Fans of YA literature won’t want to miss the second annual St. Louis Teen Book Festival on December 2. This one-day festival at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, which is sponsored by the St. Louis County Library and The Novel Neighbor bookstore, will be a chance for teen readers and other YA fans to unite in their love of reading.
The diverse line-up for this year’s festival includes bestselling YA authors in science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, thriller, and romantic comedy. The festival also features several debut voices and six local authors.
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The festival kicks off at 1 p.m. with a keynote talk by Neal Shusterman, a New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 science-fiction and fantasy novels. In 2015, Challenger Deep, his book about a character who is struggling with schizophrenia, won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. In his talk, Shusterman will discuss Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe and Courage to Dream.
Beginning at 2 p.m., there will be two breakout sessions that will include panel discussions on a range of topics, including romantasy, literary influences and inspirations, mental health representations in YA literature, the retelling of classics, and more. There will also be a breakout session that will provide advice on the writing process for aspiring authors.
The festival concludes with a 90-minute author book signing. Books will be available for purchase by The Novel Neighbor.
The St. Louis Teen Book Festival takes place on Saturday, December 2 from 1–5:30 p.m. and is free to the public. On December 1 at 6 p.m., there will be an educator’s happy hour for teachers and librarians at The Novel Neighbor. You can find more information here.
Need help planning your afternoon at the fest? Here’s a look at the five must-see authors:
Alex Aster, the 28-year-old, Colombian-American author, is a bestselling author and has amassed more than a million followers on TikTok. Aster will present the second book in her fantasy series, Lightlark.
Alexandra Bracken is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, best known for The Darkest Minds, which was made into a movie starring Mandy Moore, and the Passenger series. She will share her latest book, Silver in the Bone, which is a Celtic legend-inspired contemporary fantasy.
St. Louis author Soman Chainani will present The School for Good and Evil: Collector’s Edition, which was made into a hit Netflix movie in 2022. In this fantasy series, boys and girls attend a magical school where they are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains.
Doan Phuong Nguyen is a St. Louis–based author who immigrated to the US from Vietnam when she was in elementary school. In her book Mèo and Bé, a young girl grapples with the injustices of war while finding compassion and kindness through the love of a found family.
Justin Reynolds is the bestselling author of Opposite of Always, a novel about the choices we make and the people we choose. Reynolds will present House Party, a collaborative novel with 10 YA authors. The interconnected stories provide a snapshot of a diverse group of classmates getting ready to say goodbye to high school.
