In Brief: September 21, 2017
This week, Richard Paul Evans celebrates the final Michael Vey book; YA authors chat about love and hate in Pasadena; Macmillan staffers channel their inner riot grrrls; middle-grade friends and authors catch up; an author and cancer survivor celebrates with a joyful book launch; and author-illustrator Michaele Razi is frank about spiders.
A Grand Finale
Richard Paul Evans (pictured) celebrated the launch of Michael Vey 7: The Last Spark, the seventh and final book in his bestselling Michael Vey series, on September 8 at Cottonwood High School in Murray, Utah. The event drew a crowd of more than 3,000 fans; Utah-based Deseret Books handled book sales.
When We Talk About Love
Young adult authors and close to 300 guests attended the Pasadena Loves YA festival at Pasadena Public Library in Pasadena, Calif., on September 16. Young adult authors (from l.) B.T. Gottfred (The Nerdy & the Dirty), E. Katherine Kottaras (The Best Possible Answer), Ameriie (editor of the anthology Because You Love to Hate Me), and Maurene Goo (I Believe in a Thing Called Love) discussed writing about relationships and the sometimes thin line between love and hate.
Showing Some Moxie
The Macmillan Children’s team stepped out of their offices in NYC’s Flatiron Building to show their enthusiasm for Jennifer Mathieu’s novel Moxie, about a teenage girl who starts a feminist revolution in her high school. Bringing some of the spirit of the book to their headquarters, staffers created a Moxie zine, which they are leaving in Macmillan’s women’s restrooms to tell readers about the book and to offer free copies.
Reunited!
Books of Wonder in Manhattan hosted a middle-grade panel featuring authors Tara Dairman (The Great Hibernation) and Jessica Lawson (Under the Bottle Bridge), on September 17. The event was also a reunion of sorts, for Dairman, Lawson, and three other middle-grade authors who first met and became friends through a 2014 debut author group. All have recent or upcoming 2018 releases. Pictured from left are Jessica Lawson, Tara Dairman, Lauren Magaziner, Rebecca Behrens, and Michelle Schusterman.
Give a Leg Up!
Author-illustrator Michaele Razi recently celebrated the release of her debut picture book, Frank the Seven-Legged Spider (Little Bigfoot). The launch event was held at University Bookstore in Seattle on September 13. Attendees learned all about spiders, took part in spider-themed activities, and enjoyed cupcakes with spidery decor.
