The ninth annual TeenBookCon took place on March 24 at Clear Springs High School, outside of Houston. More than 70% of the 1,400 attendees were students, who had the opportunity to connect with a variety of YA authors. Sabaa Tahir delivered the keynote address and authors appeared on panels throughout the day. We’ve rounded up a selection of highlights from the festivities. All photos courtesy of Two Cats Communications.
TeenBookCon’s “author class of 2018” with the TeenBookCon chairs. (Authors from top row, l.): Daniel Chacon, Brendan Reichs, Alexandra Christo, Abdi Nazemian, Leah Thomas, Tillie Walden, Jen Wang, Jennifer Mathieu, Liara Tamani, Tomi Adeyemi, Laura Creedle, Tahereh Mafi (second row from top, l.), Dhonielle Clayton, Sabaa Tahir, F.C. Yee, Mary H.K. Choi, Jennifer Spotswood, Sandhya Menon, Neal Shusterman, Daniel José Older (third row, l.), Cecil Castellucci, Jessica Brody, Julie Kagawa, and Stephanie Garber. (Front row, from l.): Festival chairs Aria Tatelman, Lisa Stultz, Marco Zannier, and Michelle Tuttle.
Sabaa Tahir, author of A Reaper at the Gates, delivers the opening keynote.
Tomi Adeyemi, debut author of Children of Blood and Bone, and Brendan Reichs, author of Genesis, discuss their books and their writing process.
A student asks a question during one of the panel sessions.
Penguin Young Readers created a banner for festivalgoers to sign, featuring Jacqueline Woodson’s platform as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature: “Reading = Hope x Change.”
Neal Shusterman, author of Thunderhead, takes part in a panel session.
Fans hold up their new books.
Shatter Me author Tahereh Mafi signs a copy of her new book.
Debut novelist Mary H.K. Choi (Emergency Contact).
Sandhya Menon, author of From Twinkle, with Love, chats with a young reader.
