8:30 a.m.

• Auditorium doors open

9:00 a.m.

• Welcome speech – Auditorium

9:10 – 10:00 a.m.

• Keynote Speaker Ruta Sepetys – Auditorium
  Ruta Sepetys (Rūta Šepetys) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Sepetys is considered a “crossover” novelist as her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Ruta is renowned for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it. Her books have won or been shortlisted for over forty book prizes, are included on over thirty state reading lists, and are currently in development for film and television.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

• Book signing with Ruta Sepetys
  Attendees will receive a free copy of I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, while supplies last

10:30 – 11:15 a.m.

• Ellen Oh – Woodneath Library
  Ellen Oh is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She is an award winning author and editor of middle grade and young adult books such as The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee, YOU ARE HERE, Haru Zombie Dog Hero, Finding Junie Kim, The Dragon Egg Princess, The Spirit Hunters series (Books 1, 2, and 3), and the Prophecy trilogy (Prophecy, Warrior, and King). She is also the editor of WNDB’s middle grade anthology Flying Lessons and Other Stories, and the YA anthology A Thousand Beginnings and Endings. Ellen is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature. Originally from New York City, Ellen now lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, three children, two dogs, and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel.

11:00 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.

• Featured Author Panel with Mindy McGinnis, Haley Newsome, and Holly Black – Auditorium
• Randy Ribay – Community Hall
  Randy Ribay is an award-winning author of young adult fiction. His most recent novel, Patron Saints of Nothing, earned five starred reviews, was selected as a Freeman Book Award winner, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, LA Times Book Prize, Walden Book Award, Edgar Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. His other works include Project Kawayan, After the Shot Drops, and An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. His next novels, The Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku (Abrams) and Everything We Never Had (Kokila/Penguin) will be out in 2024. 
  Attendees will receive a free copy of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, while supplies last
• Jeff Zentner – Woodneath Library
  Jeff Zentner is the author of New York Times Notable Books The Serpent King and In the Wild Light, as well as Goodbye Days, Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, his debut for the adult market, Colton Gentry’s Third Act, and a YA novel in verse, Sunrise Nights, coauthored with Brittany Cavallaro. Among other honors, he has won the ALA’s William C. Morris Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award twice, the Muriel Becker Award, the International Literacy Association Award, and been longlisted for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize and twice for the Carnegie Medal. He’s a two-time Southern Book Prize finalist; and was a finalist for the Indies Choice Award. He was selected as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start and an Indies Introduce pick. His books, which have received 21 starred reviews, have been translated into fifteen languages and been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and in Vanity Fair and People Magazine. Before becoming a writer, he was a musician who recorded with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, and Debbie Harry. He lives in Nashville.  

12:20 – 1:30 p.m.

• Lunch break – lunch will be provided to attendees

1:30 – 2:50 p.m.

• Mindy McGinnis – Auditorium
  Mindy McGinnis is the author of multiple novels that span many genres. From historical to fantasy, contemporary to gothic thriller, you can always count on Mindy’s books to deliver grit, truth, and an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us.
  Attendees will receive a free copy of A Long Stretch of Bad Days by Mindy McGinnis, while supplies last
• Featured Author Panel with Ellen Oh, Jeff Zentner, and Randy Ribay – Community Hall
• Haley Newsome – Computer Lab
  Haley Newsome is also known as the ultra-popular influencer LavenderTowne with more than 1.6 million subscribers on Youtube and 280k followers on Instagram. Haley writes and draws two comics, Unfamiliar and Disasterpiece.
  Attendees will receive a free copy of Unfamiliar, Vol 1 by Haley Newsome, while supplies last

3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

• Keynote Speaker Holly Black – Auditorium

4:15 - 5:15 p.m.

• Book Signing with Holly Black, Ellen Oh, and Jeff Zentner – Community Hall
  Attendees will receive a free copy of The Stolen Heir by Holly Black, The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee by Ellen Oh, and Into the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner, while supplies last.