Come See Me Tomorrow at the Bay Area Book Festival on May 5, 2019

I'll be in conversation with Cindy Pon,

Someone Like Me: Seeing Ourselves in the Books We Read
Saturday, May 4, 12:45 PM, Florence Schwimley Little Theater
Cindy Pon, Lee Wind, moderated by Riya Kataria

When you open a book, do you see yourself in its pages? Do the characters look or think like you? Cindy Pon fought hard to publish one of the first Young Adult fantasy novels with an Asian protagonist on the U.S. market. Lee Wind’s queer history book was canceled by the publisher for being too controversial, but he found a way to publish it anyway. The two dig into why kids (and adults) need diverse characters and how they fight against the bias and blindspots of the publishing world.

and in friendly competition with Cindy, Zoraida Córdova, and Gordon Jack as part of the festival's YA Literary Death Match!

Literary Death Match
Saturday, May 4, 2:30 PM, Word Power Stage
Zoraida Córdova, Gordon Jack, Cindy Pon, Lee Wind, hosted by Adrian Todd Zuniga

Four authors. Three (teen) judges. Two finalists. One Champion (and all kinds of hilarity in between). Watch these young adult writers perform their most electric writing in five minutes or less as they compete for the coveted Literary Death Match crown. Hosted by series co-creator Adrian Todd Zuniga

**UPDATE as of 3pm Friday, May 3, 2019**

And as a last-minute replacement, I'll also be moderating the YA panel, "War Zone: Coming of Age in Times of Conflict."

War Zone: Coming of Age in Times of Conflict
Atia Abawi, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, moderated by Lee Wind
Sunday, May 5, 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM, Florence Schwimley Little Theater

What do you do when your world is suddenly turned upside down? Growing up is hard enough, but these teen protagonists must cope with loss and navigate violence completely out of their control. Atia Abawi’s “A Land of Permanent Goodbyes” follows Tareq, a kid forced to flee his home in war torn Syria. e.E. Charlton-Trujillo’s “Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution” features Angie, a high school sophomore mourning the death of her sister in Iraq. The three writers will discuss how they write about teenage trauma and resilience, and why these tough-to-write stories are so valuable to readers who need to find hope within their pages.

You can see the full Festival schedule here.

I'm grateful to Mina Witteman and the other festival organizers, and excited to meet young readers at the festival!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,

Lee