Holly Black coming to the Teen Room on September 5!

Holly Black will be appearing in the Teen Room on Thursday, September 5 at 7:00PM to talk about her chilling new novel (hee!) The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.

 

 

You think vampires are played out?  Ms. Black once again shows us how it's done with her fresh and freaksome take on these bloodsuckers.  Nary a sparkle in sight, thank you very much.  Black returns to the world she created in the short story of the same name, where the detente between humans and vampires has led to the creation of "coldtowns" and an explosion of gruesome reality television.

 

 

If you're one of those shy types who can't think of a question for an author*, check this out!



Coldtown will be on our shelves on September 3!  With no school on Thursday, that leaves you plenty of time to read the book, take a nap, eat some bacon-n-cheese fries and come to the library for a super evening!



*It's okay, she won't bite you ;)  You could also ask her about the vampire Barbies.

Holly Black coming to the Teen Room on September 5!

Holly Black will be appearing in the Teen Room on Thursday, September 5 at 7:00PM to talk about her chilling new novel (hee!) The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.

 

 

You think vampires are played out?  Ms. Black once again shows us how it's done with her fresh and freaksome take on these bloodsuckers.  Nary a sparkle in sight, thank you very much.  Black returns to the world she created in the short story of the same name, where the detente between humans and vampires has led to the creation of "coldtowns" and an explosion of gruesome reality television.

 

 

If you're one of those shy types who can't think of a question for an author*, check this out!



Coldtown will be on our shelves on September 3!  With no school on Thursday, that leaves you plenty of time to read the book, take a nap, eat some bacon-n-cheese fries and come to the library for a super evening!



*It's okay, she won't bite you ;)  You could also ask her about the vampire Barbies.

Steampunk panel at Boston Book Festival

Is on October 15!  The panel is at 11:00 AM and will be moderated by yours truly and feature the awe-inspiring presence of Kelly Link, Gavin Grant, Holly Black and Allison DeBlasi.

Get excited!  This visual aid will assist you:

Welcome to Bordertown

So today I woke up and remembered I'm a librarian and stuff, so why not tell you about a book for a change?


Welcome to Bordertown, edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner

Bordertown is a halfway place, between the human world and the Realm.  Elves and humans, magic and technology, exist side by side.  Not peacefully though.  Most of the runaways and dreamers who flee to B-Town are surprised to find there are still gangs, still drugs, still people (human and Faerie) who will take advantage of you.

So why would you ever go there?  To see a whole new set of stars in the night sky, to dance all night on Soho Street, to start an Internet empire, to find your long-lost family.  And the first beer at the Dancing Ferret is on the house.

DIYA recap!

Part of the reason my brain is so foggy is that I am still recovering from the most excellent evening last Thursday when we hosted our six Diversity in Young Adult Fiction authors.  The discussion ranged from talking about cover art to racist vampires to disabilities in the fantasy world to BFFs in the YA writing community.

Photo credit: Diversity in YA Fiction

I had an excellent time, especially because everyone else did too!  The book signing was jubilant, with the authors and their fans talking excitedly for an hour.

Were you able to go?  What did you think?  Were there questions you felt were especially important?  I hope these conversations continue; while diverse representation in fiction for children and teens has certainly improved, there are still characters and situations I wish I was reading about more often.

White Cat, Red Glove, Holly Black

Ms. Black posted this on her blog this morning -- check it out:

http://masonwilsonandblack.com/

So, now that I've posted a zillion videos, let's talk books! Specifically the fine fine volumes in Ms. Black's Curseworkers series,

White Cat

and

Red Glove.

Here's what you need to know. Curses, and the power to inflict them, are real. Requiring hand-to-skin contact, curseworking is ruled illegal by the United States government leading to 1) gloves as everyone's favorite fashion accessory and 2) the rise of curseworking Mob families!

Cassel is the black sheep in such a family: he has no curseworking abilities at all, just a whole load of horrible nightmares about killing his best friend three years earlier. But are those dreams trying to tell him something?

If you've already read Holly Black's other books then you know she brings original and gorgeous ideas to urban fantasy. Also, she's funny.

ALSO she's coming HERE to the library on May 12th as part of the Diversity in YA Fiction event (*swoon!*). Starting today, I'll be telling you about each of the authors who will be speaking at this event and their books.