rgz Seattle HOST: Deborah Reber! (With Giveaway!)

Hello, Readergirlz!

It's been a while since I've done one of my favorite things - going to book events and telling you about them. That's changing now, though, because it's an exciting time for book releases in Seattle!

On Wednesday night, I got to gather with other local YA writers and friends (including divas Holly and Martha!) to celebrate the release of Deborah Reber's first novel!

You've seen Debbie around here before. She's also the author of a bunch of non-fiction books that we here at readergirlz highly recommend, plus she runs an amazing blog called Smart Girls Know.

Love, Love, Love is actually two books in one: Debbie's Language of Love, plus Cupidity by Caroline Goode. If you're a fan of the Simon Pulse series of romantic comedies, I can guarantee you'll love both!

Here's what Language of Love is all about, from the back cover:

Janna is quickly adapting to life in Seattle as a high school exchange student from Hungary. Or at least Julian, the cute boy she met in a coffee shop, thinks she is. The truth is, he overheard Janna using a phony accent, and now she's stuck playing the part ... Will Julian want to be with the real Janna? Or will she discover that lies don't always translate to love?

To celebrate, Debbie hosted a super-fun party at Secret Garden Books. There were hot-pink cupcakes and Valentine's Day Peeps! She also put together a quiz about other love stories set in Seattle. Guess what? I won the quiz! Which means I have a copy of Love, Love, Love to give away!

Leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a random winner (US only)! Plus, I also won a raffle prize that I'll throw in! It's a copy of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, which Debbie worked on. You've got from now 'til next Saturday, the 12th, at noon pst to comment and win both! Please leave an email address in your comment so I can let you know if you won.

Me, Debbie, Peeps and the giveaway books

Now, I'm off to get in a Valentiney mood with Love, Love, Love!

Seattle: Mark your Calendar!

Hello, rgz! It's been way too long since I've updated you on Seattle's happenin' teen book scene, and that's mostly because authors/bookstores/libraries take breaks during the winter holidays. Never fear: February is fixin' to be a big month (despite any preconceived notions we may all have about the size of February).

Here are three awesome Seattle teen book events that are coming up. Hope to see you there! And if you can't make it, check back here for re-caps (I may not be able to make the whole event on the 9th, but will try to at least catch the end of it!).

Monday, February 1, 6:30 pm
Rebecca Stead -- that's right, the very recent Newbery Medal winner for WHEN YOU REACH ME, and also the author of the amazing YA novel FIRST LIGHT -- will be at the University Village Barnes & Noble. Check here for a complete list of city stops on Rebecca's tour.

Saturday, February 6, 7:00 pm
Seattle author Mary Jane Beaufrand celebrates the release of THE RIVER at University Bookstore. MJ is also a contributor to the University Bookstore's 110/110 collection, which means if you buy THE RIVER, you'll also get a copy of 110/110 (even if you're not in Seattle and you buy it at their online store; enter code happy110). Ahem, and if you do pick up 110/110, look for other stories by readergirlz Divas and other friends of ours, too. Yay!

Tuesday, February 9, 7:00 pm
Do you enjoy the slightly lighter side of vampires? Come meet THE CHRONICLES OF VLADMIR TOD author Heather Brewer at Secret Garden Books in Ballard. Click here for a full list of Heather's tour appearances, and get ready for Vladmir's junior year!







See you soon!

Rgz HOST: David Levithan!

Hello, readergirlz! I hope everyone's having a great weekend.

Here's the highlight of mine: I went to see David Levithan at the Ballard Branch of the Seattle Public Library, in a reading/q&a put together by Secret Garden Books.

There's David reading in a moment I very artistically captured. I like to call it "David with Snow Hat."

He read from Love is the Higher Law and from his story in a new short story collection edited by Michael Cart (I highly recommend anything Michael Cart is involved with; he is probably the foremost expert in the history of YA literature, and a man who knows how to pick 'em!), How Beautiful the Ordinary. LOVE is David's new novel, and a favorite of rgz postergirl Jackie, which is saying a lot because Jackie reads a ton of books. A mountain, even. BEAUTIFUL is one of two collections that David has stories in this fall. The other is Geektastic. The title of BEAUTIFUL comes from David's amazing story in the collection. You readergirlz know that I love to listen to authors read, and it's always a fun time for me, and I always get something out of it, but I have to say: this was a truly above-and-beyond listening experience. Very powerful story.

The crowd was super-wonderful, too, and populated by a bunch of teens, yay! (Also there: rgz own Martha Brockenbrough. Double yay.) Thanks to thoughtful questions, we got to hear that LOVE is David's most autobiographical book to date (it deals with being in NYC on September 11), the story behind how he and Rachel Cohn worked together on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and their other collaborations (including a forthcoming one with an irresistible premise!), how that was different from how he and John Green worked on the forthcoming Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Lesson: David Levithan is a very busy man, and everything he writes is worth reading.

Did you know that David is also an editor at Scholastic? Executive editorial director of Scholastic Press Fiction, multimedia publishing, and Push, actually. How's that for a title? Chances are, he's edited one of your favorite books.

And, with all of that going on, he still took the time to prefect the Liz-with-Author pose. Aww.