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AUTHORS FOR CHILDREN + TEENS
Catch online presentations from some of the hottest authors for kids and young adults.
Upcoming Events
November 2024
SUSAN ROSE & SILVIA LÓPEZ ON JOSÉ AND FELIZ PLAY FÚTBOL – PICTURE BOOK
Broadway producer SUSAN ROSE and celebrated author SILVIA LÓPEZ present a charming book perfect for young readers just beginning to learn Spanish! José has been selected for the school soccer team and finally gets to be a part of el equipo de fútbol. He starts practicing in his backyard right away, but when he kicks the ball toward the net, his best friend – his dog, Feliz – runs after it! Can José find a way to bring his furry pal to his fútbol games without worrying el perro will chase el balón?…
“FANTASY FEMINOMENON” – MIDDLE GRADE FANTASY
Believing in yourself is hard enough without saving the whole world on top of it all! Find out how much Amari is willing to sacrifice to stop a war between the Magicians and the Bureau in the action-packed third installment of B. B. ALSTON’s bestselling Supernatural Investigations series, Amari and the Despicable Wonders. RYAN GRAUDIN’s The Girl Who Kept the Castle introduces Faye, a maid for the late Wizard West, who must help him find a successor,…
ILLUSTRATOR DRAW-OFF
Join us for a mashup battle of illustrator vs. illustrator vying for the title of champion! Featuring URU-CHAN, ROBIN HA, and GEORGE O’CONNOR. …
“SUGAR, SPICE & THE NOT-SO-NICE: FOUR YA ROM-COMS”
Four young adult authors discuss how love can form under pressure or flare up with passion. The daughter of a proud Cuban family bakery enters a competition to pay the bills with help from the son of a rival Cuban bakery in Guava and Grudges, the slow-burn (or bake) enemies-to-lovers novel by ALEXIS CASTELLANOS. Tensions rise in LAURA TAYLOR NAMEY’s With Love, Echo Park as the two last surviving Cuban family businesses in an L.A.…
“NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST” – MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC NOVEL
JOHN HENDRIX’s Mythmakers dives into the legendary friendship between the fathers of fantasy: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. This biography illustrates how discouraging critics, friendly rivalries, and two world wars changed these two friends and competitors forever – and the world of fantasy along with them. Moderated by DANIEL JONES, the young adult librarian at the Naranja branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. Grades 4-8 Buy The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis &…
“BLOOD, IRON & FIRE: YA FANTASY AUTHORS ON STRUGGLE, SECRETS & FAMILY”
Follow the conclusion of TOMI ADEYEMI’s Legacy of Orïsha series with Children of Anguish and Anarchy, in which Zélie overcomes insurmountable odds, stops the conquest of her people, and defies capture by the merciless King Baldyr. The Lightlark trilogy by ALEX ASTER introduces its third showstopping installment with Skyshade, in which Isla Crown’s shattered heart is torn between her love for the ruler of Nightshade and wanting to save Lightlark and its king. In ROMINA GARBER’s Castle of the Cursed,…
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Past Events
November 2024
“FANTASY FEMINOMENON” – MIDDLE GRADE FANTASY
Believing in yourself is hard enough without saving the whole world on top of it all! Find out how much Amari is willing to sacrifice to stop a war between the Magicians and the Bureau in the action-packed third installment of B. B. ALSTON’s bestselling Supernatural Investigations series, Amari and the Despicable Wonders. RYAN GRAUDIN’s The Girl Who Kept the Castle introduces Faye, a maid for the late Wizard West, who must help him find a successor,…
SUSAN ROSE & SILVIA LÓPEZ ON JOSÉ AND FELIZ PLAY FÚTBOL – PICTURE BOOK
Broadway producer SUSAN ROSE and celebrated author SILVIA LÓPEZ present a charming book perfect for young readers just beginning to learn Spanish! José has been selected for the school soccer team and finally gets to be a part of el equipo de fútbol. He starts practicing in his backyard right away, but when he kicks the ball toward the net, his best friend – his dog, Feliz – runs after it! Can José find a way to bring his furry pal to his fútbol games without worrying el perro will chase el balón?…
“MYTHS & MYSTERIES: YA GRAPHIC NOVELS”
ROBIN HA’s The Fox Maidens is the thrilling queer retelling of a Korean folktale about a woman warrior who must fight for victory, compassion, and romance while being haunted by a malevolent nine-tailed fox demon. Plunge headfirst into mythic waters with GEORGE O’CONNOR, who kicks off Asgardians, a new series where the famous Norse gods Thor and Odin embark on dangerous quests for knowledge and power while fending off world-sized serpents and Jotunheim giants. And return to the cutthroat world of Wellston High in URU-CHAN’s highly anticipated webtoon UnOrdinary Vol 2.,…
LAURA DROSDOWECH ON MAGICAL MIAMI – PICTURE BOOK
In LAURA DROSDOWECH’s Magical Miami, Zoe and Zen’s awesome adventure begins in Wynwood and takes them through Miami’s most notable neighborhoods. They meet a flamingo driving an ice cream truck, hitch a ride on an alligator, swim with a manatee, take the trolley with a celebrity cucaracha, and meet a famous graffiti artist, all while learning some Miami lingo in both English and Spanish. Grades pre–K to 2…
DAVE BARRY & RIDLEY PEARSON: A CONVERSATION – FICTION
Dynamic duo DAVE BARRY and RIDLEY PEARSON reunite to spill the tea on their latest projects – including the theatrical adaptation of their iconic Peter Pan prequel series, Peter and the Starcatchers; Barry’s hilarious caper Swamp Story: A Novel (with more twists and turns through the Everglades than a snake slithering away from a gator); and Pearson’s latest Kingdom Keepers: Inheritance sequel, Villains’ Realm, in which Cinderella’s own Fairy Godmother – the notorious FGM – must help our young heroes stop Ursula from taking over for good.…
“DEATH IS JUST ANOTHER OBSTACLE” – YA FANTASY
S.K. ALI’s Fledgling: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution explores what an Upper Earth princess is to do when she agrees to an arranged marriage to prevent civil war, gets kidnapped by Lower Earth freedom fighters, and then falls in love with one of them. SUSAN DENNARD concludes her pulse-pounding Luminaries trilogy with The Whispering Night, in which Winnie Wednesday’s loyalty comes into question as secrets about her family and a masked Diana are revealed against the backdrop of the Nightmare Masquerade.…
LUCKY DIAZ ON LA GUITARRISTA – PICTURE BOOK
Grammy Award-winning musician LUCKY DIAZ shares a picture book that will have you rocking your feet to the beat of your own drum! Canta finds a broken guitar in the trash but even a fixer-upper instrument won’t stop her from realizing her music star dreams. With the help of her community, she’ll get it back in playing mode and turn herself into the rock star she knows she can be. Follow along with the song that inspired the book!…
CHAMPIONS & COMEBACKS: A CHAT WITH YAMILE SAIED MÉNDEZ & JUSTIN A. REYNOLDS – MIDDLE GRADE FICTION
YAMILE SAIED MÉNDEZ presents The Beautiful Game, in which Valeria, the town’s soccer superstar and the secret weapon of the boys’ team, gets her first period in the middle of an important game and gets benched. Can she win back her self-confidence, family, and fútbol, all while challenging stereotypes of what it means to play like a girl? JUSTIN A. REYNOLDS presents Clutch Time: A Shot Clock Novel, in which Kofi “KO” Douglas is a budding AAU basketball star with a winning streak that’s brought to a halt with the return of his competitive childhood friend – and the reappearance of his incarcerated father – driving him to search for redemption on and off the court.…
ILLUSTRATOR DRAW-OFF
Join us for a mashup battle of illustrator vs. illustrator vying for the title of champion! Featuring JERRY CRAFT, JOHN HENDRIX, GEORGE O’CONNOR, and EDEL RODRIGUEZ.…
RACHEL RENÉE RUSSELL & NIKKI RUSSELL ON DORK DIARIES 16: TALES FROM A NOT-SO-BRATTY LITTLE SISTER – MIDDLE GRADE FICTION
Mother-daughter writing duo RACHEL RENÉE RUSSELL and NIKKI RUSSELL present Dork Diaries 16: Tales from a Not-So-Bratty Little Sister, the highly anticipated new installment of the Dork Diaries series. It’s almost time for school to start again, and Nikki is a little worried – but, as always, she has her BFFs to help. Only this time it turns out her friends need Nikki’s help. She quickly gets overwhelmed and even starts feeling sick, which is when her little sister,…
MEG MEDINA ON NO MORE SEÑORA MIMÍ – PICTURE BOOK
Newbery Medalist and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature MEG MEDINA presents No More Señora Mimí, a heartwarming picture book about community and the special role caretakers play in a child’s life. Ana cannot contain her excitement – her abuela is coming to stay with her and is sure to let her play whenever she wants to, instead of rushing her off to school like her neighbor and babysitter, Señora Mimí, sometimes does. In fact, as Ana’s classmate points out,…
KWAME ALEXANDER & RANDY PRESTON ON HOW TO SING A SONG & BLACK STAR – A CONVERSATION
Newbery Medalist, poet, and Emmy Award-winning producer KWAME ALEXANDER takes to the stage to discuss two new books, joined by singer-songwriter and co-author RANDY PRESTON. Kwame demonstrates his prolific range of talent with the charming and colorful picture book How to Sing a Song, meant for young readers who want to raise their voice and sing the vibrant song of their soul, and Black Star, the dramatic second installment of The Door of No Return series for middle-grade readers,…
“OLD ROOTS & NEW STEMS: GROWING INTO A YOUNG ADULT” – FICTION
Like a tree growing from concrete, these three stories celebrate resilience in the face of adversity that comes with growing up. In NADINE PINEDE’s poignant novel-in-verse When the Mapou Sings, teenage Lucille’s life is uprooted by sudden changes and the disappearance of a friend, but she finds strength and guidance in her roots – the Haitian mapou trees. In SAMUEL TEER and MAR JULIA’s graphic novel Brownstone, a young woman grapples with her identity in a neighborhood that thinks,…
EDEL RODRIGUEZ ON THE MANGO TREE/LA MATA DE MANGO – PICTURE BOOK
Cuban American artist EDEL RODRIGUEZ presents The Mango Tree/La mata de mango, an enchanting wordless picture book that captures his own childhood experience as an immigrant. Colorful and bold visuals tell the story of two boys who spend their days in a mango tree high above the rest of the world. But after a huge storm sweeps one boy out into unknown waters, he finds himself alone in a strange new land where everything is different and unfamiliar. Dive into this tale of new experiences,…
“STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF ANCESTORS: MIDDLE GRADE ADVENTURES” – FICTION
Some say our paths are laid out by fate, but three young adventurers rise to the challenge to chart their own course. In RUTH BEHAR’s Across So Many Seas, while on a family vacation to Spain, Paloma retraces four generations of Jewish women as they travel across Europe, Cuba, and Miami to flee persecution and find opportunity. In Not Nothing by GAYLE FORMAN, 12-year-old Alex is stuck volunteering at a retirement home over the summer,…
STACEY ABRAMS ON STACEY SPEAKS UP – PICTURE BOOK
GRADES PREK-2 Join STACEY ABRAMS for a special conversation on Stacey Speaks Up, the third book in the No. 1 New York Times bestselling and NAACP Image Award-winning picture book series. Stacey and her friends can’t wait for lunchtime on Friday, also known as TacoPizza FryDay! But when Stacey discovers that some of her classmates can’t afford to eat lunch, she loses her appetite. She knows she has to do something, but what can a kid do? Plenty, as it turns out!…
MIAMI BOOK FAIR & THE NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION PRESENT THE 2024 TEENS READ: NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
The 2024 National Book Award-honored authors in Young People’s Literature visit Miami Book Fair to share more about their books and answer questions from Miami-Dade County’s middle and high school students acting as journalists. Hosted by JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS, authors include OLIVIA A. COLE, JOSH GALARZA, ERIN ENTRADA KELLY, ANGELA SHANTÉ, and ALI TERESE! For more information and to RSVP, contact Rachel Gil de Gibaja at rgildegi@mdc.edu.…
November 2023
SWOONWORTHY SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE: FOUR YOUNG ADULT ROM-COMS
You won’t want to miss this sizzling panel with four young adult romance writers on juggling the entanglements in love and life. In The Secret Summer Promise by KEAH BROWN, Andrea spent last summer recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy, and is determined to make up for lost time with the Best Summer Ever List – which includes falling out of love with her best friend. In ALI HAZELWOOD’s Check & Mate,…
POMP, SNOW, & CIRQUEUMSTANCE Takeover in Children’s Alley!
Featured on Good Morning America and based on the award-winning book by Broadway director and Cirque Dreams founder NEIL GOLDBERG, join best friends POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstance in a teaser performance for their new magical holiday show and stage spectacular happening later this year! Three best friends, Pomp, Snow, and Cirqueumstance, study and learn special music, magic, and circus skills at a secret university filled with daring acrobatics, song, dance, and astonishing costumes, set in an immersive visual landscape beyond imagination!…
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: ADVENTURES IN ALTERNATE UNIVERSES
Step into other worlds with each of these chilling, action-packed middle-grade adventures. In The Shape of Time by RYAN CALEJO, Antares has never left South Florida – until strange creatures whisk him away to the mysterious Rymworld, where he must outsmart molemen, mermaids, mystics in search of a mythic compass. The Cursed Moon by ANGELA CERVANTES follows Rafael, who discovers that the chilling ghost story he made up about The Caretaker might actually be real – and only he can stop him.…
Make a melody with Justin Roberts
Make a melody with Grammy-nominated children’s songwriter JUSTIN ROBERTS as he sings and plays guitar for a special performance inspired by his latest picture book, Giant-Sized Butterflies on My First Day of School, and many other stories!…
TRIALS, TRAITORS & TEMPTATIONS: YOUNG ADULT FANTASY SUPERSTARS
Join four bestselling young adult fantasy writers on breaking curses, liberating lands, and how to fight the darkness within and without. In ALEX ASTER’s Nightbane, Isla Crown has secured the love of two powerful rulers and broken centuries-long curses, but as certain death races toward Lightlark, she must weigh her responsibility to her people against the whims of the most dangerous traitor of all: her heart. LAUREN ROBERTS’ Powerless follows Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary posing as a Psychic to keep from being banished from the world of Elites who finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials – and if the opponents don’t kill her,…
PICTURE BOOK STORYTIME: JUST WILD ENOUGH!
For Mireya Mayor, even as a young child whose house was filled with cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, a chicken, and a snapping turtle, nothing was quite wild enough. Older, she traded her pompoms as a cheerleader for the National Football League for the swamps of the South American jungle. The first woman wildlife TV reporter for National Geographic, she traveled the world, but things still weren’t quite wild enough. It was only when Mireya went to Madagascar that things FINALLY got wild enough.…
POMP, SNOW, & CIRQUEUMSTANCE Takeover in Children’s Alley!
Featured on Good Morning America and based on the award-winning book by Broadway director and Cirque Dreams founder NEIL GOLDBERG, join best friends POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstance in a teaser performance for their new magical holiday show and stage spectacular happening later this year! Three best friends, Pomp, Snow, and Cirqueumstance, study and learn special music, magic, and circus skills at a secret university filled with daring acrobatics, song, dance, and astonishing costumes, set in an immersive visual landscape beyond imagination!…
PICTURE BOOK STORYTIME: THE TAIL OF CLAYBE
Claybe is a happy little monkey who lives in the jungle. His favorite thing to do is to swing by his beautiful long furry tail. Claybe is just as happy as happy can be until the day he discovers people. Suddenly, Claybe’s life doesn’t seem as great to him as the lives of people. Claybe wonders if a people’s life is better than a monkey’s life. In The Tail of Claybe by FRANCINELEE HAND, travel with Claybe to the Big City where he learns about people and their ways.…
SOLE SURVIVORS & DEADLY SECRETS: JENNIFER DUGAN IN CONVERSATION WITH KIMBERLY WHITE
In JENNIFER DUGAN’s chilling psychological thriller, The Last Girls Standing, Sloan and Cherry bonded over their traumatic experience as the sole survivors in their summer camp massacre. But as new evidence comes to light, Sloan begins to suspect that Cherry may be more than just a survivor – she may actually have been part of it. Moderating is KIMBERLY WHITE, youth services coordinator, Broward County Libraries Division. Buy The Last Girls Standing. – Dugan…
WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? THREE YA AUTHORS ON DANGER, DISAPPEARANCES & DIFFICULT DECISIONS
Three young adult authors bring real main character energy to their thrilling new novels about the complexities of family, friendships, and romance in a desperate search for answers. In ALLY CONDIE’s novel The Only Girl in Town, every single person in July Fielding’s small town has disappeared. No family. No friends. Her only chance at unraveling the mystery of their disappearance is a series of objects, each a reminder of the people she loved most. And a mysterious message: GET TH3M BACK.…
IT AIN’T EASY BEING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL EDITION
Illustrator ROSE BOUSAMRA’s Frizzy is about Marlene, a young Dominican girl who hates being in the salon and doesn’t understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. MAX BRALLIER returns to his bestselling series with The Last Comics on Earth, in which The Last Kids discover they’ve read every last issue of their favorite comic and decide to continue Z-Man’s legacy by writing and illustrating their own comic book. In A First Time for Everything,…
POMP, SNOW, & CIRQUEUMSTANCE TAKEOVER IN CHILDREN’S ALLEY!
Featured on Good Morning America and based on the award-winning book by Broadway director and Cirque Dreams founder NEIL GOLDBERG, join best friends Pomp, Snow, and Cirqueumstance in a teaser performance for their new magical holiday show and stage spectacular happening later this year! Three best friends, Pomp, Snow, and Cirqueumstance, study and learn special music, magic, and circus skills at a secret university filled with daring acrobatics, song, dance, and astonishing costumes, set in an immersive visual landscape beyond imagination!…
ON CONSPIRACIES, COMICS & SELF-CONFIDENCE: A CONVERSATION WITH URU-CHAN & HUDA FAHMY
From URU-CHAN comes unOrdinary, the popular, action-packed web series about John, an ordinary teen trying to survive high school in a world where superpowers dictate social status, and betrayal and conspiracies make up every turn. Nobody pays much attention to John at a school where the social elite happen to possess unthinkable powers and abilities. He prefers it that way; the more he stays under the radar, and stays close to the Royal’s most powerful Ace, Seraphina, the safer he is in the halls of Wellston High.…
CARL HIAASEN WITH CARLOS FRÍAS ON WRECKER
Wrecker is the latest, wildest adventure in CARL HIAASEN’s Florida. Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker because his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather salvaged shipwrecks for a living. So is it destiny, irony, or just bad luck when Wrecker comes across a speedboat that has run hard aground on a sand flat? The men in the boat don’t want Wrecker to call for help – in fact, they’ll pay him to forget he ever saw them. Wrecker would be happy to forget,…
PICTURE BOOK STORYTIME: PEPITA MEETS BEBITA!
Welcoming a new baby can be hard, especially when you’re used to being the center of attention! When it’s time for Pepita, the puppy of the family, to meet the brand new bebita, she’s in for a few surprises. What do you mean that Mami is too busy to bounce a ball for Pepita? And Papi seriously can’t find any time to scratch her ears? This new bebita is a bit of a problem … But along the way, the two will grow to love one another and become a family with even more smiles and heartwarming moments.…
POMP, SNOW, & CIRQUEUMSTANCE TAKEOVER IN CHILDREN’S ALLEY!
Featured on Good Morning America and based on the award-winning book by Broadway director and Cirque Dreams founder NEIL GOLDBERG, join best friends Pomp, Snow, and Cirqueumstance in a teaser performance for their new magical holiday show and stage spectacular happening later this year! Three best friends, Pomp, Snow, and Cirqueumstance, study and learn special music, magic, and circus skills at a secret university filled with daring acrobatics, song, dance, and astonishing costumes, set in an immersive visual landscape beyond imagination!…
PICTURE BOOK STORYTIME: THE TAIL OF CLAYBE
Claybe is a happy little monkey who lives in the jungle. His favorite thing to do is to swing by his beautiful long furry tail. Claybe is just as happy as happy can be until the day he discovers people. Suddenly, Claybe’s life doesn’t seem as great to him as the lives of people. Claybe wonders if a people’s life is better than a monkey’s life. In The Tail of Claybe by FRANCINELEE HAND, travel with Claybe to the Big City where he learns about people and their ways.…
THE STORIES WE TELL: A CONVERSATION WITH ERIN BOW & DONNA BARBA HIGUERA
In ERIN BOW’s Simon Sort of Says, Simon is known online as a famous survivor of gun violence at school. Two years after the infamous event, 12-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone – the only place in America where the internet is banned. Instead of talking about Simon, the astronomers who flock to the area are busy listening for signs of life in space. And when Simon makes a friend who’s determined to give the scientists what they’re looking for,…
CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI ON MURTAGH: THE WORLD OF ERAGON
Master storyteller CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI returns to the World of Eragon with Murtagh, a stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled,…
MIAMI BOOK FAIR & THE NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION PRESENT THE TEEN PRESS CONFERENCE 2023
The 2023 National Book Award-honored authors in Young People’s Literature visit Miami Book Fair to share more about their books and answer questions from Miami-Dade County’s middle and high school students acting as journalists! Hosted by EBONY LADELLE, authors include ERIN BOW, Simon Sort of Says; KENNETH M. CADOW, Gather; HUDA FAHMY, Huda F Cares; DAN NOTT, Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day;…