YA Lit:: First Annual Austin Teen Book Festival

Yesterday's amazing Austin Teen Book Festival was truly unique. It was the first time I didn't have to pay an exorbitant conference fee to get a hold of multiple YA authors at once. Yup, that's right. It was all deliciously free (well, I did spend over a hundred dollars in books from Book People, who were warm and awesome). More importantly, it gave attendees of all ages a chance to meet both popular authors and up-and-comers.

So this thing was held at Westlake High School, which is more beautiful and high-tech than many colleges. The festival consisted of book-buying, a keynote speech, 3 panels of your choice, and time to get your stuff autographed. There were also bands playing and some middle school volunteers dressed as zombies doing the Thriller. This was pretty much a full day of YA awesomeness shared with good friend Veronica Goldbach.

The speech::
Okay, I've seen Libba Bray speak before, but she truly was in top form. There were laughs and there were almost tears. She has a very peculiar brand of humor that could rub some the wrong way, but the audience seemed to eat it all up. She had us when she forced her Gnome-tourage (dude dressed as a gnome a la Going Bovine cover) to call her a luminous supervixen. When she spoke of the car accident that almost took her life, you could almost hear contained gasps from the audience. She also gave some of the most memorable lines of the day. I'm totally paraphrasing this: "Some people ask me when I'm going to do a 'real' book, one for adults. And I just say, 'You know, I don't know if I can dumb it down enough for adults.' " HA! I got chills. People hollered. Good times.

Panel 1::
Fantasy with Libba Bray, Justine Larbalestier, Lisa McMann, and Rick Yancey
My one complaint about this panel is that it was poorly moderated. I find that the ones with more structure do a lot better. It really was not the fault of the authors. You could tell they were doing their best. They did grace us with a few thought-provoking statements, though.

• Upon being asked how to best keep writing YA voices through adulthood, Justine Larbalestier said, "Don't grow up." Apparently many YA authors are pretty juvenile!
• Rick Yancey talked about an experience early on with his writing. He apologized to his reader-to-be about the content, since he wasn't so confident in it. The response from his reader? "Never apologize for something you should be proud of."
  
• There was talk about the process of books being turned into movies. I was pretty surprised when Lisa McMann said that only about 5% of books that are optioned actually end up as films. Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series was optioned for 3 years but it fell through due to the expense of filming a period piece. Justine also said not to get too down if your book-turned-movie ends up sucking. It's out of your hands and she considers it a 90-minute ad for the book anyway.
  

Panel 2::
Real YA Voices with Matt de la Pena, Deb Caletti, and Terra Elan McVoy
This panel was probably my favorite because it felt very intimate. The moderator asked some good questions, and the audience seemed to be perfectly enthralled. Also, much of the conversation was about writing and how to be a good writer. Wonderful stuff here.

• Deb Caletti affirmed that if being a writer is what you are meant to be, it will happen. Do not be afraid to become what you are.
• Terra Elan McVoy said she loves teens because they're both living through the most amazing and the suckiest time ever. Tip: Don't just read what you like. If you just read vampire novels, you're just going to learn to write about vampire novels. So read stuff you don't like and analyze why you don't like it. Be an active reader and pay attention. Take it apart to see what works and what doesn't.
• Matt de la Pena impresses with his good advice and youthfulness (he kinda looks like a high school student). Reading poetry is good for novelists because it can teach you about the sparseness of writing. Don't write books about yourself in the most flattering light. Take the worst version of yourself and run with it. When writing characters, it's not your job to diagnose them. List the symptoms and let the reader take care of the rest. Read a lot but also read the world. Learn from it.

Panel 3::
Local Authors with Jennifer Ziegler, Varian Johnson, Shana Burg, and April Lurie
This panel was conducted in the most labyrinthine part of the school, it seemed. It was not the best layout but it was a wonderfully touching panel nevertheless, and moderated particularly well by a librarian. I knew very little about these authors, and I wanted to take away something new at the end of the festival.

• April Lurie is the only author from this panel I was familiar with, and I absolutely love what I've read of The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine. She spoke of being so painfully shy that her classmates thought she was snobby. Her first book, Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds, was a re-write of her experience obsessing with a boy. Oh, how hearts fluttered while she described her feelings! And hey, that was as good an ad for writing as any. If you're crushing hard and to no avail, write your own version.
  
• Speaking of high school crushes, Shana Burg won some serious cred from the audience when she recounted her memory of giving a passionate love letter to her crush. He was inevitably in love with her gorgeous best friend. I really admired her courage to tell it, because it was so embarrassing and real. She really connected with the numerous teens present. Her book A Thousand Never Evers about the Civil Rights movement sounds good, too.
  
• As the only male on the panel, Varian Johnson really was the masculine point of view amidst all this romantic talk. And he used it to call boys stupid. Ha! He really wanted the mainly female audience to get the courage to just talk to the boys they want to be with. They are just as confused as girls are. His book, Life as a Rhombus, was one that he really did not want to write. It's about a high school student who tutors a pregnant classmate. I appreciate him implying that sometimes your best writing is what's most difficult to put on the page.
• Jennifer Ziegler spoke very fondly of being on the 2009 Lone Star Reading List. She said she used that list as a teacher and now she gets to be on it! She "birthed" her novel, How Not to be Popular, and discussed popularity hierarchies in high school. She felt like she wasn't very popular in real-life, but she comes across people who think she was. The message here could very well be that no matter how you feel about your place in the system, others are looking up at you.
  

There were 4 panels but only time to do 3, so I skipped out on Zombies vs. Vampires with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Waters, Carrie Jones, and Heather Brewer. It seemed to have plenty of fans, though, so I'm sure they didn't miss me. After the panels were over, it was time to get books autographed. I had over a dozen books and only one hour, and some lines (like the ones for Libba Bray and Heather Brewer) were quite long. With some stealth maneuvering, and the kindness of Veronica and others, I was able to get all of them taken care of. Woot!

And now I end with the surreal moments of the day:

• I was wearing a Vladimir Tod shirt I got for free at Hudson News in Chicago. People kept calling me the Heather Brewer fan and asking me where I'd bought it. I mean, I read the first book and liked it, but I'd think there are plenty more HB fans in the audience than I was. I felt totally typecast.
  
• Carrie Jones was a sweetheart! She seemed honestly thrilled that I loved Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend. I absolutely loved her dedication to me, too. Most authors of a certain popularity level are polite and nice, but detached. I understand that they have to be. Carrie seemed to transcend that and was wonderfully warm with me, even giving me a way to get in touch with her.
  
• I asked a question I shouldn't have asked during one of the panels, but I did it because it scared me to death. I only regret it when I forget that I'd never spoken out loud when I get that nervous.
  

Yeah, this is probably enough to give you a feel for how the festival went. What I loved to hear was that this is the first festival, so hopefully there are plenty more to come!

Author Monday:: Stephen Chbosky's homemade cookies

This entry marks the 4th installment of my Author Mondays, where I shall endeavor to post something author-esque each Monday. Whether it's an interview or a one-shot question, here is a chance for various authors to have their say.

Today's Author Monday centers around the amazing Stephen Chbosky. I met him at the American Library Association annual conference in Anaheim last year. I admit, I hadn't read The Perks of Being a Wallflower yet, but I told him I had lived in Pittsburgh, and he got so excited that he volunteered to give me a hug. This remains the only time an artist I don't know has volunteered to hug me. And I *love* hugs. He was just so affable. I took a picture with him, but he made me promise I wouldn't post it online, so I haven't.

That summer, living alone for the first time in a long time and enjoying my status as a new librarian, I'd come home to a hot apartment and curl into a fetal position to read the book. What followed was pure goo. Chbosky wrote of infinity in the tunnel systems of the 'burgh, and I remembered driving through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel to get to Oakland, and I broke. It was one of those beautiful moments when you're both overjoyed and nostalgic and sad, so you don't even know why you're crying, but you are anyway.

So in Anaheim I asked him my cookie question:
If you could bake homemade cookies for up to three fictional characters, what would they be and for who?

His answer is one of the most original I've heard:

• chocolate chip for Willy Wonka
  (from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
  
• snicker doodles for Romeo and Juliet
  (you should totally know that's by Shakespeare)
  
• peanut butter for Jay Gatsby
  (from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby)
  
• poison cookies for Hamlet
  (another quintessential Shakespeare drama)

If I were to meet him again, I'd try to capture my absolute love for this book, though I don't know if I would do it any differently than anyone else he's come across. I mean, he published this ten years ago. He's had a lot of time to hear from ecstatic readers.

Then again, I don't think I really need to meet him again. It'd be nice, of course, but it's not a necessity. I have my golden experience reading the book, my secret picture, and a short but absolutely perfect dedication in the book he autographed for me for free.

Review:: Deep in the Heart of High School by Veronica Goldbach

Know what a quinceañera is? A cumbia? A birthday money corsage? How do you give someone ojo?

Veronica Goldbach's charming debut novel Deep in the Heart of High School does what few YA books have done before: cash in on thousands of past and present band geeks by telling a story similar to theirs. This is the tale of three sistah girls brought together by band practice. Vanna has to move to San Antonio from Plano after her parents' divorce, much to her disillusionment. Olivia (pictured on the cover of the book) is a product of family loss and tries desperately to please her mother. Fatima is the resilient and rotund latina who occasionally works construction with her father and helps raise her little brothers. Though their origins are vastly varied, these amigas support each other through their romantic leanings and family issues.

Like most YA lit, this book touches on family dysfunction and death, but breaks free of the mold with themes of extreme shyness, cheating in school, and even immigration. This is a book where mexicanos are-- surprise!-- normal, hard-working people and don't have to prove their worth to anyone for any political purpose.

At times the book feels like it was written for another time. There is little mention of modern technology as it is currently being explored by teens. You'll find no iPods, YouTube, or IM chatting excerpts. In fact, for a book with a heavy theme of music, most of the bands mentioned are old school acts like the Beatles, Santo & Johnny, even Selena. However, this lends a timelessness to the story, almost as if all teens are destined to see oldies-but-goodies Sixteen Candles and Buffy the Vampire Slayer as touchstones of their youth.

And that's what makes this book precious. Instead of trying to capture idealized youth as experienced by so few (ahem, Gossip Girl), this is a book where the parents are actually around to be parents. Here, teens have crappy cars and don't have money to pay for movie tickets. The usual plot formulas don't always apply. After all, how often have you found a story where the chunky girl has the most exciting love life without having to be a slut?

Goldbach paints Texas as a place that really feels like a different country. San Antonio is forever steeped between the cultures of two nations-- the United States and Mexico-- and its presence is as crucial to the story as the girls' choices. San Antonio natives will connect with this story rather easily, given the ingeniously engineered landmark mentions-- ie, the Alamo, the White Rabbit, and China Latina. Still, you don't have to be Hispanic or San Antonian or lost to find this story highly enjoyable.

Rating::
8.21 of 9
Pacing::
Moderate. I mean, this isn't Bring It On or American Pie. Thankfully, there are no catty cheerleaders or band geek playas/dominatrixes. So if that kind of conflict moves the plot along for you, then you might find this slow.
Audience::
Tweens and up. This book is clean, clean, clean. A brief mention of drugs was handled in such a clever fashion that I doubt many parents would protest.
Like it? Try this!::
Well of course I'm going to say Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. But if you liked this book, you might very well enjoy this review by Alea.
Further Notes::
A friend who also read the book felt that he wanted to "smack" Fatima (playfully, of course) because he found her self-deprecating mentality really grating. When I pointed out that she was so real she felt like someone any of us might know, he kind of stared off into space and agreed. In a world of forced female heroines and neat perfection, it's so refreshing to be exposed to a real girl with real curves and a real brain.

Deep in the Heart of High School. By Veronica Goldbach. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009. 208 pages. $16.95

YA Author:: TV interview with Veronica Goldbach

Looking for a book that's *not* set in NY for a change?

Author/teacher Veronica Goldbach-- who was also a good friend of mine in high school-- just came out with her debut novel "Deep in the Heart of High School," which Kirkus calls "enjoyable and notable for its Texas milieu." I have not read it yet because I want to buy it at one of her book signings, but it sounds like the kind of book I would enjoy tremendously.

For a peek at the book, here's her TV interview yesterday morning:

Random:: Twitter teachings in YA lit

Remember those books you used to read as a kid about the ghosts of decades past? A book on the 60s would make sure to mention JFK, Twiggy, and the Beatles. The 80s? The Brat Pack, Reaganomics, and Boy George.

Speaking of, what are we calling this decade? We're months away from 2010, which will probably be fashioned after the Roaring Twenties . Will they be the Tantalizing Tens (if the economy magically ameliorates)? Toasty Tens (if global warming continues doing its thang)? And will this current decade be known as the aughts? According to Urban Dictionary-- and we all know they are an impeccable and infallible source, ha ha-- this is so.

But I digress.

This is for the history books / decade celebrations. March of 2009 is, like, the month of Twitter. I'd heard of Twitter as early as 2006 or 2007 and mostly resisted it, until I realized it's chock full of info goodies that any librarian would gasp over. Now, though, it's out of frikkin' proportion. I've heard the words Twitter and tweets in the media as often as audiences woot for Stephen Colbert.

So, behold! Things I would have never, ever, EVER known had it not been for Twitter, thereby not making it the Devil's Spawn.

• @maureenjohnson. This woman thinks in Twitter status updates. Seriously. Check her out.
• @mitaliperkins. I've met Mitali so I know how gracious she is. Even better, she posted an awesome Twitter list of YA authors. Much needed!
  
• @realjohngreen. He wonders if, now that he has more Twitter friends than Facebook friends, Twitter is taking over. Oh, Real John Green. Yes, gauchos will soon be texting haiku to their Twitter. It's here and not going away.
• @halseanderson. As I type this, Laurie Halse Anderson is an hour's drive away signing books in Austin. Curses! Had I known about it, I would have made the effort to go. Although now that I know about it and can't do anything, I'm a tad disillusioned.
• @hopelarson. She loves to tweet about food. So she's talented, adorable, *and* a foodie. Amazing in more ways than one.
  
• @rclementmoore. I've heard of the Printz. I've heard of the Pura Belpre. The RITA is relatively new to me. Congrats to Rosemary Clement-Moore, who is a finalist in the YA romance category. RITA is sponsored by the Romance Writers of America, and I'm thrilled that such an organization is keeping track of YA romances!
  

And oh, we're just getting started! Alas, I have to be logging off. My friend's tweets are encouraging me to take part in Earth hour.

Ta!

Random:: Twitter posse

I'm on Justina Chen Headley's Twitter Mosaic.

Guess which one is me... Hint: I'm towards the very bottom and I have bright green hair. :D

YA Author:: Interview with James Kennedy

During the ALAN '07 conference, John Green called his spiel "OMFG. Can we please give teens some credit? OMFG!"

During a presentation by M.T. Anderson (which you can listen to for free if you subscribe to the Seattle Public Library Teens Podcast), Tobin insisted that he felt he didn't have to dumb down his Octavian Nothing novels for a youthful audience. After all, teens can read inquisitively and intelligently too.

For further proof of the sheer brilliance of teens, watch the Evanston Public Library Teen Advisory Board interview award-winning YA author James Kennedy, soulful creator of the fantastic novel The Order of the Odd-Fish.

I mean, wouldn't you agree that these teens ask pretty damn good questions? Well done, seriously, guys.



For more Odd-Fish fun, try looking through these reviews: O D D

Randomness:: ALA baby!

Thanks to the Mejor Futuro/Better Future Scholarship, I am going to the American Libraries Association (ALA) Conference in Anaheim, CA in late June/early July. Can you tell that I'm excited? I get to go to California to meet YA authors and I don't have to pay for it! Hells yeah!

Library conferences and I go way back. To April 2007. Okay, so we don't exactly have a long and intimate history together but that Texas Library Association (TLA) Conference in San Antonio influenced my career tremendously. At that point, I was still indecisive about whether I wanted to be an academic or public librarian. I have quite the disposition for either, really. However, when I found myself buggering off to YA talks only, I knew I'd pretty much made my choice. I was a changed woman after that!

And why not? I met Scott Westerfeld!
And Justine Larbalestier!
And Rick Riordan!
And John Green!
And Avi!
And Stephenie Meyer!

In an instant there was no going back. I was a true blue YA junkie.

So I stood in line.

I bought books.

I talked to other librarians.

I bought more books.

And I stood in more lines.

I'm serious. Once I got the author fever, that's all I wanted to do. Meet writers. Talk to them. Get their autographs. I remember getting to the point where I didn't care who the author was. I just wanted that author lust in my veins!

At one point, I saw a short author line. It was for Cecil Castellucci. I'd never heard of her till then. Yes, I was a Castellucci virgin. Yes, I now see the error of my ways. Anyway, I paid $10 for a book by this writer who was a stranger to me, just so I could take a picture with her and get her autograph. Once I got to talk to her, I asked if she minded if I whipped out my camera for a two-shot. The wench said she was feeling sick and would rather not. By my account, she looked just fine. I was pissed that I, a struggling student, paid for some book with pink leopard print on the cover only to be lied to.

Ha ha. Well, there was no point in getting pissed off. And really, all is forgiven when you get to meet Stephenie Meyer. But I tell the Cecil Castellucci story for a reason. I mean, she can do whatever she wants to. And it kind of taught me a lesson. Don't buy books from divas-- I mean, writers that you know nothing about. Know who's who. Be a more informed librarian. And don't take anything personally. Writers are people too and that kind of meet and greet is exhausting. Yes, even if you're paying for their books. So yeah, no pictures of Cecil Castellucci here. And that's cool. She is going to be at ALA... and so are several other YA authors... If I get a pic with her, cool. If not, whatevs.

Because I've learned a valuable lesson. It's not about being author struck. It's about the *literature*. That said, here's a list of authors I don't know that much about but will take pictures of anyway. See YALSA's Young Adult Author Coffee Klatch.

Really, I was lucky at TLA. I have been told that TLA rocks so much because it's such a large conference-- since it's such a large state that brings in many attendees-- and it's worthwhile for the big names to stop by. I mean, Isabel Allende! Oh she made me weep. It was a very emotional moment, hearing her speak. My mother turned me on to Allende's work, and I know that mom would have been so overcome to see this picture of me and esta señora chilena llena de literatura y gracia.

Just imagine what it's going to be like to go to a national conference! I promise to not act like such a newbie. I will be all calm and cool and collected when I get to see John Green again as I totally rock an uber loud and homemade Nerdfighters shirt.

Yeah...