Hey, Baton Rouge, spend the week at the library! Sarah Guillory and I'll meet you there on Wednesday, June 4, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. And on the other nights, there are some wonderful YA authors looking forward to meeting you, too!
Here are the details:
YA Authors to Speak at Free Library Events
As an offshoot of the LSU Young Adult (YA) Literature Conference & Seminar, which is scheduled June 2- 6 through the LSU College of Human Sciences & Education with keynote speaker and author Chris Crutcher, Crutcher and four other YA authors will be involved in three East Baton Rouge Parish Library System events that same week.
At 7 p.m. Monday, June 2, in the large meeting room of the new Main Library at Goodwood (7711 Goodwood Blvd., temporary parking off Independence Boulevard), Crutcher and fellow author Chris Crowe will read from their books for 20 minutes each, hold a question-and-answer session and then socialize with attendees. The free event is open to teen fans of their books or anyone interested in YA (teen) literature.
Crutcher’s first book, “Running Loose”, was published in 1983 for young adults. Since that time, he has published several books, including “Ironman”, “Whale Talk”, “Angry Management”, “Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes”, “Stotan!” and his latest, “Period.8”. His many awards include the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award and two Intellectual Freedom awards,
one from the National Council for Teachers of English and another from the National Coalition Against Censorship. Crutcher’s short story “Angus” was released as a motion picture in 1995.
A professor of English at Brigham Young University, Crowe’s newest book is “Death Coming Up the Hill”, but he also is known for many others, including “Just As Good” and “Two Roads”. “Mississippi Trial, 1955” won several awards, including the 2003 International Reading Association’s Young Adult Novel Award. His nonfiction book “Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case” was a Jane Addams Honor Book.
In addition, YA authors Kimberly Willis Holt and Sarah Guillory plan to read from their books at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, at the Main Library. This also is a free event that will include opportunities for questions and discussions with the audience. Guillory has always loved words and had a passion for literature. She teaches high school English and lives in Louisiana with her husband and their bloodhound, Gus. Her debut book is “Reclaimed”, which was released in 2013. Holt recently released “Dinner with the Highbrows” but also is known as the author of the Piper Reed series and many award- winning novels, including “My Louisiana Sky”, “The Water Seeker” and “Zachary Beaver Came to Town” (a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature winner). “My Louisiana Sky” was turned into a movie and won several book awards, among them ALA Notable Book for Children and Best 10 Books for Young Adults and the Louisiana Literary Award.
Authors Crutcher, Crowe and Matt de la Peña also plan to visit with teens in residence at the EBR Juvenile Detention Center on Tuesday, June 3. De la Peña is the author of such critically acclaimed young adult novels as “Balls Don’t Lie”, “Mexican WhiteBoy”, “I will Save You” and “The Living”.
For more information or to register for the LSU Young Adult Literature Conference, visit chse.lsu.edu/yalit or email lsuyal@lsu.edu. For more information about these author-related library events, visit www.ebrpl.com or email sgordon@ebrpl.com.