NYC Teen Author Festival and My Book-Birthday Weekend

17 & Gone came out on March 21, the week of the NYC Teen Author Festival, and it was a thrill to take part in some amazing events.

On Friday, March 22, I took the stage with Eireann Corrigan, Elizabeth Eulberg, Jeff Hirsch, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell for the annual NYC Teen Author Festival Reader’s Theater at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, where we acted out scenes from each other’s books. We even kicked off the night with a (vivid, hilarious, graphic, over-the-top!) scene from a classic novel from our youth: Go Ask Alice.

(Reader's Theater at B&N USQ. Photo courtesy of Hello, Chelly.)
(Reader’s Theater at B&N USQ. Photo courtesy of Hello, Chelly.)

After the performance, I got to sign copies of 17 & Gone for the very first time. I was honored and thrilled by every single person who stood on my signing line to get a copy.

(Signing books after the Reader's Theater. Photo courtesy of my mom!)
(Signing books after the Reader’s Theater. Photo courtesy of my mom!)

The next night, I was thrilled to get the chance to visit my favorite local bookstore, McNally Jackson, and do an event there. It was extra-thrilling to arrive at the bookstore and discover signs for the event featuring my book cover!

(The sign on the door of my favorite bookstore! Photo courtesy of McNally Jackson.)
(The sign on the door of my favorite bookstore! Photo courtesy of McNally Jackson.)

The Mutual Admiration Society Reading was hosted by David Levithan and featured Sharon Cameron, A.S. King, Michael Northrop, Diana Peterfreund, Victoria Schwab, and me. Here I am listening to the incredible A.S. King. I was clearly very affected by what she read!

(During the McNally Jackson reading, listening to A.S. King. Photo by E.)
(During the McNally Jackson reading, listening to A.S. King. Photo by E.)

Then my book-birthday weekend—and the amazing NYC Teen Author Festival!—closed out with a bang, with a mega-signing featuring more than forty YA authors at Books of Wonder. I was thrilled to meet readers and sign books.

(During the Books of Wonder mega-signing, meeting a reader, Alexa! Photo courtesy of Alexa.)
(During the Books of Wonder mega-signing, meeting a reader, Alexa! Photo courtesy of Alexa.)

And, of course, no book-birthday weekend is complete without awesome and generous readers and friends sending me photos of my book out in the wild. 17 & Gone was spotted in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Illinois.

 

IllinoisTexas

Thank you to everyone who came to see me at the NYC Teen Author Festival events! Thank you to David Levithan and the NYPL and everyone involved in organizing the fantastic festival! Thank you to the Barnes & Noble at Union Square, McNally Jackson, and Books of Wonder for hosting me and making the events amazing!

It sure was a good book-birthday weekend.

For more photos from the weekend, check out my collection on Pinterest.