Among the award-winning writers participating in the Waupaca Book Festival the weekend of Oct. 1-2 are three authors who write books for children and young adults.
John Green is the author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns and the recently released Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-authored with David Levithan.
A winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, Green decided to become a writer after making a list of things he was good at. The list included “telling lies” and “sitting.” So he became a writer. Green is currently writing his next as yet unnamed novel.
He is also one-half of the Vlogbrothers along with his brother Hank. John and Hank’s videos at youtube.com/vlogbrothers have been watched millions of times by tens of thousands of loyal viewers who call themselves Nerdfighters. Together they have built a tightknit community devoted to books, social activism and the love of all things nerdy. For more information about Green, go to www.johngreenbooks.com.
Green will speak at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, at Waupaca High School. He will also host a presentation with Amy Krouse Rosenthal at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Waupaca Recreation Center.
Among her many creative endeavors, Rosenthal is a writer, filmmaker and radio host. The New York Times said, “Her books radiate fun the way tulips radiate spring: they are elegant and spirit-lifting.”
Rosenthal has published 12 children’s books, including the New York Times best-sellers Duck! Rabbit! and Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons. Duck! Rabbit! was selected as TIME magazine’s best children’s book of 2009.
As for her adult work, Amazon named her Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life one of the top 10 memoirs of 2005. Rosenthal is also the creator of YouTube sensations such as 17 Things I Made and the international film project, The Beckoning of Lovely. She is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Paris-Sorbonne. She lives with her family in Chicago. For more information, go to www.whoisamy.com.
Patrick Jones is the author of six novels for teens, most recently the supernatural tome The Tear Collector. His 2007 novel Chasing Tail Lights was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, while his first novel Things Change was a runner-up for the Ohio Teen Buckeye Book Award.
A former librarian for teenagers, Jones received lifetime achievement awards from the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association in 2006. While he lives in Minneapolis, he still considers Flint, Mich., his hometown. He can be found on the Web at www.connectingya.com.
Jones will meet with readers at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, in the teen room at the Waupaca Area Public Library.
Admission to the readings and to the general festival is free and open to the public.