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Arts & Entertainment

Book Festival to Feature Young Adult Authors

Writers of witty, suspenseful and romantic books will take over the Teen Stage.

Young adult authors will discuss demons, zombies, beauty queens, proms and the boy next door, among other topics, at the teen stage at the sixth annual Decatur Book Festival on Labor Day weekend.

The Escape teen stage began in 2008, and Book Fest Program Director Terra Elan McVoy says it keeping growing in quality and popularity. The stage will be at the Decatur Library.

"Every year it just gets more and more thrilling," said McVoy, who is a published young adult author herself. "To have so many talented, award-winning, popular and interesting young adult authors on one stage is a personal delight for me.”

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Printz Award-winning and international bestselling author Libba Bray will strut her stuff on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 1 p.m. with her hilarious and irreverant new "Lord of the Flies-meets-Miss America" novel, Beauty Queens. She has written many other popular and New York Times bestselling books, including the Gemma Doyle series and Going Bovine.

Lauren Myracle, “the Judy Blume of the 21st century,” will be promoting her new rooted-in-the-South dark mystery, Shine, Saturday, Sept. 3, at 2 p.m. at the Escape Stage at the Decatur LibraryMyracle grew up in Atlanta where she attended the Trinity School and The Westminster Schools. Get a Myracle encore at 4 p.m. at the Children's Stage where she will speak about her book Ten (the Winnie Years).

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Two authors will share their work, and maybe some advice on surviving a zombie and/or plague-induced apocalypse on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 4 p.m.  Authors Jonathan Maberry (Rot & Ruin) and Jeff Hirsch (The Eleventh Plague) will put their heads together to offer zombie protection advice. 

Though paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy books are selling strong,  books with real voices about real girls remain popular. Stephanie Perkins (Lola and the Boy Next Door), Elizabeth Eulberg (Prom and Prejudice), and Jennifer Jabaley (Crush Control) are getting together at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4, to talk about how they continue to make reality relevant.

Many authors will be discussing new additions to their acclaimed series. Simone Elekeles will explore her new addition to her Perfect Chemistry series, Chain Reaction on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 3 p.m. Lisa McMann will be appearing Saturday, Sept. 3, at noon to discuss her popular and critically acclaimed WAKE trilogy as well as her standalone title, Cryer’s Cross. McMann will appear again Saturday, Sept. 3, at 3 p.m. at the Children's Stage to discuss adventures into the unknown.

Rachel Hawkins will be joining Victoria Schwab (The Near Witch) and UGA-graduate Jackson Pearce (Sweetly) Sunday, Sept. 4, at 2 p.m. for a panel discussion titled “A Bunch of Real (Cool) Witches."  Demon Glass is Hawkins' new addition to the popular paranormal Hex Hall series about a reform school for people with magical powers.

The sixth annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical is the largest independent book festival in the country, and the fourth largest overall.

This year, more than 300 authors and tens of thousands of festival goers will crowd the historic downtown Decatur Square Sept. 2-4, to enjoy book signings, author readings, panel discussions, an interactive children’s area, live music, parades, cooking demonstrations, poetry slams, writing workshops and more.

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