Greetings! My name is Jennifer, and I work with young adult books at the Charleston County Public Library. Welcome to my random thoughts about books for teens. If a book grabs you, click on the title to reserve a copy…or click here to search CCPL's e-books. Happy reading!
Imagine seeing your Facebook self 15 years in the future. Maybe you’re married to the hottest guy or girl in school, you’re making big bucks, and you have a gaggle of cute kids? Awesome!
Is a picture really worth a thousand words? How about a drawing? A painting? A sketch? The books below combine words with images to tell some really amazing stories! (Click on any title to reserve a copy at a CCPL branch, or click here to search our e-books.)
Having just lost his mother and his hearing in a short time, 12-year-old Ben leaves his Minnesota home to find the father he's never known in New York City. There, he meets Rose, who is also longing for something that's missing from her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's is told in pictures.
We have just received a brand new set of the Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord. There are 12 books in the action-packed series, one for each month of the year, conveniently named things like January, February, March...you get the idea. Now, we challenge you: Read all 12 books in 60 days!
Hi there! My name is Jennifer, and I work with young adult books at the Charleston County Public Library. Welcome to my random thoughts about books for teens. If a book grabs your interest, click on the title to reserve a copy…or click here to search CCPL's e-books. Happy reading!
To appreciate this haunting new fictional story, you must know Siobhan Dowd’s real-life story. She was a human rights worker and a popular author. A Monster Calls would have been her fifth young adult novel. She’d created the idea, the characters and the novel’s beginning.
Yet, she died of cancer in 2007 at age 47, taking her artistic energies with her.
Our new books feature ghosts, murder, cover ups, entire worlds gone bad, the Titanic, an alien abduction, and more! Click on any title to reserve a copy at your favorite CCPL branch.
Fed up with his parents' fighting and a bully's attacks, 15-year-old Lucky Linderman dreams of being with his grandfather, who went missing during the Vietnam War. However, during a visit to Arizona, his aunt and uncle and their beautiful neighbor, Ginny, help him find a new perspective.
A future America is at war. Born into an elite family, June is being groomed for the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, Day is the country's most wanted criminal. They have no reason to cross paths -- until June's brother is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Is Day really to blame, or was he set up to cover a darker secret?
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!
