YA New York

This Sunday, June 8, at Books of Wonder:

Cecil Castellucci
Cassandra Clare
Holly Black
Tiffany Trent
Beth Bernobich
Craig Gidney
Ann Zeddies
… with their editor and fellow writer, Steve Berman

How, you ask, can so many awesome authors be in one place at one time? Well, they’ve all contributed short stories to Magic in the Mirrorstone, an anthology of magical tales. There were other writers who contributed, too, but these are the ones you’ll get to see Sunday at 1 p.m., if you are adventurous enough to make the trek. And you so should. Because, as I may have mentioned before, BoW totally provides yummy free treats for folks who attend readings. And because … hello? … you know you want to meet these fantabulous writers. I can’t even list all the awesome things they’ve written; there are far too many, and it wouldn’t be fair. I’d have you hyperventilating at the very thought. I can just say that if you attend, you’ll be in the presence of greatness. (If you want to know more about bibliographies and such, though, go look for yourselves. Just click on the links to these ladies’ (and gentlemen’s) websites.)

And remember: Sunday. 1 p.m. 18 W. 18th Street, New York City. Just be there, okay?

So it turns out that not all YA authors look like this:

Louisa May Alcott — author of Little Women, was apparently described as “homely” by folks who knew her. Though maybe the state of photography just wasn’t so great back then.

Anyway, today I got to meet four YA authors, all female, and all stunningly beautiful. Seriously. They were: Emily Gould, former editor of Gawker, Zareen Jaffery, a senior editor at Harper Collins (the two co-wrote Hex Education) Lauren Mechling (who co-wrote the 10th Grade Social Climber trilogy and has a new novel, Dream Girl out soon), and Rachel Maude, author of Poseur, a new series that debuted in January.

Pics inside! (more…)

This afternoon I had the amazing privilege of meeting three amazing authors: E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle.

Umm. They wrote that book to the left there. How to Be Bad. It’s another fantastic bathtub read, about three girls in Florida who go on a road trip and almost get eaten by alligators. (Multiple times.)

But … oh! There’s so much to tell! And I don’t know where to begin.

Hmm. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how three women could write one novel. Not a selection of short stories or essays, but a novel. Which to me has always seemed like a sort of solitary process. But it’s got to be especially hard when two of your writers (Emily and Sarah) are based in New York, and one (Lauren) is in Colorado.

Well, when I hung out with them at Harper Collins headquarters today — where they were lined up in a row signing a whole bunch of books to give out as contest prizes — the gals told me it was all thanks to the miracle of the internet. They got to talking in a MySpace teen lit group that Sarah started. (more…)

I have been remiss in updating this here blog, but I promise you two more reviews, plus an interview, by week’s end. However, for now you need to know about some upcoming events:

E. Lockhart, Sarah Mylnowski and Lauren Myracle, authors of How to Be Bad and many other brilliant YA books, will be doing a reading in NYC this weekend. 1 p.m. at Books of Wonder, 18 W. 18th St., between 5th and 6th. From everything I’ve been reading, these gals are a bucket of fun. Actually, buckets of fun, plural. Alas, I won’t be able to attend their event this weekend, but I’ll be interviewing them tomorrow, so I’ll post about it by Saturday at the latest.

Now, if for some unknown and unimaginable reason this is not your cup of tea (how could it not be? How???), you can come with me to the Brooklyn Tee Party at Etsy Labs. Same time, but at 325 Gold St. in Brooklyn. Lauren Mechling, co-author of the Social Climber series, will be reading from her new book, Dream Girl. Rachel Maude will be reading from the first book in a new series, Poseur. And Zareen Jaffery and Emily Gould will be reading from their novel, Hex Education. If you choose the Tee Party over Books of Wonder — and I won’t hold it against you either way, because personally I want to divide myself in two so I can be in both places at once — remember to bring an old T-shirt with you, so you can paint it up and do all sorts of wacky things to turn it glam.

Choices, people. You have a lot of choices to make. And I’m certain you’ll make the right one. You have two choices. Not three. The third choice, the one you don’t have, is to stay home on your sorry butt and eat potato chips while watching re-runs of Gilmore Girls on your DVR. No, trust me. You will have way more fun if you go to one of these readings.

By the way, last time I was at Books of Wonder for a reading, there were lots and lots of free delicious baked goods. Just saying.

All right, my friends. Cory Doctorow read from his YA novel, Little Brother, yesterday at Books of Wonder in Manhattan.

First of all, I feel the need to scold you for not showing up. I mean, lots of folks did, but they were all, like, grown-ups. Now, I know it was Memorial Day and you had your barbecues, but really. You missed out on a good time. I’ll tell you all about it inside. (more…)

FYI, Cory Doctorow will be doing a reading and signing here in NYC at Books of Wonder on Monday, May 26 from 5 to 7 p.m. 18 W. 18th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.

Cory is going to be promoting Little Brother, a book about teen hackers who get taken in by Homeland Security when the Bay Bridge in San Francisco is blown up. This is his first YA book, but by no means his first book. In fact, Cory is no ordinary novelist. He is the King of Geek, one of the most acclaimed and awesome computer wizards of this day and age. (Thus the book about hackers? Mayhaps.)

I’ll be at the signing with my camera and notebook in tow, but until then … get this … you can download Cory’s book for FREE. This is because he released it under a Creative Commons license, hoping to make his work available to as many people as possible. You’ve got to admit the guy’s got moxie.

So spend this weekend reading his latest, and then meet up with me at Books of Wonder on Monday. I mean, what else have you got to do? Go to a barbecue? Pah!

PS. Scott Westerfeld himself told me to (a) read Little Brother and (b) attend Cory’s reading. And honestly? If Scott Westerfeld told you to jump off a bridge, you would, wouldn’t you?

Lauren Mechling, co-author of the fantastic 10th Grade Social Climber series, will be appearing at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn on Sunday, June 1, along with Rachel Maude, Emily Gould and Zareen Jaffery.

The event will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and not only will the authors be giving away free books — so a little bird tells me — but folks will be encouraged to bring along old T-shirts to remake into vintage finds.

In fact, here’s a little ad for the whole shebang: