Rgz NYC Host: The Ides of March!

Your NYC HOST, Micol, is here today! Yay!

Here she is!

The Ides of March...

...have come and gone, and along with them, a huge amount of YA fun and festivities at the 2010 NYC Teen Author Fest!

I have been on the road (literally around the world and back) since January, and therefore I wasn’t able to attend as many of the events as I would have liked. Not only did I have to skip out on some amazing panels, I also missed the NYPL Stuff for the Teen Age celebration (sniff),and one of the biggest book signings EVER (no, really)at Books of Wonder! Sixty-eight authors under one roof, no lie. Pretty amazing. Also amazing: the cupcakes for sale at the adjoining cafe.

Well, there’s always next year...

Through the Teen Author Fest, I did, however, get to participate in the Five Borough Read, with fellow authors Michelle Zink, Shani Petroff, Abby Sher, and Violet Haberdasher.

The morning got off to a rocky start. I arrived at the library of my appointed borough (Manhattan: the Upper East Side, for those of you keeping score at home) only to learn that the class that had been planning to come in for our presentation was not going to be able to make it after all. This was particularly tragic news as certain authors had traveled as far as 3 hours to join us.

Also tragic was the fact that I was “deputy” of this branch of the event and therefore responsible for sending the certain hard-traveled authors home with nary a reading. Yikes!

Thankfully, Violet H. had the brilliant idea of calling the local school and inquiring if there were any other classes that might be interested in a visit from authors. And lo, the good teachers/librarians/administrators at the Robert F. Wager Middle School totally made it happen! My merry band of authors and I trekked a few blocks south and were treated to a library stuffed to the gills with very enthusiastic eighth grade students. In my (very fuzzy, sorry) iPhone pic you can see Michelle Zink holding court in front of a thoroughly captive audience. (Michelle Zink has that effect on people.)



We all had a blast and the kids were great!

YA authors are nothing if not resourceful. And I hereby promote Violet to Co-Deputy Emeritus. She earned it, yo. For reals.

Now I’m back in NYC, and getting back into my writing routine. I’m also back to fun and festive appearances, yay!--specifically one taking place at the Metuchen, NJ library this Sunday! The library will be dedicating its newly-revamped teen section, and I’ll be chatting, reading, answering your questions—and probably eating some cake. I hope you’ll join us!

Rgz Miami HOST: Crissa's Intro Video + NYC Teen Author Festival!

Our awesome new (announced today!) readergirlz Miami HOST, Crissa-Jean Chappell, made this awesome video because she wants to meet you girlz:

readergirlz from crissachappell on Vimeo.

Crissa's been on the road in NYC for the Teen Author Festival (along with Melissa and our new NYC HOST, Micol Ostow). Go there with her:



What it Feels Like for a Girl: Writing in a Teen Girl's Voice


Jessica Blank
Eireann Corrigan
Sarah Dessen
Jenny Han
Terra Elan McVoy
Siobhan Vivian
Adrienne Maria Vrettos
Jacqueline Woodson




fancy feet: librarians at the NY Public Library: Jack Martin and Megan Honig.

At the NYC Teen Author Festival, a savvy panel of writers talked about defining strong female voices in YA fiction and the power to steer the reader's gaze.

"As a teen, you judge yourself constantly," said Adrienne. "It's not just about beauty. It's the skin you're in."

While male voices are often loaded with bravado (and four-letter words), female voices are sometimes tinged with self-doubt. Their characters might drift into interior monologues loaded with questions. These stories frequently dwell on relationships (a common denominator in all YA books) as the teen protagonists struggle to find their place in a family, a friendship, or new love.

Eireann mentioned that, as a adolescent, you're starting to construct yourself as a person. Girls are often judgmental, obsessing on every detail, always wondering, Do I matter to the world?

Jessica described this point of view as a "prism," the way teen girls shape their identities through the eyes of others.

"The way we view ourselves is equally powerful," added Siobhan.

"It's scary to walk into a room full of girls." Sarah laughed. "We know what they're thinking."


Bryant Park view of the New York Public Library

On Saturday, a crowd gathered at the library to hear Libba Bray give the keynote speech at the New York Public Library.

When asked, "Why do you write for teens?" (or: "When are you going to write a 'real' book for adults?"), Libba's answer took the shape of a short story. She hasn't forgotten the "too muchyness" of being a teen...what it feels like to sit in the closet, plugged into your headphones, and listen to your favorite band, a song that "sums up your life."


Libba Bray, author of Printz medal winner, GOING BOVINE

Adults often forget "how close you are to a moment that could change your life forever." Adolescence is power, armor, want, and longing. It's about watching a boy in class, the way he taps his pen against his lips...and wanting to be that pen. It's about arranging ("accidentally on purpose") to be where he is. (and wondering if you could actually die of embarrassment).

Libba described a middle school dance as "Hamlet with a shitty DJ." A shrug is your signature move. Your bedroom door is painted with ironic unicorns...added by zombies. You want to flip off the world one minute and save it the next. A school picture is a moment "preserved in amber." It's about secrets, comics, midnight movies, Coke (or maybe Pepsi).

"Don't take notes," she warned. "This could all change tomorrow."

Why write for teens?

Libba raised her arms, as if scooping the audience into a giant hug.

"Because I don't think any of us ever stop coming of age."

NYC Teen Author Festival 2010: A Sliver of a Recap

Here are some photos from the 2010 Teen Author Festival, which was a ROCKING time! I couldn't capture even half of it, but I did try!

Here's me with Coe Booth, who's working on Tyrell II (not the official title, but yay! Tyrell is soooo good, as is Kendra, a readergirlz featured title!):

Coe and I were in the audience for a guys' night reading about boy voices in YA. It was hilarious! Lots of talk about, um, boobs. But also father-son relationships and... Playboy. This raucous panel was hosted by David Levithan and featured... Matt de la Peña (seated), Jake Wizner and Michael Northrop:

Gordon Korman, Jon Skovran, Barry Lyga...

Nick Burd and Gordan Korman (again).

The panel that needs no introduction, but what the heck? John Green, David Levithan, Libba Bray and E. Lockhart rocked their performances of each other's work and then readings from upcoming books.

And my group reading at the Grand Army branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was super great, with an awesome rotating audience of students (L to R we are: Melissa Kantor, Siobhan Vivian, me, Robin Wasserman, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Emily Horner, Adrienne Maria Vrettos and Matthue Roth)!

Ashley, whom I met on Friday during my panel on "The Boy You Can't Have," taped a ton of video that day, so if you want to see some reading clips, check out her youtube channel. She also sent me this lovely photo of the panel. That's David Levithan, me, Elizabeth Scott, Susane Colasanti, Robin Palmer and Maryrose Wood (we just missed Elizabeth Eulberg on the far right!):

'Twas a fun week! Y'all come next year, y'hear?