Judging by the crowds and lines of book-wielding fans, YALLFest was a huge success. Now that you've met the authors you love, try these read-alikes -- and don't forget to click on the titles to reserve them!
One more reason to hit YALLFest on Saturday (drum roll): the YA Smackdown!!! Featuring zombies, vampires, witches, evil unicorns, werewolves and bullies (not really...just the people who create them, yikes!).
Which authors will be crowned the inaugural YALLFestKudzu Queens and Kings?
Just who has the guts, the talent, the sheer hilarity or freakishness to win this unparalleled competition?
Kaleb Nation
The YALLFest authors will be divided into viciously competitive teams: Team Supernatural, Team Dystopia, Team Reality and so on. Then, we here at CCPL and you, the pumped up audience and fans, will attempt to stump, dismay and otherwise rattle these superstars of the YA writing world.
Just who are the most clever, most creative, most deserving storytellers? You and our specially chosen judge will bestow the prestigious KUDZU CROWNS of 2011!!
Kaleb Nation will moderate -- yes, he of You Tube fame, author of YA books and launcher of a new reality TV show that will be filming during YALLFest. The show, Kaleb's Nation, will follow him as he concocts the parodies and pop culture commentaries that have lured 28 million views to his YouTube channel. So, wipe that barbecue off your face after dinner and keep an eye out for the cameras as you race down King Street for the YA Smackdown.
Who knows what calamities might ensue with Kaleb at the mic and 30 or so of the nation's top YA writers on one stage...and, of course with you in the audience cheering for your all-time favorites!!
Hilarity will ensue. Tickets cost $5. Be there.
PS: This event comes to you from the young adult department of the Charleston County Public Library because we love these authors, and we love that you love them, too!
Melissa de la Cruz writes the bestselling teen vampire series, the Blue Bloods, as well as The Ashleys and The Au Pairs series. On top of all that, she has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has appeared on TV shows as a trend expert. Whew! She even writes great adult fiction, including the Witches of East End.
Victoria Schwab is the product of a British mother and a Beverly Hills father. She grew up on the west coast but went to high school in the South at a girls' prep school, complete with plaid skirts that she used to doodle on during math. Talk about contrasts!
Today, she loves fairy tales, folklore and books that make her wonder if the world is really as it seems. Which might be why her debut novel, The Near Witch, is so creepily beautiful. It's about Lexi, a girl who lives on an enchanted moor and gets stuck solving a big mystery when, the day after an intriguing boy appears in town, children start disappearing. Ooohhh!
Read our interview with Victoria below before meeting her at YALLFest!
We’re all excited that you’ll be at YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
How could I resist? I’m a transplant in the South (originally from California), but I’ve lived here long enough for it to feel like home. Also, being a new author, I’m still adjusting to the idea that I get to see some of my favorite writers, not only as a fan, but as a colleague! That blows my mind.
Here at CCPL, we've just received a slew of fantastic new teen books from bestselling authors, including Elizabeth Scott and Susan Beth Pfeffer, along with some great debut writers. Click on titles to get your hands on them first!
Ava wakes up in a house she doesn't know, into a life she doesn't recognize. Recently released from the hospital, she's welcomed home by family and friends. But Ava can't remember any of them -- and she can't shake the strange feeling that she's not who they say she is.
Sarah began work on The Demon’s Lexicon while doing a creative writing master's and library work in England. She has returned to Ireland to write but is traveling all the way to Charleston for YALLFest! Read our interview with this hilarious writer:
We’re all excited that you're coming to Charleston for YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
I'm excited too! I love to travel, and I've never been to Charleston before...so I was like, 'Cool, people who like books? Rhett Butler's hometown (I know, I know, such a book nerd)? I'M IN!' I was honored to be invited.
Diana Peterfreund has been a costume designer, cover model, and food critic. She's traveled from the cloud forests of Costa Rica to the caverns of New Zealand (and she’s just getting started!).
She graduated from Yale University with degrees in literature and geology, which her family claimed would only come in handy if she wrote books about rocks. Instead, she writes books that rock!
Her first teen novels, Rampant and sequel Ascendant, are adventure fantasies about killer unicorns and the virgin descendants of Alexander the Great who hunt them. Check them out before meeting her at YALLFest! First read our interview here:
We’re all excited that you're coming to Charleston for YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
I was promised pie. ;-)
Seriously, though, I'm so excited to be a part of this festival. It's the first one I've been to away from home since my baby was born, and I can't think of a better way to start meeting up with readers again. A lot of my writer friends are going to be there, and I'm looking forward to meeting some of my favorite writers who I only know online (like Saundra Mitchell).
Andrea Cremer has always loved writing. But she only recently plunged into the deep end of the pool that is professional novel writing. And how well she's done!
When she’s not writing, Andrea is a professor of history at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. We want to know if she's as awesomely strong-willed as her main character, the werewolf leader Calla.
Check out her new release, Wolfsbane, and read our interview below before meeting her at YALLFest!
What inspired you to write Nightshade, your debut novel?
Nightshade was inspired by Calla's character -- who I knew was a girl and a wolf, but I don't like traditional werewolf mythology because I find wolves to be beautiful, graceful, and intelligent. Most werewolf stories feature lycanthropy as a disease or curse. I wanted to create a new mythology where shifting was a gift and something the characters reveled in, not wanted to be rid of. I also drew on my interest in the history of witchcraft -- an area that I teach in my work as a historian.
Imagine that you're adopted, love your adoptive parents, and then meet your birth mother -- only to find that she's written poetry her whole life. Just like you! That really happened to Ellen Hopkins, an amazingly gifted poet writing for teens (and adults) today.
Ellen has written five New York Times bestsellers, all in verse. Her poetry, written as full-length novels, tackles such real-life struggles as addiction and abuse. Suffice it say that here at CCPL, her books are HUGELY popular. Check out a few (click on the titles) and meet this amazing writer at YALLFest! But first, read our interview with her:
We’re all so excited that you're coming to Charleston for YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
I love Charleston! Was just there a couple of weeks ago, in fact, so am looking forward to a return visit. Your food rocks! And so do my Charleston readers.
At 16, Michelle Hodkin sadly lost the rights to her soul in a poker game with pirates just south of Natchez. Shortly thereafter, she joined an acting troupe and traveled the world performing feats of wonder and mischief. (She also grew up in Florida, went to college in New York, and studied law in Michigan.)
She just released her debut novel to the applause of YA author superstar Cassandra Clare, among others who loved the book. Read it yourself and then come meet Michelle at YALLFest!
The short answer is that it was inspired by true events, and on May 15, 2009, I had the idea to turn them into a book. The long answer will be posted on http://www.maradyer.com/.
Adele Griffin, two-time National Book Award finalist, likes writing YA stories set during summer vacation, a time (as she recalls it) of bad jobs, new friends, and sometimes an intriguing stranger. But as a kid, nothing tempted her more than ghost stories and mysteries. She also loved books about new girls — probably because her own family moved around a lot. What's that advice about writing what you know?!?
These days, Adele only writes at a certain desk! Must be a pretty charmed place because she's written many great books for teens and younger children. Check out our interview with her below and then come meet her at YALLFest!
We’re all excited that you're coming to Charleston for YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
I'm really excited, too! I'm looking forward to seeing my Picture the Dead partner in collaboration crime, Lisa Brown. And there are so many cool authors there, people I know from Goodreads or twitter or joint-promotion stuff. I'm excited to for-real meet them. Picture The Dead
Okay, and I'm also excited for Southern desserts. Brown-sugar walnut ice-cream! Coconut cake! Pecan pie! Bring it!
What got you into writing books for teens?
I landed my first job out of college working as an editorial assistant for Macmillan Children's Books. It was two blocks away from my first NYC mouse-infested apartment. Which I loved. And I was deathly afraid of the subway — I wanted to walk to work. Luckily I loved the job. So that was how I came into it.
Beth Revis' debut novel about a girl cryogenically frozen aboard a spaceship, Across the Universe has become a bestseller. Beth loves to blog about writing, grammar, and publishing at Writing it Out. She also founded the dystopian blog the League of Extraordinary Writers. And, yes, she does believe that space is the final frontier. Learn all about her before YALLFest!
We’re all excited that you’ll be at YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
I was invited! I LOVE Charleston, and I didn't have to think twice about coming. In fact, I took my honeymoon there, so I'm even more excited about coming back!
Kimberly Derting lives in the Pacific Northwest, an ideal place to be writing anything dark or creepy—just what you'll find aplenty in her books (hint: morbid abilities, dead people, haunting interpersonal connections, etc.).
Her writing gig started when she chose journalism as a 7th-grade elective. It was supposed to be an easy A. Instead, she fell in love with writing. The rest is...well, you know.
Get to know Kimberly through our interview with her below. Then, check out her books before meeting her at YALLFest on Nov. 11 and 12! (Click on any book title to place a library hold on it.)
We’re all excited that you’ll be at YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
I'm SO excited to be coming to YALLFest, it’s such an amazing opportunity to connect with readers! And to be perfectly honest, I may or may not have highlighted a few of my own favorite authors to stalk while I'm there. If you’re curious as to who they are, just be on the lookout for the authors giving me very awkward half-hugs. :)
From Brian Selznick to Ellen Hopkins, here at CCPL we've just received tons of new books from your favorite YA authors...and from some amazing debut writers. Be first to check them out! Click on any title to reserve it:
Having lost his mother and his hearing in a short time, 12-year-old Ben leaves his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he never knew in New York City. There, he meets Rose, who's also longing for something missing from her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.
This Carolina neighbor writes haunting books and short stories. But did you know she's also a longtime screenwriter? For all you aspiring writers, Saundra is especially passionate about helping teens tap their own creative writing talents.
Check out her books: Shadowed Summer, The Vespertine, and The Springsweet (due out in 2012). Then, come meet Saundra at YALLFest in November! We have a sneak introduction because she kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us:
We’re all excited that you’ll be at YALLFest! What made you decide to come?
A book festival in an incredibly historic U.S. city, packed to the gills with my favorite YA writers and pie? When Kami and Margie (authors of Beautiful Creatures) invited me, I couldn't say no. And if they hadn't invited me, I can't say that I wouldn't have crashed the party. It's just too much awesome in one place!
Welcome to That Reminds Me of a Book, a regular feature where we link current events and pop-culture happenings with YA books.
Storm day!
Happy day off school thanks to Hurricane Irene! (Too bad you have to make it up later.) Still, why not spend today hiding from the rain with a great book? Try these titles about two of America's most horrific storms.
When Miles's mother remarries, Miles decides to move to New Orleans to be with his father. But he and his father are so different. Miles's dad lives for jazz. Miles's loves football. Then, Hurricane Katrina hits, and the two seek refuge in the Superdome. The safe haven becomes a nightmare when the power fails and gangs take over. When his father decides to rebel, Miles faces a choice that will alter their relationship -- and their lives -- forever.
Seth's family has just moved to Galveston, Texas, and the 17-year-old is unhappy. Yet, his uncle finds him a summer job, he meets a girl he likes, and Galveston is a fun place to live. But Sept. 8, 1900, changes everything. The town is obliterated by a storm that kills nearly all of its 8,000 residents. Through Seth's eyes, relive one of the worst storms in U.S. history.
Click on the titles to reserve them at a CCPL branch!
In it, 16-year-old Alexandria Lee must move in with a wealthy grandmother she's never known who lives in Savannah. By birth, Alex is a rightful (if unwilling) member of the Magnolia League -- Savannah's long-standing debutante society.
White gloves and silk gowns are a far cry from the vintage t-shirts and torn jeans shorts she's used to. Yet, even as Alex questions the Magnolia League's intentions, she becomes entangled in their seductive world.
When I was growing up, my babysitter often spoke of Hoodoo. I think she might have practiced it. Salt by the door, burying the hair left in the comb, grave decoration -- that sort of thing. It caused me to get interested in the Gullah culture of the Sea Islands. I wrote my thesis on it in college. I also love writing about high school, so when it came to creating this series, the peanut butter sort of went with the jelly, you might say.
We've just received a TON of new teen books on CD. So, if you'd rather listen to words, or if you're facing a long car trip, check out these titles. (Click on titles to reserve them. We'll ship the CDs to the CCPL branch closest to you!)
Katniss Everdeen has survived the fight-to-the-death Hunger Games. But now she faces her toughest challenge yet. With the Capitol and President Snow blaming her for the uprising in District 12, will she sacrifice herself to protect her loved ones?
Suspected in the death of her boyfriend, 17-year-old Luce is sent to reform school in Savannah where she meets two intriguing boys -- and learns the truth about the frightening shadows that haunt her.
A new school year is the perfect time for self-improvement! Whether you need to brush up on style, diet, stress management, study habits, body changes, friend drama, dating, whatever -- we have a book for you. (Click on any title to reserve a copy at a CCPL branch.)
Hit the halls of school knowing how to get your red lips just right, when to buy cheap jewelry, and how to decode invitations so you know what to wear. This book is full of fashion and make-up tips from Lauren Conrad, star of the MTV hit The Hills and author of L.A. Candy and Sweet Little Lies.
Mermaids might be the hottest thing in new releases, but don't expect a bunch of Disney-type tales about Ariel losing her voice. Most are serious stories about identity and belonging. Who needs a tail to relate to that?
In this new release, 14-year-old Luce is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim Alaskan fishing village by her abusive, alcoholic uncle. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waters below. Instead, she transforms into a mermaid -- and is faced with struggles and choices she could never have imagined.
When are two related books better than one? How about when you want to get another character's perspective. Or to find out what happens next. Or to tie up all those loose plot threads. People aren't the only ones who like to pair up. Some books need buddies, too! Here are a few that prove it:
(Click on any title to reserve it at a CCPL branch.)
In If I Stay, 17-year-old Mia's parents and brother are killed in a car wreck that leaves her in a coma. Should she fight to survive for her boyfriend, Adam, and the rest of the living? Or, should she let go to be with her family? Three years later in Where She Went, Adam is a rising rock star who reconnects with an old friend after the horrific events tore them apart.
"Clary is thrown into a world where fairies, vampires, werewolves, and demons are real. Then she finds out that her mother is a Shadowhunter, a group of humans who have angel blood and kill demons. But her father is Valentine -- the evil Shadowhunter trying to destroy all the other Shadowhunters."
"Clary sneaks into the City of Glass and is immediately caught up in a life-and-death battle as the werewolves, vampires, and faerie gather for a war that will 'rend the heavens.'" (Next read the new sequel City of Fallen Angels!)
Rating: Excellent
-- 12th grader, Charleston County School of the Arts
Summer is time for fun and adventure! Right? Unless, of course, you're facing a 14-hour drive to Aunt Nellie's. Or a flight with two layovers and a storm delay. Or maybe you get can't even get out of town because the gas funds dried up. Hey, they're all good reasons to escape into these great summer reads.
Click on titles to reserve them at your favorite CCPL branch. If it says "on order," place a hold on the book. You'll be one of the first to get it once we do!
The summer after her first year of college, Isobel "Belly" Conklin is faced with a choice between Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher -- the brothers she has always loved -- when Jeremiah proposes marriage and Conrad confesses that he still loves her.
Clandestine meetings, killings and torture, romance, scandal, betrayal, adventures on the high seas...who says history is boring? Meet some of history's feisty women and courageous guys by taking a trip back in time. (Click on any title to put it on hold!)
It's 1941 when Lina, her mother, and her brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet secret police and sent to a freezing work camp in Siberia. Her father is taken away and sentenced to death. Lina clings to the drawings she hopes will find their way to him, if he's still alive--and if she can survive the horrors.
You’ve been feeling confused lately. Yet, the answers are all there for you to find -- if you look. Read Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams, and find out if John decides to stay with his girlfriend, Cilla, or to take a chance with Destiny.
Click here for Stacy Pearsall's blog about the winners!
(Then, come see the fantastic pictures
on display in the Main library's lobby.)
Here I Am
Where exactly are you this summer? First, think literally. Are you going on a trip? Hanging out at the beach? Where do you wish you were going? Now, think in the abstract. Where are you inside your head? Where do you feel most like you?
Now, pick up a camera to illustrate your idea. Envision lighting, angles, and space. Take the picture. Try again. Perfect it. Then, send us your favorite. You might be one of three lucky winners to receive a brand new Nikon digital camera!
Many thanks to the Charleston Center for Photography, which is sponsoring the contest! Check out the center's site -- the photography will inspire you. (Director Stacy Pearsall served three tours in Iraq until she was wounded and received the Bronze Star Medal and Commendation with Valor for heroic actions under fire.)
From bloody wars and school violence to bullies and cults, there's something for every teen among the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award nominees for 2011-2012. (If you've read any of the books, leave your opinions in the comments section below!) Then, check out some new titles:
Samantha Kingston has worked her way up the popularity ladder. Now a senior, she and her friends rule their school. But after she dies in a car crash, Samantha finds herself reliving the day of her death over and over and over again.
Chris Crutcher fanatics rejoice! Your favorite characters are back. Mr. Nak from Ironman is holding Angry Management classes with other characters from the Crutcher archives. After a brief intro, each of the three stand-alone stories is preceded by Mr. Nak's file notes on the teen subjects.
From silly humor to chilling war stories, check out these South Carolina Junior Book Award nominees for 2011-2012. (They're great for middle schoolers --and might appear on your school summer reading lists!) Last year's nominees included The Hunger Games. Which of this new batch will be the next Big Thing?
What is it like to be an autistic boy facing daily sixth-grade life, not to mention lifelong struggles, in a "neurotypical" world? Jason Blake is most comfortable in an online writing forum called Storyboard, where his stories spark an email friendship with a girl. But what would happen if he had to meet her in real life?
It was part of the Rock the Drop movement, and it gave us a great excuse to visit some of the interesting, historic and beautiful places around town that we sometimes forget to notice.
Do you recognize the locations where we left these books? Do you want to win a WHOLE BOX of FREE BOOKS (Advance Reading Copies of YA books that will be published later this spring/summer) AND a retro-tastic vintage summer reading t-shirt?!
If so, send an email to teenunderground@ccpl.org or leave a comment below telling us where you think these pictures were taken. First person to correctly identify all the locations wins! If no one gets them all, the prize goes to whoever gets the most right, so why not go ahead and guess?
Find any teen books left in random spots around downtown Charleston today? If so, welcome to Rock the Drop 2011!
This is an awesome day-long event that gets teen books into the hands of people all over the world. Here in Charleston, the Reading Underground joined up with Readergirlz and Figment to "Rock the Drop" in honor of YALSA'S Support Teen Lit Day which is...yes, today. So, if you found books on park benches, beside cannons, strategically balanced in mounds of jasmine, consider them gifts from us. Leave a comment telling us where you found them!
Also, check back here tomorrow for a contest to see if you can identify Charleston landmarks where we "dropped" a few titles. Identify the most spots, and win a whole box of books!
If the first season of Pretty Little Liars left you hanging, where else can you get a fix of backstabbing, cattiness, and terror? Start reading, of course.
The TV show is based on Sara Shepard's books, which dish up a snarky amalgam of queen bees, fashion, beauty, crushes, and lies -- all wrapped up in a mystery.
The series begins when a mysterious person sends creepy -- and oddly personal -- texts to Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer. The girls used to be best friendsuntil their leader, Alison, vanished a few years earlier. She'd ruled Rosewood Day, which meant they had, too. Then suddenly, the texts appear, signed simply by --A, each with threats or secrets only the girls should know. But who's sending them? And why?
The eight books in the Pretty Little Liars series are easy to spot thanks to the Barbie wannabe on each cover. (The ninth book, Twisted, comes out July 5.)
April is National Poetry Month -- and, sure, we love Poe and Frost and Longfellow. But let's talk modern poetry, stuff written for today's teens about today's issues -- friend drama, drugs, divorce, meltdowns, crushes, exams, peer pressure and even fun, fun, fun!
In poetry, it's all fair game. Whatever you're dealing with, there's a poem just for you. Plus, writing poetry is a great way to get down -- and get out -- whatever is on your mind.
Poetry is cooler than ever, whether it's Maya Angelou or W. B. Yeats, Tupac Shakur or Sylvia Plath. As proof, Slams -- spoken word poetry readings -- are taking place in cities across the country. Check out this collection edited by the Gossip Girl series' author.
