From Drafts: Recap of the Texas Teen Book Festival 2017!!

 Disclaimer & Note: The Texas teen book fest has been discontinued and has not happened since before 2020 now there is a small teen section at the Texas book festival in downtown Austin instead of having its own separate event and day.

 Also this post was created in 2017 and is now being updated years later because I was clearing out our drafts

Last year in 2017 Melissa, and I got the chance to volunteer at the Texas Teen Book Fest . This was my (Jessica's) first time ever volunteering at a Book Fest, Melissa attended the fest the previous year. Needless to say neither of us were prepared for our lovely 8:00 am shift we decided to volunteer for. Here we are at 8:00 am pumped and ready to.....we actually just signed up for shifts, and hoped for the best. By far one the most awesome things that happened, I saw JASON REYNOLDS across the way. We HAD a MOMENT! He doesn't know but ehh, he totally waved which means he acknowledged I was there. How did I know it was him...the hair! The bigger the hair the closer to GOD, they say. This probably kept me going through the entire day, even when I got a chance to meet Renee Watson, I was still on a high from waving to Jason. What did I do in front of Ms.Watson, I fan-girled, super hard. Like " you don't know me, but I am a huge fan, you're awesome, can't wait to read your book, now I'm done talking..." I also got a chance to meet Renee Watson, she is amaz-ing!

This was my(Melissa's)second year attending the Texas Teen Book Fest, and first year volunteering at the fest. I had a blast despite getting up earlier than needed for our 8 am volunteer shift. It was a bit rough at first neither Jessica, and I are what you would call morning people. Luckily we were placed at the info tent with some pretty cool people,who we befriended. I even got to hold a giant lollipop looking sign that said ask me...which doesn't sound that cool but where I was placed was directly where a lot of the authors walked by for the first keynote speaker. I got to see Adam Silvera, Jason Reynolds, E.Lockhart, and Stephanie Perkins all walk by, unlike Jessica I did not wave to my favorite authors but that's fine I got to meet Adam Silvera later on...It was hella awkward and I word vomited all over him.I told him that I loved his books and followed him on twitter  and was a huge fan*sigh* I never know what to say to authors. It was great but I was a total weirdo and it didn't help that Jessica was being her usual self (a mess) and helped make things weird.

Just like the year before  the Texas Teen Book Fest in 2017 had awesome panels, keynote speaker, and pretty kick-ass cosplay.The majority of the day was spent volunteering but on our down time we got to browse all the vendor stands,check out the books for sale,and meet all the authors at signing/just walking around!! We even got to check out a few panels and see the last keynote speaker JASON REYNOLDS  !!!One thing that was not like the year before was the fact that I spoke to more than one Author!!!

All in all It was a good time.

Rip Texas teen book fest

Review: Calling My Name

Title: Calling My Name
Author:  Liara Tamani
Release Date: October 24th 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins


Taja Brown lives with her parents and older brother and younger sister, in Houston, Texas. Taja has always known what the expectations of her conservative and tightly-knit family are—do well in school, go to church every Sunday, no intimacy before marriage. But Taja is trying to keep up with friends as they get their first kisses, first boyfriends, first everythings.

 And she’s tired of cheering for her athletic younger sister and an older brother who has more freedom just because he’s a boy. Taja dreams of going to college and forging her own relationship with the world and with God, but when she falls in love for the first time, those dreams are suddenly in danger of evaporating.

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(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to Texas Teen Book Fest)

I first heard about Calling My Name thanks to someones tweet on twitter.I'm not going to lie the cover is what drew me to the book more so than the synopsis. I was a bit unsure of reading Calling My Name because of the religions aspect mainly cause a lot of ya books I've read with religious aspect feel like religion is being forced at the reader....this was not the case with Calling My Name I am definitely glad I gave Calling My Name a chance because Liara Tamani has written  a very beautiful story about growing up with family members that do not always understand you.

 We follow Taja from middle grade up through high school graduation. We experience all her firsts. We follow her as she tries to figure out who she is and what she believes. Taja Brown as a main character was relate-able and a sweetheart who was just trying to figure out her own beliefs and who she wanted to be. I really like how the story  spans time with only light themes within it. Calling My Name is the type of book you read on chill day with no where to be. There's no urgency and what kept me reading was the beautiful writing. While not in verse it had a similar feel to it, I am a huge fan of Liara Tamani's writing style in this book it was absolutely freaking gorgeous. 

The cover screams simple elegance and I think it fits the story within perfectly.I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and,family,and any stranger. 4/5