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Panel on Writing for Children and Teens

2024 Local Author Book Fair

Join moderator and syndicated columnist Ana Veciana-Suarez and award-winning authors Alex Flinn, Chantel Acevedo and Natalia Sylvester for an informative and fun panel discussion as they talk about their books and experiences writing for middle-grade and teen audiences. Find out what it takes to write a novel! For information please contact 305-375-2665 or Hinzes@mdpls.org.

Moderator:

Ana Veciana - Suarez

Ana Veciana-Suarez is the author of several books, including the historical novel, Dulcinea (May 2023), the young adult novel, Flight to Freedom, and a collection of essays, Birthday Parties in Heaven: Thoughts on Life, Love, Grief, and Other Matters of the Heart. A previous novel, The Chin Kiss King, was nominated for the prestigious IMPAC Award, an international competition in Dublin. In 2019 she won a Cintas Fellowship for Creative Writing for her novel-in-progress. Two of her nonfiction books about the Hispanic media were published by the The Media Institute, a think tank in Washington D.C. Her commentary has been included in several anthologies, and it also has appeared in Reader's Digest, O Magazine, Woman’s Day, The Washington Post Magazine, Parenting, and Latina. A  syndicated columnist for the Tribune Content Agency, she has worked at The Miami Herald, The Miami News, and The Palm Beach Post as education reporter, features writer, projects writer, and editor.

Panelists:

Alex Flinn

Alex Flinn is the author of 14 young adult novels which have won awards including Best Books for Young Adults, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult readers, International Reading Association Young Adult Choices, and have appeared on numerous state award lists. Her first novel, Breathing Underwater, is frequently read in high schools to address the issue of dating violence and was included in Liz Claiborne Corporation’s domestic violence curriculum. Her novel, Beastly, was made into a major motion picture, starring Vanessa Hudgens and Neil Patrick Harris.

Chantel Acevedo

Called "a master storyteller" by Kirkus Reviews, Chantel Acevedo is the author of the novels  Love and Ghost Letters,  A Falling Star, The Distant Marvels, which was a finalist for the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and The Living Infinite, hailed by Booklist as a "vivid and enthralling tale of love and redemption." Muse Squad: The Cassandra Curse and Muse Squad: The Mystery of the Tenth, Acevedo's middle grade duology (called "Riveting and suspenseful" by School Library Journal) was published by Balzer + Bray. Her latest middle grade novel, The Curse on Spectacle Key, is a lightly spooky story set in the Florida Keys, is a 2023-2024 SSYRA Award nominee. She is Professor of English at the University of Miami, where she directs the MFA program.

Natalia Sylvester

Natalia Sylvester is the Pura Belpré- and Schneider Family-honor winning author of the young adult novel Breathe and  Count Back From Ten, and the award-winning author of the young adult novel Running and the adult novels Everyone Knows You Go Home and Chasing the Sun. Her first picture book, A Maleta Full OF Treasures, illustrated by Juana Medina, will be out in 2024 from Penguin Random House.

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