Thursday is here again and you know what that means. Teen Thursday! But this week we have something very special. We are beginning our count down to the Austin Teen Book Festival and we couldn’t be more excited!
The Austin Teen Book Festival is Saturday, September 29th from 9:30am to 5pm. There will be book signings, author panels, photo opps, and the chance to make thousands of new friends who are into the same awesome books as you — all for FREE. This Teen Thursday we are profiling the We’re Not in Kansas Anymore panel. Check out the complete panel line up for the Austin Teen Book Fest HERE.
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore is the Magic and Fantasy panel. It includes Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Leigh Bardugo, Rae Carson, Sarah Rees Brennan (moderator) and the one and only Libba Bray. WNKA- as we are lovingly referring to it- is sure to be a lot of fun!
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Our Teen Press Corps loves Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. Check out what Sam and Erin had to say about the book:
“Alina was a spitfire. She stood up for herself, and said a good portion of the time what was on her mind. Sure, she argues and says that they’ve made some kind of mistake, but she still carries on and makes the best of it. Alina stays strong and keeps her wits about her, even when she feels like giving up.”
Read Sam’s full review HERE.
“Shadow and Bone was much like a mash up of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. The main character, Alina, is fierce and isn’t afraid to speak her mind much like Katniss. All of the magic and the fantastical creatures in this novel reminded me of Harry Potter which was definitely a plus considering how wonderful Harry Potter is.”
Read Erin’s full review HERE.
We were lucky enough to snag an interview with Leigh herself.
“BP Teen Press Corps:The powers of the Grisha are so unique and well-portrayed. How did you come up with each and fit the characteristics of a person to each? They seemed to fit so well.
LB: Thank you! I’ve always been curious about the functionality of magic. I mean, you wave a wand or mutter a spell, and what actually happens? So the magic practiced by the Grisha is grounded loosely in molecular chemistry and bound by the rules governing the natural world. That’s why it’s called “the Small Science”: they manipulate matter at its most fundamental levels. As for the characters, they just kind of grew out of their powers. This is a country under siege, so the warriors would necessarily be treated better and have the arrogance that comes from that higher status. The Fabrikators (the lowest Order of Grisha) are kind of the nerds of the Second Army, but later in the series, they become very important to the war effort.
BPTPC: How did you build the world of Shadow and Bone? It’s so intricate and descriptive – how did you keep it all straight?
LB: I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I began with the basic beats of the narrative. The first (very rough) draft of the book had the magical system in place, but none of the texture or feel of the world. Before I started the second draft, I researched for two months. (I put a time limit on that work because I knew that I could happily bury myself in history and folklore forever, and just avoid every going back to writing.) The research changed the story quite a lot, and I think that next draft was when I started to believe there might actually be a book there. As for keeping things straight, I kept lots of lists and had index cards taped all over my walls. (It got very A Beautiful Mind for a while there. You know, except for the math genius part.)”
Read the full interview HERE.
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Rae Carson’s Crown of Embers is the long awaited sequel to The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Laura couldn’t put it down!
“What I loved most about this book was that there was pretty much nonstop action from beginning to end. This made the story intense, to the point where I would just keep reading until I finally looked up and realized an hour had gone by. The best thing though, was that Elisa seemed to grow, so that although she must once again go through the problems of a leader, she handles them differently and makes this story all that much better.”
Read Laura’s full review HERE.
Crown of Embers will be released Sept 18, it is now available for pre-order.
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Libba Bray is this year’s Austin Teen Book Festival closing note speaker, and a real favorite around these parts. Her latest The Diviners is sure to be one of the biggest YA titles of the year. Laura LOVED it!
“The Diviners was a heart-stopping thriller that had me shaking with suspense and anticipation. Set in the mid 1920’s, I was enraptured by the pos-i-tute-ly amazing flapper era and all that came with it. Libba Bray has once again amazed me with her writing, and continues her legacy as one of my favorite teen fantasy authors of all time.”
Read Laura’s full review HERE.
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Check out these and all The Austin Teen Book Festival Authors here. Every Teen Thursday until the festival we’ll be profiling a different panel! Check back here and with The Austin Teen Book Festival website for insider info and the latest updates.
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