Category: blogging

Being a book blogger for almost 13 years (August 2021 will mark my 13th year) and a book lover for almost all my life, I still get excited about books, book signings, authors, and book events and I love to share them with you as you can see from various past posts I have made about it.

If you know me in real life or even online you will know that I live in Canada, specifically Montreal. Even though we are a hustling bustling major city we don’t have anything really book-related happening here. We don’t get the big named authors like Toronto does, and getting young adult authors into Montreal never happens (not sure if it’s based on the language or what)  so I am always jealous when I hear all these fantastic authors going into Toronto for book signings. Sadly getting to Toronto requires either driving (close to 6hrs), flying (roughly under 2 hours and $$$), or taking the train (roughly 6 hours and less than $200 return).

But now I can actually say that I am happy to be living here in Montreal because due to the hard work of the Jewish Public Library and with help from Sarah Mlynowski Montreal now has a fantastic young adult book festival that happens once a year

Yesterday, May 23th, I attended the 3rd annual MTL YA FEST! virtually. Last year due to Covid-19 they had to cancel the event but over the course of the year, they managed to bring the event back virtually via zoom. It definitely wasn’t the same as being there in person but I am so happy they managed to make it happen virtually.

I definitely missed buying all the books and getting them signed but I do know that Babar Bookstore has a stocked inventory of signed books available so I might have to place an order for a few of them.

Angeline Boulley was the keynote speaker. She is the author of Fire Keepers Daughter. A book that I definitely have to pick up and read asap. Did you know that this is going to be adapted into a movie by Netflix?

During her keynote, she talked about her family, where she came from, what a firekeeper is and what they do. Then she went on to talk about her book and what was her inspiration behind it. It was all based on what would have happened if? How many times have we said I wonder what would have happened if I did this or I did that?

Another thing that she spoke about was dreams. She spoke about an interview she watched about Billy Joel and he said he dreams in music and the first thing he does when he wakes up is to sit at his piano and to try and recreate what he dreamt. Angeline said that she “Dreams in stories” What do you dream in?

After the keynote, you had the choice to visit one of three panels taking place in three meeting rooms. The first panels were Here Comes The Paranormal, Tips of the Trade, and Indigenous Own Voices.  Deciding what to attend is always the hardest part even when it was in person. My only wish was that I wish they would have been able to record all the panels so that you could go back and watch later.

The panel I picked was Here Comes The Paranormal. The authors that were on this were Regina Hansen, Kelly Powell, and JF Dubeau. They spoke about how in the beginning it was all about vampires, werewolves etc, and that it’s now evolved into much more. I agree I remember when it first became a thing it was all about vampires etc. Back then I never read anything because it never interested me. Yes, I do admit to reading paranormal romance but it was shapeshifting that got me. One of the things I took away from this panel was the authors saying “write what you want to read” and that is so true.

 

The next panels were All Debuts are Good Debuts, The Show Must Go On: Sequels and Series, and Writing Process. My only wish here was that I wish they would have put All Debuts are Good Debuts and The Show Must Go on right after each other instead of at the same time. I really wanted to attend that one. I think it would have been perfect to go from debuts to series.

Anyways, I attended All Debuts are Good Debuts with authors Anuradha Rajurkar, Loan Le, Kelly Powell, Sarah Suk, Crystal Maldonada, and Regina Hansen.

This was such a fun panel. Everyone talked briefly about their debut books, the process of writing them, and the excitement of getting them sold. Sarah was telling us the story about how she was at the library writing when she got the call that Made in Korea and how excited she was and then outside the library, she broke down and cried.

Writing a book and getting it sold is not an overnight process and this can take months to years. They also spoke about how long it took them to write their books and even that is not an overnight process. You definitely need a friend or friends to support you in this process. Crystal admitted that she didn’t tell anyone she was writing a book and that her husband was reading and being her sounding board. I think it’s all about the right time right place when it comes to writing a book and selling it.

This was the time of the day where it was super hard to pick what panel to attend because I wanted to be in three places at the same time. The panels were Tough Stuff, Middle-Grade Mania, and Thrillers. All three sounded interesting but in the end, I went with Tough Stuff.

On this panel were authors Courtney Summers, Lindsay Wong, Ashley Shuttleworth, Namina Forna, Angeline Boulley, and Diane Terrana. If I recall I think Namina had a little guest with her. I could see her dog’s head peeking up a few times. It was too cute.

This was such an interesting panel and clearly a subject that needs to be covered more in ya books. YA books have definitely come a long way since I was a young adult. I think the riskiest books I ever read were Judy Blume and V.C Andrews. The topics that are in YA books now were never a thing in the past. It was like it was taboo to write about such things back then. It’s nice to see that authors are taking control and making those tough issues matter today.

As Lindsay said “life is hard, messy and complex” which is so true. We need more books that tackle the tough issues of what is going on in the world today. We don’t need it to be sugar-coated like it was in the past.

The panel also discussed and I completely agree that violence or other things shouldn’t be included in a story or book if it does nothing to a story. I have read so many books over the years where I feel authors add things that just don’t need to be added but add it because they think it’s what they should do or it’s what readers want.

It was at this point I realized how fast the day was going but I was having so much fun listening to all these fantastic authors speak.

The next set of panels were Rainbow Panel, Fantasy, and Contemporary. This was another instance where I wish I could have been in two places at once or wish they were recording the panels because I wanted to take part in the Rainbow one. I decided to go with Contemporary.

The authors on this panel were Crystal Maldonado, Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau, Lynn Painter, Lindsay Wong, Anuradha Rajurkar, and Sarah Suk. I feel like I am repeating myself over and over again but this was another interesting panel to take part in. The authors spoke about all kinds of things such as representation matters, diversity matters, and that YA readers are very passionate about the books. I have to agree ya readers are very passionate about the books they read.

The authors also spoke about how some people criticize YA and it is a less than genre which I have to disagree with, YA is not less than any other genre, YA is important and its evolved so much over the decades and years. So many topics that affect teens are coming to light to let these teens know they aren’t alone in their thoughts and feelings. I wish I had half the books that our out today when I was a teen.

I also disagree when people criticize adults for reading YA. What is wrong with adults reading YA? I think no matter the genre we should be applauding people for reading and not what they are reading. We all need to be less judgemental about it.

I loved that the authors shared what books they loved reading. I might have added a bunch of books to my wishlist after this panel.

The big takeaway from the authors was to write what you want to read and that is so true.

On a totally unrelated side note, I could not help but stare and admire Lynn’s background. Her bookshelves are organized by colour. I know once I get my basement redone I want to do this with my books.

This was another easy panel for me to pick from. The second to last panels of the day was YA Fandom Creators, NaNoWriMo Panel, and O Canada. This is probably a no-brainer but I went with O Canada. I really need to up my Canadian content on my blog and into my reading in general. Canada has so many fantastic writers and not just the big named ones.

The authors talked about all kinds of things but one of the key things was that we need to protect our Canadian culture. If you read books by Canadian authors your will notice that not a lot will say this takes place in Canada even though they go into detail about the location because when you do that you literally could be describing any major city in the USA per se. I know I am always excited to see a book that is literally a Canadian city mentioned.ie Montreal, Toronto, and gee even my small town of Bathurst. I understand publishers are wanting their books to see more American but I think as Canadians we should be vocal that we what our stories to have Canadian backgrounds.

I have to apologize for the really bad photo but I almost completely forgot to take one. This was one of the funniest panels of the day.

So this was another hard one to pick because the last panel of the day was We Need Diverse Books, YA Romance, and Family. Yes, we need more diverse books and I hope that the publishers are working on that.

I decided to join the YA Romance panel because I love YA romance because we all remember our first crush, our first love etc. I remember being a young adult and experiencing all the love and heartbreak. The good relationships and the bad. We went in full speed ahead and sometimes had our hearts broken and we thought the world was going to end.

All the authors could agree that when they read romance they are wanting the romance. They also talked about we need to normalize healthy relationships in books. That characters need communication about what they want and don’t want. Yes, we all love bad boys but bad boys don’t need to be bad in relationships.

Not sure how many of us can say that to this very day we are still in contact with our first crush or first love but I can honestly say that I am and even though those relationships never panned out maybe it was for the best.

I have yet to read any of Aiden’s books but after this panel, I need to read his books. Did you know he does a 50+ page outline on his books? I literally could not stop staring in his background, it was gorgeous. He is so funny. I could not stop laughing during this panel. This was definitely one that should have been recorded.

So with that is the conclusion of this year’s MTL YA Fest. The closing remarks were from Talya who was one of the original organizers and I found out that she has stepped away from organizing this event and had passed the reins onto someone else and she did a fantastic job organizing it this year given the circumstances in the world. The hope is that next year it will be in person again and I have my fingers crossed that it will happen.

I had so much fun attending this and yes it would have been nice to be there in person but being safe is so much better giving what is going on. Had this been done in person I am not sure I would have attended. I am happy they decided to do it virtually because not having any at all would have sucked.

I am sad that I never got to see any of the following authors speak: Liselle Sambury, Erica S, Perl, Chief Mi’sel Joe, Sheila O’Neill, Dhonielle Clayton, Debbie Rigaud, Gordan Korman, Celia S. Perez, June Hur, Tess Sharpe, Kacen Callender, and Tanya Boteju, Hopefully, one day I will get the chance.

Thank you once again MTL YA Fest for hosting and organizing this amazing event. Thanks to all the authors who take part and invited us into their homes,

Until next year.

Gordon Korman is the author of more than ninety books for kids and young adults, most recently WAR STORIES and UNPLUGGED. His writing career began at the age of twelve when his Grade 7 English assignment became his first published novel. 

Now, four decades later, he is a full-time writer and speaker, with over thirty-five million copies of his novels in print in thirty-three languages. Each year he travels extensively, visiting schools and libraries, bringing his trademark humor and adventure styles to readers everywhere. 

 A native Montrealer, he lives with his family in Long Island, New York.   

I am embarrassed to admit that I have never read any of Gordon’s books. I definitely need to work on that this year. Which one(s) should I read?

Perfect for fans of You Should See Me in a Crown and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, this hilarious and heartfelt Own Voices rom-com from bestselling author Debbie Rigaud is pure Black girl joy.

Simone Thibodeaux is about to switch things up.

Check her life: It’s sealed in a boy-proof container. Her Haitian immigrant parents send Simone to an all-girls high school and enforce strict no-dating rules. As for prom? Simone is allowed to go on one condition: Her parents will select her date (a boy from a nice, Haitian immigrant family, obviously).

Simone is desperate to avoid the setup — especially since she has a serious crush on another boy. It’s time to take action. Simone and her fellow late-bloomer friends make a senior year bucket list of all the wild things they haven’t done yet. Like: going out dancing, skipping class (what), and oh yeah — deciding their own prom destinies.

But as the list takes on a life of its own, things get much messier than Simone expected. Can she figure out which rules are worth breaking and which might save her from heartbreak?

(Release Date June 2021)

“The Princess Diaries meets Meghan and Harry in this swoony rom-com!” — In Touch Magazine

Zora Emerson is not here to play. She’s enrolled in a prestigious summer program and is ready to use what she’s learning to change the world (or at least her corner of New Jersey, for now). Zora’s not expecting to vibe with any of her super-privileged classmates. So she’s shocked to find she’s got chemistry with Owen Whittelsey, who is charming, funny, undeniably cute…and turns out to literally be a prince. As in, his parents are the king and queen of a small European country. What? Suddenly, Zora”s summer is looking a lot more complicated — especially when Owen asks her to be his date at his older brother’s wedding. Can her feelings for Owen, not to mention her sense of self, survive the royal chaos? Debbie Rigaud brings sparkling humor and insight to this empowering romantic comedy that’s all about ruling your own destiny.

(Release Date: July 2019)

Lifelong actor-advocate Alyssa Milano tells the story of a young activist in the making. It’s the first book in an empowering and funny new middle-grade series illustrated by Simpsons illustrator, Eric S. Keyes.

Meet Hope Roberts. She’s 11 years old, and she wants to be an astrophysicist. She loves swimming, Galaxy Girl comic books, and her two rescue dogs.

Hope believes it’s always a good day to champion a cause, defend an underdog, and save the future. And most of all, she believes in dreaming big. That’s why she’s enrolled in all of the advanced classes at her new middle school. She’s smart and confident in her abilities. But though Hope seems super strong on the outside, there’s another side of her, too. She’s just a regular girl trying to survive middle school.

This first book starts with the beginning of sixth grade, and Hope’s BFF Sam made some new friends over the summer. Hope doesn’t know how to handle it. She and Sam have always been inseparable! Then Hope meets her new lab partner, Camila, and they get off on the wrong foot. And even though Camila is great at science, she doesn’t want to join the science club. The club is all boys, and she doesn’t feel welcome.

When Hope hears that, she’s determined to recruit more girls into the science club, including Camila. Hope knows that sometimes changing the world starts small. So now Hope has a mission! Can she turn the science club into a place that’s welcoming for everyone — and make some new friends along the way?

Hope’s relatability, kindness, empathy, and can-do attitude will inspire a generation of do-gooders. This new series is a response to the very palpable feeling that not only can young people save the world — they will!

About the Author:

Debbie Rigaud is the coauthor of Alyssa Milano’s New York Times bestselling Hope series and the author of Truly Madly Royally and Simone Breaks All The Rules. Debbie grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, and started her career writing for entertainment and teen magazines. She now lives with her husband and children in Columbus, Ohio. Find out more at debbierigaud.com.

 

 

 

 

I am excited to read Debbie’s newest book, Simone Breaks all The Rules when it comes out as it sounds really good. Also the I really want to read the Hope Series as that sounds like they might be fun reads. As I am prepping this post I am looking for my copy of Truly Madly Royally. I think it’s time to do a reread of it.

The Books:

About The Author:

Aimee Friedman was born and raised in Queens, New York, in an apartment filled with books and different languages. She wrote her first story at the age of five, and was off and running from there. Aimee wrote all through her years as a student at the Bronx High School of Science and then Vassar College. After graduating from college in 2001, she became a children’s book editor, a job she still does, and loves, to this day! Aimee published her first novel, the New York Times bestseller, South Beach, in 2005, and is now the author of several novels for young adults, including Sea Change and Two Summers. Aimee lives in New York City, where she can usually be found writing in cafes, window-shopping, or searching for the perfect iced latte.

 

 

 

This is Aimee’s second time that she has been at the MTL YA Fest. She was at the very first MTL YA Fest and it was a pleasure to meet her and listen to her speak. I know I need to do a reread of Two Summers and Sea Exchange very soon.

The Books:

A 2018 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book

The First Rule of Punk is a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one’s watching.

There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new school—you can’t fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors. On Day One, twelve-year-old Malú (María Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School’s queen bee, violates the school’s dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better as long as she remembers the first rule of punk: be yourself.

The real Malú loves rock music, skateboarding, zines, and Soyrizo (hold the cilantro, please). And when she assembles a group of like-minded misfits at school and starts a band, Malú finally begins to feel at home. She”ll do anything to preserve this, which includes standing up to an anti-punk school administration to fight for her right to express herself!

Black and white illustrations and collage art throughout make The First Rule of Punk a perfect pick for fans of books like Roller Girl and online magazines like Rookie.

“Armed with a microphone and a pair of scissors, this book is all about creating something new and awesome in the world. Malú rocks!” –Victoria Jamieson, author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor-winning Roller Girl.

From the award-winning author of The First Rule of Punk comes the story of four kids who form an alternative Scout troop that shakes up their sleepy Florida town.

*”Writing with wry restraint that”s reminiscent of Kate DiCamillo… a beautiful tale.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When three very different girls find a mysterious invitation to a lavish mansion, the promise of adventure and mischief is too intriguing to pass up. Ofelia Castillo (a budding journalist), Aster Douglas (a bookish foodie), and Cat Garcia (a rule-abiding birdwatcher) meet the kid behind the invite, Lane DiSanti, and it isn”t love at first sight. But they soon bond over a shared mission to get the Floras, their local Scouts, to ditch an outdated tradition. In their quest for justice, independence, and an unforgettable summer, the girls form their own troop and find something they didn”t know they needed: sisterhood.

About The Author:

Celia C. Pérez is the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Cuban father.  Her debut book for young readers, The First Rule of Punk (Viking / Penguin), was a 2018 Pura Belpré Award Honor Book, a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor book, and a winner of the 2018 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. Her second book for young readers, Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers (Kokila / Penguin, 2019), is an Association of Library Services to Children Notable Children’s Book and was named to several best-of-the-year lists. She lives with her family in Chicago where, in addition to writing books about lovable weirdos and outsiders, she works as a community college librarian.

 

 

 

One of the things that I absolutely love about the MTL YA Fest is being exposed to new to me authors and their books. I will be checking out these books.

About The Books:

 

About The Author:

Born in a mountain cabin to a punk-rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural northern California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing colony of formerly feral cats. She is the author of Barbed Wire Heart, the critically acclaimed YA novel Far From You and the upcoming Jurassic World prequel, The Evolution of Claire.

She is also the co-editor of Toil & Trouble, a feminist anthology about witches. Her short fiction has been featured in All Out, an anthology edited by Saundra Mitchell.

 

 

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTELLER!

“Namina Forna Could Be The Toni Morrison Of YA Fantasy.” –Refinery 29 

“Fans of Children of Blood and Bone, Mulan, and the Dora Milaje from Black Panther are going to adore this one.” –BuzzFeed

“A dark feminist tale spun with blood and gold. Must read!” –Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles

The most anticipated fantasy of 2021. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice. Get ready for battle.

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.

Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.

The start of a bold and immersive fantasy series for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. 

About The Author:

Namina Forna is a young adult novelist based in Los Angeles, and the author of the New York Times bestselling epic fantasy YA novel The Gilded Ones. Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, she moved to the US when she was nine and has been traveling back and forth ever since. Namina loves telling stories with fierce female leads and works as a screenwriter in LA.

 

 

I absolutely love the cover of this debut novel and its been on my wishlist since I first heard about it.