Today, I attended the North Texas Teen Book Festival at the Irving Convention Center. It wasn’t just a normal book fair or author visit; it was walking in to the same universe of your favorite authors, discovering your next reads, and discovering creative ideas for your own writing.
Author Panels
Throughout the day, authors talked with other authors while being interviewed. I attended 3 panels; ‘In It to Win It’, ‘The Ties That Bind’, and ‘History Alive!’. They are all free and walk-in. It is a great opportunity to discover new authors, learn about how they wrote their book, what their inspirations were, and understanding their hardships and successes.
In It to Win It
This panel featured Dusti Bowling, Christina Diaz Gonzales, Alan Gratz, and Yamile Saied Mendez. They talked about how sports influenced their books, sports in their life, and just athletics related things. This one wasn’t that great for me because I’ve never read any of their books about sports, or was even aware of those books for that matter. I simply knew Alan Gratz as the imaginative historical fiction author, and Dusti Bowling as the wild-west Arizonan author with the Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus duology (Aven Green, a teenage girl with no arms but amazing abilities). This didn’t interest me as much as others, but it was still exciting to see Dusti Bowling, as her books got me more into reading.
The Ties That Bind
This panel was completely packed; probably because some of the top romance-drama-magic-fiction writers were featured. there was Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Katie Bernet, Stephanie Garber, E. Lockhart, and Jessica S. Olson. This one was about sibling love, but also challenges between them. I’m an only child, so I can’t relate. But I’ve read Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series (my favorite series yet) and E. Lockhart’s ‘We Were Liars’, so I understood what they were talking about. I loved hearing about Garber talk about how the sibling duo in Caraval, Donatella and Scarlett, even though they could be fighting, always loved each other no matter what.
History Alive!
Finally came my favorite one; Saadia Faruqi, Karina Yan Glaser, and Alan Gratz. They talked about how history effected their lives, who they interviewed, and their future books. Each author talked about something specific that I found really interesting. Saadia Faruqi talked about how, after 9/11, everyone around her saw her in a negative light, when even she was sad about the incident. That got me thinking about how children whose homeland is a country seen in negatively, are treated and feel about those things. Next, Karina Yan Glaser mentioned that learning history in school is so much more vague than it actually is. She also said that people always learn about the rough and violent times in history, but there are so many parts left out about tranquility, innovation, and agreement. Finally, Alan Gratz talked about how he interviewed children and then used their experiences in his books. That’s really important, because anyone can get information from the web, but not everyone can find personal, inspiring stories that give a different perspective on reading.
After the panel, I told Alan Gratz that his books were so inspiring to me and how they helped get me into reading. He signed my program paper! I’m glad that happened because I would have to leave before book signing.
Some panels I really wish I had the time to attend were ‘Lies, Spies, and Disguise’, ‘As Seen on Booktok’ and ‘Write On!’. Hopefully next time, I’ll have more time and plan my itinerary better. Nonetheless, all three of the panels I did visit were amazing.
Other Activites
There are many other things to do during your visit. There are books on sale, and they’re all signed copies. I got Lessons in Power by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I’m very excited to read it soon! You can also get free books, but the lines are long. Somehow, I was able to get my hands on School Bus Graveyard, which is actually a Webtoon comic. This was the unreleased version, which was not in color. I’m not sure if I will enjoy it, but I’ll definitely give it a try.
You can also get food. There are food trucks outside, and a decently-priced Starbucks inside. It’s great to get energized for more panels and fun. There are also collectable bookmarks. You can draw book characters, write your favorite books ships, and write about your experience and put it in an envelope.
Even if you’re not a book-person, this annual festival is a great way to learn about authors, start reading, and open your brain. I think it’s really important for teenagers to do things like this. In school, we learn about real things, write facts, and don’t hear stories as much. While school education is very important, teenagers shouldn’t lose their sense of imagination and creativity, especially when they can simply use AI for this. So, next year, bring some friends, visit the NTTBF, and run away from reality for a few hours.