Event Report: The Greater Houston Teen Book Convention

This past Saturday, April 11, the annual Greater Houston Teen Book Con was held at Alief Taylor High School, sponsored by the Alief Education Foundation, Blue Willow Bookshop, Follet Library Resources, Mackin Educational Resources, Escue & Associates, and more.

One thing I thought this book convention did especially well was their selection of authors.  There was a nice mix of big names, steadily working authors, and newbies.  Debut author Henry Turner's ASK THE DARK even came out the week of the event.  There was also a diverse mix of authors, which is particularly important in Houston, currently the most diverse city in the US.  Our students need to see that someone like them can have a career as an author.  As Ally Carter said in "The Secrets That Bind Us" panel, just knowing S.E. Hinton was a teen girl from Oklahoma opened her mind to the possibility of writing professionally, and every kid deserves that.  The diverse authors included Jason Rynolds, Aisha Saeed (Vice President of We Need Diverse Books), Lydia Kang, David Levithan, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, and Jen Wang.

I noticed a few areas for improvement.  One of the panels I attended was crowded and another was extremely crowded.  I like the idea of teens getting to see as many authors as possible, but I think more smaller panels would help spread people out.  Most of the panels included five authors.  Another was that they stopped selling refreshments before the closing speech, at which point the event was supposed to go on for another two hours.  I know I wanted to buy a bottle of water and just used the vending machines instead.  I think many people could've still used a drink and a small snack at that point.  I do give the event props for having multiple food trucks during the lunch hours.  That was delicious.

I was a little late getting to the event because I had trouble finding Alief Taylor High School.  (David Levithan assured me that his escort got lost on the way too.)  The first panel I attended was "The Secrets That Bind Us" with Ally Carter, Henry Turner (who has the voice of a late-night DJ), Lindsay Cummings, and Justine Larbalestier.  They briefly introduced their books and then launched into a Q&A.  I was particularly interested in Cummings' story - she was bedridden for three years and did little other than read and write.  She wrote THE MURDER COMPLEX when she was eighteen because MOCKINGJAY made her so angry.  (I read it for this year's Cybils; it's a good book.)  They had a variety of opinions on plot twists.  Turner works his out in revision; Carter likes them best if they surprise even her; and Cummings plans them first because they're her favorite part.  None of them liked rereading their work.  When Carter needs to remember a continuity detail, she likes to ask Twitter and ask her fans to tell her if she's mentioned something before.

Review: Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

First: I was supposed to be the T2T tours blog stop for TWENTY BOY SUMMER today, but that could not happen for various reasons. If you look to the right, at the sidebar, you will notice a graphic that will link you to the "20 Things in 20 Days" scavenger hunt. IBWB will be part of that activity, so I hope you enjoy it!



By Ally Carter

I enjoyed the first Gallagher Girls book, but did feel there were certain problems with the premise, as explained in my review of I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU. CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY was likewise enjoyable but not as awesome as I hoped. But I definitely enjoyed DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER, as I can tell the girls are growing up. (Although Bex and Liz need to get some of their own experiences in with boys or they'll never grow up to be true femme fatales.)

Josh, once more, just gets a cameo. That's fine; he was a first relationship. But Zach's role is increasing (or at least remains steady), and experience with boys could certainly help Cammie figure out what her possible love interest is up to. And she does want to know since he has a tendency to show up in tandem with trouble. It doesn't help that trouble hasn't been far at hand since Macey and Cammie were attacked during Macey's father's campaign. These weren't amateurs either. These were professionals, prepared for them to be Gallagher girls rather than normal teens.

I enjoy the spirit of Cammie, Macey, Bex, and Liz. They clearly enjoy spying and ferreting out secrets. It does seem like Gallagher Academy needs to teach its exceptional young women when to abort a mission. Their tendency, especially Cammie's, to get involved in dangerous situations often crosses over from clever and brave into foolhardy. I do like that Macey got more attention in this one as the "damsel in distress," since the other two focused more on Cammie and her love life. It helped bring out the ensemble, and their chemistry and wit are a greater part of what makes the series fun rather than the almost disposable boys.

That said, I really loved the twist at the end. I didn't expect it, but it makes sense, and it puts things into a very exciting place for the fourth Gallagher Girls novel. Ally Carter ups the ante and I can't wait to see where she goes with the girls' spring semester. Oddly, that reminds me, that Macey – who experienced regular life before she came to the Academy – does get the chance to begin developing her own life. Just as the tough girl would not want, it's really cute. While we don't see much of her guy, none of what we do see in DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER makes him look a jerk. He even sees past her cover and isn't bothered to be with a girl more capable, in certain situations, than him.

While I found the first two slightly disappointing, there's more reason to why Carter's series is popular than the awesome titles. She's got a nice sense of humor and it is fun to read about girls who support each other rather than tear each other down. It doesn't hurt that there's spy hijinks afoot either. Since I'm currently annoyed by the weak-willed protagonist of the book I'm reading as I write this review, I'll also say that it's good to read about teen girls who strive to be as mentally and physically capable as possible. And yes, things really are more exciting now that enemy spies are coming into play.