Poets & Writers Theater

In this special edition of the Banned Book Club series hosted by the New York Public Library, Sonora Reyes discusses their award-winning debut novel, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School (Balzer + Bray, 2024), which tells the story of a queer Mexican American girl navigating her way through Catholic school.

Watch the trailer for Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, a film adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic novel of the same name starring Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates, written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig.

“When you have a name like Alejandra Kim, teachers always stare at you like you’re a typo on the attendance sheet.” In this Politics and Prose event, Patricia Park reads from her debut YA novel, Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim (Crown Books for Young Readers, 2023), and speaks about shifting from writing adult fiction to YA fiction with author Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

In this video, finalists for the 2022 National Book Award in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translated literature, and young people’s literature read excerpts from their honored works. The event, hosted by writer Saraciea J. Fennell, is presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation and the NYU Creative Writing Program.

In this CBS Mornings interview, best-selling authors Angie Thomas and Dhonielle Clayton speak about the importance of telling stories about Black joy and love, and teaming up with authors Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon for Whiteout (Quill Tree Books, 2022), the follow-up to their young adult novel Blackout (Quill Tree Books, 2021).

Watch the trailer for The Summer I Turned Pretty, an Amazon Prime Video television series based on the New York Times best-selling YA novel trilogy by Jenny Han.

“What do you see when you look at me?” Monster is a film adaptation of the 1999 YA novel of the same name by the late Walter Dean Myers, which tells the story of seventeen-year-old film student Steve Harmon and how his life is altered when he is charged with felony murder. With a screenplay written by Radha Blank, Cole Wiley, and Janece Shaffer, the film stars Kelvin Harrison, Jr.; Jennifer Hudson; John David Washington; and Jeffrey Wright.

To All the Boys: Always and Forever is the final installment of the three-part Netflix film series based on the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before YA novel series by Jenny Han. The series follows high schooler Lara Jean Song Covey, played by Lana Condor, and her relationship with her former crush Peter Kavinsky, played by Noah Centineo.

“What does it feel like, to love someone so much that you’re willing to publicly bare your heart and soul with a black Sharpie?” In this Harper Stacks at Home video, Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender reads from their novel Felix Ever After (Balzer + Bray, 2020), which follows the journey of a Black, queer, and transgender teen grappling with identity while falling in love for the first time.

Looking for Alaska (Dutton Books, 2005), John Green’s debut young adult novel based on his own experiences at a boarding school, has been adapted into a television miniseries for Hulu. Created by Josh Schwartz, the teen drama stars Kristine Froseth, Charlie Plummer, Uriah Shelton, and Sofia Vassilieva.

His Dark Materials is a television series adaptation of Philip Pullman’s award-winning fantasy adventure trilogy of the same name, comprising of the novels The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Directed by Tom Hooper, the series stars Tyler Howitt, Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Ruth Wilson, and follows the coming-of-age story of two children discovering their identities and destinies while journeying through parallel universes.

The Hate U Give (Balzer + Bray, 2017), the best-selling debut novel by Angie Thomas about a Black high school student who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend by a police officer and is subsequently drawn into activism, has been adapted into a feature film. Directed by George Tillman Jr., the film stars Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, and Amandla Stenberg.

“The Poet X is my third novel, but it’s the first one published.” At the New York State Writers Institute, Elizabeth Acevedo speaks about making the transition from poetry to fiction, facing rejection, and learning to persevere in the process of publishing her first novel, The Poet X (HarperTeen, 2018), which is longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award in young people’s literature.

“I see the world as a magical place.” Nnedi Okorafor talks about magical realism, fantasy, and her writing process at the 2015 Aké Arts and Book Festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Okorafor is the author most recently of Akata Warrior (Viking, 2017), the second novel in the Akata young adult fantasy series centered around Sunny Nwazue, a Nigerian American girl.

The Tiger at Midnight (Katherine Tegen Books, 2019) is the first novel in a young adult fantasy trilogy by debut author Swati Teerdhala. Inspired by Hindu folklore and mythology and ancient Indian history, the story follows the epic journeys of Esha and Kunal as they navigate star-crossed romance, action-packed battles, and questions of sacrifice and loyalty.