By Kassidy Lam, Staff Writer
On Saturday, January 25, the 5th annual Young Adult Novelist Convention (YA NovCon) was held at the Millbrae Library from 12-6 p.m. The YA NovCon offers young adults a chance to converse with some of their favorite award-winning authors, establish a connection with them over their books, and seek advice from them, free of charge. Authors explored the inspiration of their books, childhood, and current problems involving teens today.
The co-founder of this event, Darren Heiber believes that the YA NovCon is an “awesome way to connect teens with books and the authors who write them!” This convention was designed to create not only a bond between readers and famous authors but a safe space for teens to be acknowledged and connect over common struggles that all age groups experience. The designers of this event hope for teens to continue to be creative and do what they enjoy. Darren Heiber speaks on behalf of the creators of this event and says, “We hope that teens will walk away feeling they are not alone in what they may be going through, that famous authors are going through similar things.”
There were over twenty authors this year that discussed their writing process and inspiration for some of their books. Multiple sessions were designed for different age groups that each required a different level of maturity. Due to the specific topics, the convention was designed for preteens and older age groups. Each author had their own story to tell about their childhood and their own experiences; a couple of writers even talked about how their books are based on their own life and how they view themselves. Authors like Scott Reintgen and Kalyn Josephson enjoyed that they could make their books a different version of their own life, a recreation of the past, or anything else they desired.
A few of the sessions also discussed some controversial and sensitive topics like teen anxiety, academic pressures, and how social media affects us. The authors provided the audience with their point of view on current issues involving younger age groups and how their books relate to everyday problems. The idea of mental health, trauma, tragedy, and troubles as a teen was also briefly discussed and recognized. The authors even brought up the topic of teen struggles and intertwined their own childhood and past. This offered their listeners a better understanding of how teens can be misunderstood and how everyone’s lives differ from one another.
In 2021, the Young Adult Novelist Convention will be on January 30th. If you would like to see any specific authors, you can tell Darren Heiber (a librarian at the Millbrae library) or let Ms. Schroder know.
