YA, Boswell!: Hank Green with Dessa, Epic Reads (Kendare Blake, Mackenzi Lee, Elana K. Arnold, Claire Legrand, Anna Godbersen) Meet-Up, Laini Taylor at West Allis Public Library, and Marissa Meyer at Boswell

This fall brings the best YA lineup to Milwaukee in memory* with four amazing events at Boswell and our partner locations. Please note that two events are free with registration and two are ticketed, but on of the ticketed events has a free signing following. And also note that while our first event is a novel published as an trade adult title, we know that Hank Green, who along with brother John Green, has a large YA following.

Event #1: Hank Green with Dessa
When: Monday, October 1, 7 pm
Where: UWM Student Union, 2200 E Kenmore Blvd
Cost: $30, includes signed book
Ticket info (general public): hankgreenmke.bpt.me
Featured title: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

"Join Hank Green and special guest Dessa on tour in support of Hanks debut novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. In this multimedia event, Hank and Dessa will talk about their books, answer audience questions, and more. Of the book, Kirkus writes:"A young graphic artist inspires worldwide hysteria when she accidentally makes first contact with an alien.Famous multimedia wunderkind Green is brother to that John Green, so no pressure or anything on his debut novel."

What Boswellian Tim McCarthy said about the book: "I love Green's sharp, natural dialog, his clever but nonthreatening use of math and science and music, and how April talks to us directly about her steep, deeply human learning curve. She's openly confused about the allure and cost of instant fame, and about hateful divisions growing from fear. She's equally clear about the ultimate beauty of people who unite against ugliness. This will be a fast, fun, thought provoking read for adults of any age."

What you get: A signed book and an amazing show. Alas, the VIP meet-and-greet is sold out. There is no public signing for this book, so no personalizations and no backlist signed. Please note there are specially priced tickets for UWM students, faculty, and staff, available at the UWM Student Union Box Office. Signed copies of Dessa's new memoir, My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love, will also be available for sale at this event.

Event #2: Epic Reads Meetup, with Kendare Blake, Mackenzi Lee, Elana K. Arnold, Claire Legrand, and Anna Godbersen When: Wednesday, October 3, 6:30 pm
Where: Boswell Book Company, 2559 N Downer Ave
Cost: $21, including your choice of five featured titles. And yes, there will be swag!
Ticket info: epicreadsmke.bpt.me
Featured titles: Five altogether! Check out the linked titles below.

So many YA books, so little time. Epic Reads invites readers of all ages to join a round-table where you'll get to strike up conversation with authors who will gab about their books and other fan favorites. It's like every attendee is a VIP. And because we'll be rotating the authors, you'll get quality time with all five of our YA stars.

Kendare Blake's Two Dark Reigns is the third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns series, which Kirkus called "Tragic, devastating, horrifying, enthralling. In Blake's latest installment, a queen that has long been dead makes a chilling return to Fennbirn Island. Of Three Dark Crowns and its sequels, Boswellian Jen Steele says that "Kendare Blake's series is a dark, creepy fantasy that will keep you spellbound to the very last moment."

Boswell welcomes back Mackenzi Lee for The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. In this highly anticipated sequel to the bestselling The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Felicity Montague must use all her womanly wits and wiles to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor, even if she has to turn to a life of crime to do it. From Boswell's Jenny Chou: "Don’t miss this delightful return to the 18th century world of siblings Felicity and Monty Montague. The banter between Felicity and her roguish brother is just as hilarious, but this time around it’s clear that as much as they provoke each other, beneath it all is affection."

Also returning to Boswell is National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold, whose latest novel is Damsel, a stunning new YA fairy tale turned askew. A prince slays a dragon and takes his princess, but when Ama wakes up in the arms of Prince Emory, it's not going to be happily ever after, not with this prince. Jenny Chou writes: "My favorite part about Damsel was the very last page, but don’t even think of reading that first! Enjoy every word of this this fiercely feminist novel."

Claire Legrand's new nail-biter is Sawkill Girls, a frightening standalone contemporary teen horror novel about three girls who take on an insidious monster that preys upon young women. Legrand's Some Kind of Happiness was an Edgar Award finalist. From Booklist's starred review: "Through this dank, atmospheric, and genuinely frightening narrative, Legrand weaves powerful threads about the dangerous journey of growing up female. In a world where monsters linger at the edges, this is an intensely character-driven story about girls who support each other, girls who betray each other, and girls who love each other in many complicated ways. Strange, eerie, and unforgettable."

When We Caught Fire, by Anna Godbersen, is set during Chicago's Great Fire of 1871 and features a young woman swept up in high society and a lady's maid, her childhood friend, who are both in love with the same young man. Godbersen is author of the popular Luxe series. School Library Journal writes calls this "a steamy romance set amid the tragic Chicago fire of 1871 that will intrigue fans of dramatic, swoony historical fiction."

Authors will personalize and take photos. Yes, you can bring additional books from home. And yes, if you don't want to be part o the Meet-Up but still want to get books signed, Boswell reopens to the general public at 8 pm and all are welcome to join the signing line.

Event #3: Laini Tylor When: Tuesday, October 9, 6:30 pm
Where: West Allis Public Library, 7421 W National Ave
Cost: Free!
Registration here for this event.
Featured title: Muse of Nightmares

National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the hugely popular Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, comes to West Allis Public Library with Muse of Nightmares, the highly anticipated sequel to her novel Strange the Dreamer. Strange the Dreamer was named a Printz Honor Book by the American Library Association.

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation clash in Muse of Nightmares, which is, according to Kirkus Reviews, “a sequel that surpasses the original." And Boswell's Jenny Chou exclaims: "In Muse of Nightmares, Laini Taylor pulled me back into the ingeniously-built world of Strange the Dreamer and didn’t let me go for 500 riveting pages. Set aside a weekend (or one intense all-nighter), and prepare to be emotionally drained but exhilarated by this novel."

From Jonathan Hunt in Horn Book Magazine: "Taylor's prodigious imagination is on full display: marvelous world-building, suspenseful plotting, complex characterization, finely crafted prose, and grand thematic flourishes make her one of the most formidable contemporary writers in the YA fantasy genre."

Boswell will be at this event selling books. Yes, you bring Taylor's backlist from home to be signed. And yes, Taylor will personalize and pose for photos.

Event #4: Marissa Meyer
When: Thursday, November 8, 7 pm
Where: Boswell Book Company, 2559 N Downer Ave
Register for free or upgrade to include a copy of for signing line priority at marissamke.bpt.me
Featured title: Archenemies

Boswell is thrilled to be hosting an appearance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer. Fans of Renegades will be eagerly awaiting Archenemies, the long-awaited second installment after Renegades.

Our event will include a talk, a question-and-answer period, and a signing. While Meyer will sign all copies brought to the event, she will only personalize copies of Archenemies, as well as one other title of the attendee's choice. She will sign memorabilia and pose for photos.

Publishers Weekly writes: ""In a vividly dark and fully imagined universe where special abilities are feared unless they can be strictly controlled and labeled, Meyer celebrates and subverts popular superhero tropes while mining the gray area between malevolence and virtue...Beyond the capes and masks is a strikingly grounded story of star-crossed would-be lovers, deception, and the recognition that most of humanity exists between the extremes of good and evil."

Are you as excited about these events as we are and would you like to help spread the word so that we can get more great YA authors to the Milwaukee area? Make sure your friends get this info. And if you have a place to post this info, we've got 11x17 posters featuring all four events. Stop by Boswell and ask for one - while supplies last.

To summarize (click to registration or ticket link):
Monday, October 1: Hank Green with Dessa at UWM
Wednesday, October 3: Epic Reads Meetup at Boswell, with Kendare Blake, Mackenzi Lee, Elana K. Arnold, Claire Legrand, and Anna Godbersen
Tuesday, October 9: Laini Taylor at West Allis Public Library
Thursday, November 8: Marissa Meyer at Boswell

*That said, my memory can be a mess. But I don't think we've ever had more than two YA events in a season and certainly not one with five authors.