Fostering the importance of literacy and encouraging the joy of literature in a young person's life is an important part of the Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word. A big thank you to each of the authors, illustrators, musicians, storytellers, artists, and book characters that made the 2011 SFB so much fun.
The children's and young adult programs at the Festival are great opportunities for librarians, educators, and parents to seek and find the latest authors and hot discussion topics. All ages will find something they love at the Southern Festival of Books. Children's and young adult events at the Southern Festival of Books take place on Saturday and Sunday only.
Children's and Young Adult authors who participated in the 2011 Southern Festival of Books:
- Mark Wayne Adams is the illustrator of several books including The Belly Button Fairy and The Fart Fairy. He has worked for the Walt Disney Company both as a caricature artist and as a graphic designer. He lives in Longwood, Florida. King for a A Day: The Story of Stories
- Tom Angleberger is the author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Horton Halfpott, and other books for kids. He has been a fan of Star Wars and origami for a long, long time and loves making origami Star Wars characters. Picures of some of his foldings--along with a bunch of really awesome ones sent in by readers--are online at www.origamiyoda.com. Tom lives in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book
- Tracy Barrett teaches Italian language and civilization at Vanderbilt University. Her books include King of Ithaka, On Etruscan Time, Cold in Summer, Anna of Byzantium, and the Sherlock Files series. Tracy lives with her family in Nashville. www.tracybarrett.com Dark of the Moon
- T.A. Barron is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling creator of the twelve-book Merlin Saga, which has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into a dozen languages. Always a believer in the heroism of every child and in the magnificence of nature, Barron has become a major keeper of the Merlin sotry. Those same ideals led him to found the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which honors outstanding young people of all descriptions. He lives in Colorado with his wife and children, who are his favorite hiking partners and first readers. www.tabarron.com Merlin: The Book of Magic
- Mary Casanova is the author of twenty-five books for young readers, including novels, series ("Dog Watch"), books for American Girl (Chrissa, Jess) and picture books (One-Dog Canoe, Utterly Otterly Day). The Horn Book praised her picture book, Some Dog!, by saying, "Satisfying sound play and frequent dog howls and yips will make this canine tale a hit as a group read-aloud and a read-alone for new readers." Also illustrated by Ard Hoyt, The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town, features an outlaw who stirs up trouble looking for something to stop his "itchin' and twitchin', "but no one knows what to do, except young Sam, who risks stepping into the outlaw's shadow and leads him to the one thing that has helped him with his own restless ways - the library. Kirkus said, "This hilarious tall tale [is] not only a plug for books and reading but an outsized winner." Mary makes her home in northern Minnesota with her husband, Charlie, and their dogs and horses. www.maraycasanova.com The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town
- Judy Christie started keeping a diary when she was nine years old and still has all of them. A former journalist, her first newspaper job was as editor of The Barret Banner in elementary school. Wreath is her first Young Adult novel. She and her husband live in North Louisiana, where she loves to sit in the porch swing and read.
- L.M. Davis loves great storytelling. She needs nothing more than a good book and a comfy chair to be happy. She was born in the South, raised in the North, and has several English degrees under her belt. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia and is contemplating getting a cat. It will probably be black. This is her first book. Interlopers: A Shifters Novel
- G.M. Dyrek spent her growing up years traveling and adjusting to new schools and different cultures and dreaming of living in a castle or aboard the Starship Enterprise. As an adult, Grace declared a new career with each move ranging from emergency room counselor to graphic illustrator for the CIA. She is currently the librarian at a middle school. www.gmdyrek.com The Seer and The Scribe: Spear of Destiny
- Sonia Gensler grew up in a small Tennessee town and spent her early adulthood collecting impractical degrees from various Midwestern universities. A former high school English teacher, she now writes full time in Oklahoma. So far, her husband and cat are putting up with this. The Revenant is her debut novel. The Revenant
- N.C. Hall (aka Aunt Nancy) has degrees in Art Education and Reading. She has spent her life making art and teaching children how to make happy, strong brains! She has designed a new series of books to encourage the very young to read and make art on their own, and engage older family members on this exciting journey of self-discovery. The Coffee Can Club
- Amanda Havard has been telling stories since before she could write. She grew up in Dallas, Texas, where her first book was published in her elementary school library at age seven. She received bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Vanderbilt University. She currently resides in Nashville with her baby grand piano and more story ideas than she could tell in one lifetime. www.amandahavard.com The Survivors
- Karyn Henley has written over 100 titles which include a mix of children's books, articles, parent-teacher books, curricula, preschool musicals, and CDs/DVDs of original music for children. An accomplished songwriter, Karyn was a Dove Award nominee and received a regional Emmy Award as Music Composer for a Christmas TV special. A graduate of Abilene Christian University, Karyn received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Nashville. www.karynhenley.com Breath of Angel
- Josh Lewis writes books. When he's not doing that he does other things, like sometimes he sleeps and sometimes he snores and sometimes his wife thumps him on his head to get him to stop and sometimes he rides the train and imagines what it would be like if all people had beards. This is Josh's fourth book for young readers but definitely not his last because he just learned how to count to five, so he wants to write at least that many. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter. Super Chicken Nugget Boy and the Massive Meatloaf Man Manhunt
- Myra McEntire knows the words to every R&B hit of the last decade, but since she lives in Nashville, the country music capital of America, her lyrical talents go sadly unappreciated. She's chosen, instead, to channel her "mad word skills" into creating stories infused with her love of music. Hourglass is her first novel. www.myramcentire.com Hourglass
- Laura Murray, a former teacher, began each school year with a unit in which kids would follow candy and crumb trails to find their missing Gingerbread Man. Originally from Nashville, she currently lives in Norther Virginia. This is her first book. www.lauramurraybooks.com The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School
- Jackson Pearce is twenty-six years old and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with a slightly cross-eyed cat and a lot of secondhand furniture. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and a minor in Philosophy. She auditioned for the circus once, but didn't make it; other jobs she's had include obituaries writer, biker bar waitress, and receptionist. Now Jackson coaches both color guard and winter guard at a local high school. www.jackson-pearce.com Sweetly
- A.S. Peterson served aboard a number of naval vessels while in the US Marine Corps, none of them pirate ships. He currently lives and writes in Nashville where he is a proud member of the Rabbit Room, a community of fellow writers, artists, and musicians. www.thefiddlersgun.com Fiddler's Green
- Matt Phelan is the author-illustrator of the highly acclaimed and award-winning graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn. He is also the illustrator of many books for young readers, including Always and I'll Be There by Ann Stott and The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Around the World
- Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books for children, including Sit-In, one of many collaborations with her husband, illustrator Brian Pinkney. They live in Brooklyn, New York with their two children. Bird in a Box
- Eric Powell is a writer and artist who has contributed work on such comics titles as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Hellboy: Weird Tales, Star Wars Tales,The Incredible Hulk, Black Panther, The Avengers, The Hood, MAD Magazine. Eking out a meager living in the comics field since 1995, Eric didn't find true success until he launched his critically acclaimed dark comedy series, "The Goon," which was subsequently picked up by Dark Horse Comics. He has been working in collaboration with acclaimed director David Fincher to bring the Goon to life on the big screen as an animated feature film. The Goon
- Bobbie Pyron has worked in libraries and bookstores in North Carolina, in Tennessee, and in Utah, where she's now a part-time librarian. A full-time dog lover, she's been active in local animal rescue work for many years. A Dog's Way Home is Bobbie's first book for tween readers and her first for HarperCollins. Her debut YA novel, The Ring, was published in 2009 by Westside Books. Bobbie lives in Park City, Utah with her husband, Todd, and her dogs Boo, Teddy, and Sherlock. A Dog's Way Home
- Catherine Reef is the author of more than forty nonfiction books for young people and adults, many of them award winners. She lives in College Park, Maryland. www.catherinereef.com Jane Austen: A Life Revealed
- Roger Reid is a writer, director, and producer for the award-winning Discovering Alabama television series, a program of The University of Alabama's Alabama Museum of Natural History in cooperation with Alabama Public Television. He lives with his family in Birmingham. www.rogerreidbooks.com Time
- Matthew Reinhart is the co-creator of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica and Encyclopedia Mythologica series. He has also created many other award-winning pop-up books, including Mommy? by Maurice Sendak and Arthur Yorinks and Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy. He lives in New York City. www.matthewreinhart.com Encyclopedia Mythologica: Dragons & Monsters
- Jonathan Rogers grew up in Georgia, where he spent many happy hours in the swamps and river bottoms on which the wild places of The Charlatan's Boyare based. He received his undergraduate degree from Furman University and holds a doctorate in seventeenth-century English literature from Vanderbilt University. He lives with his family in Nashville. www.jonathan-rogers.com The Charlatan's Boy
- Victoria Schwab is the twenty-three-year old author of The Near Witch. She's a product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a Southern upbringing. She currently lives in Nashville where she is working on her second novel. The Near Witch
- Casey Scieszka has set up camp all over the world - from China to Mail to Morocco. She is co-founder of American Friends IEP, a non-profit which helps raise money for local language programs and book printing in Mali, West Africa. Scieszka is a native of, and currently lives in, Brooklyn. To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story
- Ruta Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. Between Shades of Gray is her first novel and was inspired by her family's history. "It's a story of extreme suffering, tremendous hope, and how sometimes love reveals the miraculous nature of the human spirit," says Sepetys. Ruta now lives with her family in Tennessee. www.rutasepetys.com Between Shades of Gray
- Bob Shea has written several children's books, including New Socks, Big Plans, which was illustrated by Lane Smith, Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, Race You To Bed, and Oh Daddy. You know that PBS Kids spot where the pig runs around and eats things that begin with the letter "p"? Bob made that! He has met Al Roker and Fonzie. His stories, artwork and characters have appeared on Nick Jr. and Noggin. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Colleen and his son, Ryan. He and Colleen own Perfectly Nice, a graphic design studio. Bob enjoys cake. www.bobshea.com Dinosaur vs. the Library
- Vicky Alvear Shecter is the author of two nonfiction books about the ancient world: Alexander the Great Rocks the World, a VOYA Honor Pick for Nonfiction, and Cleopatra Rules!. A docent in the Ancient History department of the Carlos Museum of Art, she lives in Avondale Estates, Georgia. Cleopatra's Moon
- Debbie Shoulders has been an educator for many years and currently teaches computer technology. She also writes a weekly column about new children's book for her local newspaper. T is for Titanic
- Mike Shoulders has been involved in education for more than thirty years. Dr. Shoulders travels extensively, visiting schools and speaking at conferences across the country. He lives in Clarksville. T is for Titanic
- Judy Sierra is the author of many critically acclaimed children's books, including the New York Times bestseller Wild About Books, The Sleepy Little Alphabet,Born to Read, Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf, and Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf. www.judysierra.net ZooZical
- Obert Skye loves dragons. He wishes he had a few. Actually, he wishes he had a few dozen. Unfortunately, at the moment he doesn't even have one. Because of this he's really enjoyed telling the tale of Beck Phillips and his family's ability. To quote Obert, "Dragon roll aside, writing this book has been one exciting ride." Obert is also the award-winning author of the bestselling "Leven Thumps" series. Obert currently lives indoors and near a thin, winding road.Wonkenstein
- Laurel Snyder is the author of many books for kids, including Penny Dreadful, Any Which Wall, and Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains. A native of Baltimore, she now resides happily in Atlanta with her husband, Chris, and their two small sons, and a cat and dog who get along admirably because they are exactly the same size. Laurel has recently begun a collection of vintage bread boxes. www.laurelsnyder.com Bigger Than a Breadbox
- Bryan Steverson Amazing Baseball Heroes: Inspirational Negro League Stories
- Sarah Sullivan, the author of Dear Baby: Letters from Your Big Brother, is a recipient of an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College. She lives in West Virginia, where old-time fiddlers play throughout the seasons. www.sarahsullivanbooks.com Passing the Music Down
- Jennifer Trafton was kidnapped by pirates at the age of five and spent her childhood at sea, swabbing the deck of a ship with a mop made from the stolen whiskers of a rare silver manatee. Or she wishes she had been, because then she would have an interesting life story to tell. Instead, she grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky with no ocean in sight and now lives near Nashville. She enjoys drawing pictures, reading books, imagining adventures and trying desperately to convince her beautiful and neurotic dog to go outside. www.jennifertrafton.com The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic
- Kristin O'Donnell Tubb is the author of Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different. She describes herself as "basically a dork who would still be going to school if they'd let me. But they won't (cause that'd just be weird), so I write instead. All of the research, none of the quizzes. It's heaven!" She lives in TN with her family. Visit her online at www.KristinTubb.com. Selling Hope
- Susan Vaught is the author of My Big Fat Manifesto, Trigger, Exposed, and other novels, as well as Oathbreaker, which she coauthored with her son, JB Redmond. She is also a practicing psychiatrist. www.susanvaught.com Going Underground
- Jessica Warman is also the author of Breathless, which received three starred reviews and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Where the Truth Lies. The idea for Between came from an actual incident from her childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (he was eventually found, alive). Jessica lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. www.jessicawarman.com Between
- Steven Weinberg, a native of Washington, D.C. has set up camp all over the world - from China to Mali to Morocco. He is co-founder of American Friends of IEP, a nonprofit which helps raise money for local language programs and book printing in Mali, West Africa. He currently lives in Brooklyn. To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story
- Jo Whittemore is the author of "The Silverskin Legacy" fantasy trilogy, as well as the tween humor novels, Front Page Face-Off and Odd Girl In. She is a member of the SCBWI and is one of the founding members of AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) and the Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels. Jo has also written for, and been featured in, newspapers and national magazines. When she isn't writing, Jo spends her time with family and friends in Austin, Texas, dreaming of the day she can afford a chocolate house with toffee furniture. www.jowhittemore.com Odd Girl In
- Eric Wight is the author and illustrator of "Frankie Pickle," a new chapter book series published by Simon & Schuster. Prior to that, he was an animator for almost ten years for such companies as Walt Disney, Warner Bros., and Cartoon Network. Wight's comic book adaptation of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay helped garner both the Harvey and Eisner Awards for Best Anthology, as well as the Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and his debut graphic novel, My Dead Girlfriend, was listed among the 2008 Great Graphic Novels for Teens by YALSA. His artwork has also been prominently featured on such TV series as The O.C. and Six Feet Under. Frankie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace
- Moira Young has been by turns an actress, dancer, and opera singer, but her first loves are books and writing. A native Canadian, she now lives in the UK with her husband. Blood Red Road is her first novel. Blood Red Road
Youth Stage Schedule
Saturday, October 15, 2011
9:00-9:30 a.m. Conductor Jack & The Zinghoppers
10:00-10:30 a.m. Get creative with crafts!
10:30-11:00 a.m. Conductor Jack & The Zinghoppers
11:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The Nashville Zoo presents "Getting in Touch with Tennessee"
12:00-12:45 p.m. Noah And the Arc, The West Meade Conservancy
12:45-1:45 p.m. The Ukedelics
2:00-3:00 p.m. The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School, Laura Murray
3:00-4:00 p.m. Creating through illustration with Matt Phelan
4:00-4:30 p.m. Llama Llama's Birthday Party
4:30-5:30 p.m. Selling Hope, Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
Sunday, October 16, 2011
12:15-1:15 p.m. Star Wars Origami with Tom Angleberger
1:30-2:30 p.m. King for a Day - The Story of Stories, Learn to Draw with Mark Wayne Adams
2:30-3:30 p.m. Little Critter's Birthday Party
3:30-4:30 p.m. The Coffee Can Club and Your Great Big Brain with Aunt Nancy
