Anderson's Bookshop/RT Teen Day

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a signing at Anderson's bookshop in Naperville, IL, and RT Teen Day in Chicago! I got to meet some of my favorite authors and bloggers, including Jen, Jamie, Tara, Anna, and Kristi. It was a fun and crazy weekend and I can't wait to hopefully see everyone again!

Friday morning we woke up really early and made it to Chicago by about 11 am. We headed to the Field Museum for a couple hours, then had some Chicago style pizza and walked around Michigan Ave for a while. After checking in at the hotel and resting a bit, we went to Anderson's bookshop in Naperville so I could attend the Spring into the Future author tour. 

Taherah Mafi, Cynthia Hand, Anna Carey, and Veronica Rossi were at the tour stop, none of whom I had met before. They were all hilarious and smart and I'm so glad I went! I brought my own copy of Hallowed for Cynthia to sign, then purchased Shatter Me and Under the Never Sky for Taherah and Veronica to sign. I loved Shatter Me, but didn't have my own copy; I've never read UtNS, but plan to tackle it this weekend during the readathon.

RT Teen Day was INSANE but AWESOME. The giant book fair/signing opened at 11 and I think I was in line by 9:30 am, having seen on twitter that people were already waiting. The line went pretty quickly, plus I brought a book to read while waiting (seemed like the appropriate thing to do).

The adorable Stephanie Perkins

I met/got books signed by:

Beth Revis

Stephanie Perkins

Jeri Smith-Ready

Veronica Roth

Saundra Mitchell

Sophie Jordan

After the book fair, there were 6 panels to choose from, 2 during each time frame. The first was called From Spark to Fire and featured Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Holder, Veronica Roth, Beth Revis, Margaret Stohl, and Cinda Williams Chima. It was moderated by the amazing Melissa Marr, who organized Teen Day. The whole panel was really inspiring and makes me want to write!

Panel 2 was author speed reading, which featured a snippet of Insurgent (eeek!). That was the highlight, although it was nice to hear Cynthia Hand and Stephanie Perkins read from books I love.

The fantastic Jeri Smith-Ready

The last panel was Tending the Inferno: Series, Stand-Alones, and Genre in YA Novels. It was HILARIOUS. Everyone was tired and slap happy and just fantastically funny. Margie Stohl moderated in place of Melissa Marr and I think I had stomach cramps from laughing so hard. Authors on the panel were Franny Billingsley, Rachel Caine, Ally Carter, Kimberly Derting, Stephanie Perkins, and Carrie Ryan. Beth Revis was in the audience too, which I thought was so cool. 

The teen day party was pretty great as well, though by that point I was really tired and slightly cranky (who, me??). I wish I wasn't as shy as I am/was and had gotten some pictures with authors. Next time! I was able to get a goody bag from the party, which was full of 8 books donated by various publishers. I brought the books to my classroom this morning and 5 were already borrowed by students! Thanks RT!!

There are so many great books out there that I haven't read yet and I can't wait to dive into some. Some authors I'd like to try based on this weekend, either from listening to the authors themselves or from blogger love, are Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Kiera Cass, Cinda Williams Chima, Richelle Mead, and Ally Carter. I sadly have not read anything by these authors, so any suggestions?

Warning: sappiness follows

I came away from this convention realizing just how great the YA community really is. I left Saturday night, especially from the panels, feeling so inspired to read, write, and blog. People in YA, whether they are readers or writers, are just amazing and some of the best people to be around. Being with so many enthusiastic readers and YA lovers just felt like coming home :)