Book Fun in Corpus Christi, Texas

Last weekend, I had a blast at the Teen BookFest by the Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was snowing in Boston when my flight left, so the weather in Texas was a nice change of pace. The event was held at the American Bank Center, a gorgeous venue with a view of the bay. We had a wonderful author dinner the night before, and I had great conversations with author Margot Kelly and illustrator Evan Turk. I fell in love with his work. (Seriously, check it out online.) We received awesome author swag bags with treats. Woohoo! The T-shirt was even designed by a local student.

View from my hotel. I mean, come on.

The next day, I appeared on the World Away Panel for four talks with a fabulous group of authors, including Joe Shine, Becky Wallace, and Manuel Ruiz. I was so impressed by the teens in attendance and their questions. Future authors, perhaps?

(left to right) Authors Joe Shine, Becky Wallace, Kristy Acevedo, and Manuel Ruiz on World Away panel

Our panel's moderator Sarah Walker was awesome. She read our books ahead of time. Did I mention she's also a fellow English teacher? English teachers are superheroes :)

I snuck in two selfies when I could with author Rose Garcia and Jeff Zentner.Jeff is a fellow 2016 debut author who just won the William C. Morris Award for his book The Serpent King, so it was great to finally meet him in person. Sweet Sixteens unite! The day ended with a group book signing, where I was lucky enough to sit next to the fabulous Miracle Austin. The teens were super polite and excited to be there, and I loved talking to them about books.

After a great weekend, I spent an extra day there to finish edits on CONTRIBUTE. The next day, I got stuck in the Corpus Christi airport when a huge thunderstorm rolled through early in the morning. Brendan Kiely came to chat with me in the airport (thanks to Twitter). It was my first author event on the road, and it couldn't have gone better. Thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors who made the event possible.

Authors Rose Garcia and Kristy Acevedo

Authors Jeff Zentner and Kristy Acevedo

Authors Miracle Austin and Kristy Acevedo

Authors Brendan Kiely and Kristy Acevedo

Special shout out to Debbie VanZandt for your dedication to connecting teens and authors. And to all the teens, happy reading!

June 10-12, 2016 Barnes & Noble B-Fest Teen Book Festival Weekend

 The first Barnes & Noble B-Fest Teen Book Festival is happening nationwide June 10-12, 2016.  Check your local stores for author events!I will be participating at three locations along with a group of fabulous YA authors:On Friday, June 10 I'll be at Barnes & Noble in Warwick, RI from 6-7pm for an Author Chat & Book signing along with Padma Venkatraman.See event Facebook page for more info.On Saturday, June 11 I'll be at Barnes & Noble in North Dartmouth, MA from 1-2pm for a five YA Author Panel & Book Signing along with Emily Ross, Melissa Schorr, K.R. Conway and Huntley Fitzpatrick (updated).See BN event page for more details on each author.On Sunday, June 12 I'll be at Barnes & Noble in Hyannis, MA from 1-2pm for a five YA Author Character Discussion & Book Signing along with Kate Conway, Laura Woolett, Lauren Roy, and Hillary Monahan.See BN event page for more details on each author. Come out and support local authors!

A CONSIDER Book Launch Party Huge Thank You!

This is a tremendous and much appreciated THANK YOU!

My debut book launch party for Consider on April 23, 2016 at Barnes & Noble in Dartmouth, Massachusetts was a phenomenal success thanks to the huge local outpouring of support. We sold out of 130 books. Yes, you heard that right. Then people placed more orders. Rumor has it the store has ordered 45 more copies.  The line snaked around the store for 90 minutes. I have no idea how many books I actually signed because some people pre-ordered and brought those copies with them. Family, friends, colleagues, students, locals, strangers. People I haven't seen since elementary school. Old high school friends. Readers. Non-readers.I am completely overwhelmed and still in shock.

The whole experience is surreal. When I look at photos, it all seems like a fabulous, unbelievable dream. Well, it was! Not to mention all the local media attention--Fun 107 & WBSM radio, and newspapers, including this amazing Standard Times review by Lauren Daly.  I am feeling the local love. Many wonderful people--family, friends, colleagues, librarians, book sellers, and students who I taught over the past fifteen years, pitched in and donated items, time, and talent to help pull off the event.Thank you to all who came out to show your support. Thank you to all those who couldn't come and messaged me with more support. You have no idea what it means to have the community behind me and my debut book as I start on an unpredictable publishing journey and a new phase in my creative life.I am so grateful to have good people in my life.

 I'd like to share with you my most touching moment of the day. In order to fully appreciate the scope of this moment, first read my blog post about my "big sister" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization when I was a child. Okay. *deep breath* So a family approached the table and handed me a book to sign. As I signed my name, the father put his hands on his son's shoulders said, "This is Sid's grandson." Then he broke down crying. My brain didn't comprehend at first. Then I looked at the father's face. It was my Big Sister's adult son, maybe around 15 years older than I am. The last time I remember seeing him was when I was twelve. He added, "He never got to meet his grandmother. She died before he was born."

I experienced a complete, full circle moment. Here was the grandson of my childhood mentor, a phenomenal woman who fostered my love of books and brought me to the library for years.  And here I was, handing her grandson a signed copy of my first young adult book.  I felt the loss of her and the love of her and the love of her family all in one moment. Oh, the tears.

There's more. Her son explained that they didn't know about the book signing until that day. A newspaper that they don't subscribe to mysteriously appeared in their mailbox and fell open to my book launch article. You don't need explanations for serendipitous moments like that. As I slid my book over to her grandson, I knew that someday when he reads it, she'll be reading along with him.

It was a truly remarkable life moment to top off a wonderful dream. I feel blessed and truly honored. Thank you for sharing this day with me.