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Peerbagh Storytelling
Peerbagh’s (pronounced: pir-baag) mission is to improve teacher, librarian, and parent skills and bring the lost art of storytelling into the classroom or teaching environment through art, creative writing, theater, cultural inquisitiveness, and oral storytelling. We conduct South-Asia-inspired storytelling workshops, publish children’s books, story capsules (audio and video) and create toolkits for educators and families. We create an inclusive space for ALL children, so they have a sense of belonging and build creative confidence.
Tween Space! (City Hall Chambers)
1 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Peerbagh Storytelling (City Hall Chambers)
1 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
The Museum of Lost and Found is a warm, relatable middle-grade story about a friendship falling apart and the abandoned museum that becomes a shrine to lost connections​.
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Leila Sales is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels for children and young adults, including THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, ONCE WAS A TIME, and, most recently, THE MUSEUM OF LOST AND FOUND. Her books have been optioned for stage and screen, selected for many state award lists, translated into a dozen languages, and received numerous starred reviews. Leila grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts; graduated from the University of Chicago; worked in book publishing in New York City; and now lives in Austin, Texas.
The Museum of Lost and Found
Leila Sales
Reaching for the Stars with Leila Sales, Lyla Lee, and Lee Reed (City Hall Chambers)
2 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd
Lyla Lee
This first book in a sparkling middle grade series giving a fresh take on The Baby-Sitters Club follows a young Korean American girl who starts a business with her best friends to support her artistic dreams.
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Lyla Lee is the bestselling author of YA books about K-pop and K-dramas as well as the Mindy Kim series and the upcoming Gigi Shin books for younger readers. Her books have been translated into multiple languages around the world. Originally from South Korea, she’s lived in various cities throughout the United States, worked various jobs in Hollywood, and studied Psychology and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. She now lives in Dallas, Texas.
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Constellation Clues
Lee Reed
Quinn Knight, a new sixth grader at Hill Springs Middle School in Central Texas, has always been a little different. Not only is she an astrophotographer who battles chronic migraine headaches, she’s recently discovered that the stars—those in the Pleiades constellation, to be exact—are trying to tell her something.
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Lee Reed writes middle grade mysteries, picture books, and book club fiction. Lee is also a senior editor at Greenleaf Book Group. Prior to shifting her career to all things words and books, Lee had a successful and rewarding career in corporate sustainability strategy and communications. She lives in Austin, Texas.
By Any Other Name
Erin Cotter
A down-on-his-luck actor and an English lord reluctantly team up to solve the murder of Christopher Marlowe in this Shakespearean-era “quippy, heart-wrenching debut…ideal for fans of Mackenzi Lee and F.T. Lukens” (Kirkus Reviews).
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Erin Cotter writes young adult fiction. Originally from Buffalo, New York, she currently calls Austin home. When not writing she spends time with her partner and pets, eating tacos, and searching for Golden-cheeked Warblers in the Texas Hill Country.
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Teen Panel with Erin Cotter and Aaron Aceves (Barnes and Noble)
2 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
(LGBTQ+ Friendly)
This is Why They Hate Us
Aaron Aceves
Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving LA for the summer to reunite with a girl his parents are trying to set him up with. Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways.
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Aaron H. Aceves (he/him) is a bisexual, Mexican-American writer born and raised in East L.A. He graduated from Harvard College and received his MFA from Columbia University. His fiction has appeared in Epiphany, The Florida Review, and Passages North, among other places. He currently lives in Texas, where he serves as an Early Career Provost Fellow at UT Austin, and his debut young adult novel, This Is Why They Hate Us, was released by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. It received multiple starred reviews and was named a Best Young Adult Book of 2022 by Kirkus Reviews.
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For the Love of Dragons with Mari Mancusi and Kacy Ritter (City Hall Chambers)
3 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
New Dragon City
Mari Mancusi
A high-stakes, action-packed adventure about friendship, survival, and fighting for ones you love, perfect for fans of Wings of Fire and How to Train Your Dragon.
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Mari Mancusi is a former Emmy award winning TV producer and author of more than two dozen sci-fi/fantasy books for kids, teens and adults. In addition to writing, Mari is an avid cosplayer, horror fan, and MMORPG gamer. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their young daughter.
The Great Texas Dragon Race
Kacy Ritter
Wings of Fire meets The Hunger Games in this debut contemporary middle grade fantasy stand-alone about thirteen-year-old Cassidy Drake, who enters the dangerous Great Texas Dragon Race to save her family’s dragon sanctuary.
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Kacy Ritter is a behavioral health professional by day and MG fantasy writer by night. She's also a member of SCBWI Houston. In between writing and meetings, she imagines taking off on a Texas BBQ and taco tour with her rescue dog and cats. She lives in Houston, Texas.