NoVa Teen Book Festival Recap

Ever since I found out about YALLFest, I’ve been scouring the internet for bookish events in my area. I was going to attend the National Book Festival in DC last summer but… I didn’t (thanks Mom and Dad). Suddenly, at the beginning of this month, a friend on Twitter told me that there would be one in Arlington, VA, which happens to be super close to where I live. Thus, on March 7th I attended the NoVa Teen Book Festival, my very first author event! And of course, I just had to do a recap post 😉

All the awesome authors that were in attendance!

 

Honestly, for me, one of the coolest things about attending a book-related event was meeting other book-nerds. All around me I could hear various discussions about different books and characters, and I loved it. It was so much fun to get to know other people who love young adult literature as much as I do! Here are some pictures I got with two awesome ladies I met during the author panels:

 

And one of the coolest things that ever happened to me happened on that day. STORYTIME!

Okay, so I was in line with Sajda (from upper right photo) waiting to get one of my books signed. All of the sudden, someone taps my shoulder. I turn around, and there’s a teenage boy standing behind me. He asks me if I’m Batool. I say yes. And then, he says the best words I’ve ever heard: “I read your blog”. IT WAS SO COOL. He totally made my week, and I regret that I didn’t ask for his name. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to ask for a picture with him:

 

Note to the awesome dude: If you’re reading this right now, thanks so much for approaching me and letting me know that you read my blog!

Along with all that awesomeness, I got a few pictures with/of some authors. Some of which were a tad bit blurry, but hey a blurry picture is better than no picture.

Kristen Simmons

I was totally clumsy when I walked up to Kristen. Because my foot bumped into her table, she thought I hurt myself but really I was fine (it was just my pride that hurt). But aside from the humiliation, it was awesome to finally meet Kirsten in person because we’ve interacted before on twitter (she told me she liked this post!) and she’s so sweet. She’s also really funny in person.

Matt De La Peña

 

Robin Talley

 

Jasmine Warga

 

Author Panel

I have a few videos of the author panels. Once I figure out how to get my phone to work long enough for me to transfer them to my computer I’ll be able to share them with you guys (hopefully).

Well, that was my first ever author event. I’d just like to say, if you ever get a chance to go to a similar event, you should take advantage of it. It’s so much fun, and even if you’ve never even read any of those authors’ books (like me) it’s still cool to hear them talk about their experiences as authors. You may end up finding a great book that you’ve never even heard of before!

 

• Authors
• books
• Festivals
• signings
• YA