selling first YA novel ELEANOR & PARK, don’t blend in very well at their Omaha, Nebraska high school; Eleanor is mocked for her weight, huge red hair and unique fashion sense, and Park stands out because of his half-Korean heritage. And while even they are hesitant when they first meet on the school bus, they slowly uncover each other’s dry wit, unbeatable music taste and obsession with comic books and fall into a deep, unforgettable first love.

Although ELEANOR & PARK was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honor book in 2014 --- as well as an Indie’s Choice Young Adult Book of the Year, an Amazon Young Adult Book of the Year and part of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Top Teen Best Fiction for Young Adults --- it has received some backlash, too, for “vile profanity.”

Below, author Lindsay Smith (DREAMSTRIDER, Sekret series) and Teen Board members Grace P. and Lauren H. explain why they love ELEANOR & PARK, and exactly what they would say if any book-banners came knocking on their doors.

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