~post by Meghan Dietsche Goel, BookPeople’s Children’s Book Buyer and The Austin Teen Book Festival’s Program Director
In partnership with the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation, this year BookPeople is delighted to help present the fifth annual Austin Teen Book Festival. After welcoming 3500 young adult literature readers last year, we are moving to the Austin Convention Center to accommodate more authors (40!) and even more fans at this year’s event on Saturday, September 28th from 9-5.
This festival is truly shaping up to be the best one yet featuring:
- A keynote from the preternaturally talented Maggie Stiefvater to present Dream Thieves, sequel to her wildly original fantasy, Raven Boys
- Six repeating panels featuring 40 different authors from around the country
- A not-to-be-missed game show pitching the frighteningly fierce authors from Macmillan’s Fierce Reads Tour against the deliciously dark authors of HarperCollins’s Dark Days Tour
- A special lunch conversation with Sarah Dessen (on The Moon and More) and Rob Thomas (on the 10th anniversary of Rats Saw God)
- AND a closing note with the always thrilling Holly Black for The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
As the festival’s program director, I can’t tell you how much fun I have had working on this line-up. And I am truly delighted that Maggie Stiefvater will be headlining this year’s event for Dream Thieves because its dazzling prequel, Raven Boys, was one of my favorite books of last year. Pulsing with mystical overtones and the mesmerizing thrum of ancient magic, Raven Boys follows a group of unusual boys on a quest to find an enchanted Welsh king along with a girl destined to kill one amongst them. A must-read for its brilliant cast of characters alone, this exhilarating fantasy defies easy description in the best possible way and is an excellent choice for adult fantasy fans as well as teens.
Since it’s just out in paperback, I recommend picking up a copy of Raven Boys now and then heading over to the Convention Center on September 28th to hear Maggie and some of the brightest voices in young adult literature talk about some of the year’s most exciting new releases.
Among others, this year’s festival will feature: Sean Beaudoin, Holly Black, S.A. Bodeen, Rae Carson, Cinda Williams Chima, Alexandra Coutts, Sarah Dessen, Trish Doller, Sara Farizan, Michelle Gagnon, Jenny Han, P.J. Hoover, Leila Howland, Jo Knowles, Bill Konigsberg, R.L. LaFevers, Malinda Lo, Mari Mancusi, Mindy McGinnis, Lisa McMann, Marissa Meyer, Lauren Myracle, Cat Patrick, Madeline Roux, Leila Sales, Brandon Sanderson, Jon Skovron, Rob Thomas, Sherry Thomas, Amy Tintera, April Genevieve Tulcholke, Siobhan Vivian, Robin Wasserman, and Suzanne Young. For more information, visit the festival website.
BookPeople 