Meet Amy. She's Excited About Saturday.

Hullo dear Blogsmith readers!

This is Amy, yes, the same Amy who wrote a whole ONE post back in March when Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess came out (you all remember me, right?...of course you do!). I'm the newest writer for the Blogsmith and one of the Booksmith's children's booksellers.

Which brings me (sort of) to the fact that I am a huge fan of Young Adult and Middle Grade books. Young Adult is most of what I read but I’ve been recently putting an effort into reading more Middle Grade. I’m having a lot of fun with it, there are some really brilliant middle grade books out there.

Which now, actually, brings me to my real point, this coming Saturday, August 3^rd at 7 PM we have a really awesome panel set up. This panel consists of, no less than, seven Young Adult and Middle Grade authors who are all a part of the Lucky Thirteens.

What are the Lucky Thirteens you ask? They are a group of authors who all have books coming out in 2013! That’s right these authors are all fantastic and new additions to our literary world. When these authors make it big you can tell everyone that you saw them before it was cool.

But really, I’ve read all of them and the best thing about these books is that there is a little bit of everything.

We have a realistic Middle Grade about a fifth grader facing the trials growing up in Elisabeth Dahl’s Genie Wishes. Think Judy Blume.

Our second Middle Grade, Kit Grindstaff’s The Flame in the Mist, is an smart high fantasy about a girl destined to save her kingdom as life as she knew it unravels. A slightly younger Philip Pullman.

Thinking a bit older?
Our first YA is Rachele Alpine’s Canary. Canary explores what happens when a girl is assaulted but speaking out will ruin everything for not just her but her family. If you’re a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson this is your book.

Erin Bowman’s Taken follows the seventeen year old Gray and his search to find out the truth of The Heist, a ritual where all of the town’s men disappear when they turn 18. Everything about this one is The Giver meets Mockingjay.

Justina Ireland’s Vengeance Bound takes the lesser explored Furies from Greek mythology and makes our narrator their third member. She travels the country and expends justice against wrong doing men while hunting down her own revenge. This one is definitely for fans of Kendare Blake and her Anna Dressed in Blood.

Next is Alex Lidell’s high fantasy The Cadet of Tildor. Renee trains to be a member of the elite Servants but struggles with, not only being the only fighting girl, but with learning that the law might not always be right. A must read for fans of Tamora Pierce.

Then there’s Mindy Raf’s The Symptoms of My Insanity. A look at fifteen year old Izzy’s crash course in high school and learning to stop and take a look around. This one is part Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicholson and part John Green.

See?! There really is something for just about anyone who reads Young Adult or Middle Grade!

I know we don’t usually post about events in depth like this but there are a lot of authors at this one. Also, I’m really excited about it (if you couldn’t tell) and I’ve talked to a couple of the authors in brief social media interactions and they’re excited about the event and there’s just something really cool about being with a group of people so excited to be doing what they’re doing and listening to them talk about it.

I might be biased but YA/MG authors always have the best banter.

So, everyone should swing by and check this out Saturday August 3^rd at Seven. You can sit back, relax, laugh a little, and maybe even learn a bit about writing.

It’s pretty much a win-win.

-Amy

P.S. I don’t think all of my blog posts will be like this…