Library To Host Young Adult Author Talks Throughout May
The Falmouth Public Library will host a series of young adult author talks throughout May and is hoping to engage local teens in meaningful conversations with some of their favorite authors.
The series will feature five authors, each with 30-minute question-and-answer sessions: Tiffany D. Jackson, Laurie Halse Anderson, Brendan Kiely, Cristin Terrill and Candace Iloh. Each author brings a unique genre and set of skills and experience to the table, something that Young Adult Librarian Meg Krohn hopes will appeal to a wide spectrum of teenagers.
“I’m happy that we have a pretty diverse group of authors here,” Ms. Krohn said. “I think [the idea] first came up when I was talking with Sarah at Eight Cousins across the street, and she was trying to get an author to come in and do a book talk and it occurred to me that that would be pretty awesome.”
Ms. Krohn said she was also inspired after a close friend of hers attended a book talk with her favorite adult author, Cheryl Strayed.
“She was just so excited about it,” Ms. Krohn said. “She was like, ‘I wrote in my question, they read my question out loud, they said my name.’ I mean, books are so powerful and they mean so much to people. I remember I told her, ‘This exact experience that you just had with your favorite author [is what] I really want the kids to have with these authors.’ ”
The series of talks will begin on May 3, with talks each Tuesday at 7 PM throughout the month with the option to attend in person at the library or via Zoom.
The first author is Tiffany D. Jackson. She is currently promoting her new book “White Smoke,” lauded as a thrilling mix of “The Haunting of Hill House” Netflix show and the movie “Get Out,” but her previous titles “Grown” and “Allegedly” are well-known and speak to often-avoided topics, like sexual assault. Ms. Jackson’s titles have also appeared on districtwide summer reading lists for students.
Laurie Halse Anderson, known for “Speak,” will also be hosting a talk. Like Ms. Jackson’s “Grown” and “Allegedly,” some of Ms. Halse Anderson’s titles deal with heavy themes, such as sexual assault and issues relating to class and race.
Brendan Kiely is the author of “The Other Talk: Reckoning with Our White Privilege,” a book intended to spark conversation with white children about race in an accessible introductory way. He also co-authored “All American Boys” with Jason Reynolds, writing from the perspective of a white boy who witnesses a Black classmate beaten by the police.
Much of Mr. Kiely’s work has to do with race relations, something that he, as a white man, has been working to understand for a long time.
“He grew up in an affluent, super-white situation and has done a lot of work on himself and done a lot of research and really has done the work, I guess, to get to an anti-racist point,” Ms. Krohn said. “He, to his credit, talks about a lot of times when he messed up, when he stole stuff, when he did not get in trouble and he definitely should have gotten in trouble, and that’s super interesting.”
Cristin Terrill, known for her thrillers often coupled with sci-fi twists, is also on the itinerary. Known for her works “Here Lies Daniel Tate” and “All Our Yesterdays,” Ms. Terrill is promoting her upcoming book “The Stars Between Us,” which is scheduled for publication in August. “All Our Yesterdays” is the winner of the International Thriller Writers’ Award for Best YA Novel.
The final presenter of the month will be Candace Iloh, a nonbinary writer known for their novel “Everybody Looking.” Their upcoming book, “Break This House,” is set to release just one week before their author talk at the library.
“The first book is heavily autobiographical, is my understanding,” Ms. Krohn said. “It’s actually written in verse also, which is awesome.”
The Young Adult Room and its events are geared toward all teens, typically 7th through 12th grades, Ms. Krohn said.
With such a variety of authors, she is hopeful that meaningful discussions will be had surrounding the topics so prevalent in today’s society, including race, gender, identity and the stigma of sexual assault.
“There is a wide range, we cater to that entire age group,” Ms. Krohn said. “I know there are some things that people might not think is age-appropriate for a 13-year-old but they’re definitely going to be in this room because they’re appropriate for an 18-year-old.”
Ms. Krohn said she cannot think of a better way to spend the young adult programming money, and is eager to register students for the event.
“I just feel like it’s such a cool opportunity, not only for kids who might be reading this in school but aspiring writers or aspiring journalists or people that want to talk about the process of writing and research and all those kinds of things,” Ms. Krohn said. “I mean, when I was in high school, I would’ve loved to be able to ask one of my favorite authors a question. And all of these have potential but especially Tiffany D. Jackson and Laurie Halse Anderson, those are definitely some of Falmouth High School’s favorite authors, and what a cool thing to get to chat with your favorite author.”
Additionally, Ms. Krohn is looking for student moderators to serve as the “interviewer” for each of the five planned author talks.
“Ideally, it’s somebody who has read one of this author’s books,” Ms. Krohn said of the student moderator position. “I think there are some students who are drawn or inclined to do that kind of thing…but really [it’s] just somebody that’s into reading, into these books in particular maybe, or could be someone who is looking into journalism or reporting and just wants to be the question asker.”
The plan, she said, is to have teenagers in the young adult room asking the questions submitted by attendees and curated by Ms. Krohn. There will be about 25 seats in the room for those who choose to attend in person and about 99 seats available through Zoom.
“I am marketing it to teens and I’m hoping to keep it pretty much teens in the room but adults are more than welcome to join the Zoom,” Ms. Krohn said. “I know there are some English teachers that are going to want to do it and a lot of adults read YA. I do, and not just because I’m a YA librarian.”
Interested teens or adults should visit the Falmouth Public Library’s teen page for more information and registration. Any students interested in being a moderator for any of the author talks are encouraged to reach out to mkrohn@falmouthpubliclibrary.org.
“I’m imagining some really good questions asked and I’m imagining the authors will be totally impressed with the caliber of questions and the opportunity for some maybe even uncomfortable conversation,” Ms. Krohn said. “Something valuable, something that goes a little deeper than perhaps Study or your CliffsNotes questions. I want people to get a lot out of it. The authors are good and cool enough that if people show up, they will be engaged. You’d be hard-pressed not to be engaged talking with these people.”