Lauren Oliver Signing

Bestselling author of the Delirium series, Lauren Oliver, will be in store answering questions and signing copies of the paperback of Panic!

Here's the deal:

An utterly gripping thriller from bestselling author Lauren Oliver. Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a poor town of twelve thousand people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do. Heather never thought she would compete in panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She'd never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought. Dodge has never been afraid of panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game; he's sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he's not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for. For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them-and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most. In this gritty, spellbinding novel, bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping narrative of friendship, courage, survival, and hope.

The signing will be in store on 14th August at 7pm. Tickets are  £3 and are available in store or on 0121 633 4353. 

Solitaire Book Launch Party!

We can now officially announce that we are so lucky to be hosting the Launch Party for Alice Oseman's Solitaire!

You might not have heard of this book yet. It's brand new. We announced it at our TFIOS party and here's what Alice had to say:

"Hello everyone!

I’m Alice Oseman, I’m nineteen years old and on the 31st of July, the amazing people of YA Birmingham are hosting the book launch for my debut novel, Solitaire. It’s going to be extra fabulous and you are all invited.

Solitaire is a coming-of-age story about a very pessimistic and very sarcastic sixteen-year-old girl named Tori Spring, who hates everything and is probably in love with her laptop. It’s also about an online group of prankers who decide they’re going to wreak havoc at Tori’s school. Tori Spring does not advise that you buy my book, but I strongly disagree. It has lots of awkwardness, many spectacular school pranks, a very annoying boy with glasses named Michael Holden, some Sherlock-style mystery-solving, numerous Tumblr references and teenage bloggers who get a bit carried away with themselves. It is definitely not a love story.

As you can imagine, I am very excited about all this and would love it if you could come to my launch, even if it is just to watch me drinking lots of wine and hyperventilating from excitement. I will draw pretty pictures in your copy of Solitaire, should you decide to buy one. And I’ll love you forever.

Hope to see you there!

Love Alice xxxxx"

We really think you're going to love Solitaire. If you've read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and loved it, then I guarantee you will adore this because it's 10 times better. And British. How many books open with an argument about Harry Potter Fandoms?? 

At 19 years old Alice really is an inspiration to anyone who thinks they can't get published. Come along to the launch and meet Alice and our big YA Birmingham supporters. She'll tell you about the book and answer any questions you have about the book and about writing.

We're going to have loads of lovely cakes and plenty of Diet Lemonade (and maybe something a little stronger for over 18s). You'll get your books signed and doodled on publication day and be part of something really special. I'm not joking when I tell you that Alice is going to be a massive star. 

See more about it on the Waterstones website

Find out more about YA Birmingham's events.

Visit Alice Oseman's blog.

The launch is on the 31st of July at 7pm. Tickets are just £1 and are available in store or on 0121 633 4353. This is your chance to meet an amazing up-and-coming author before anyone else!

YA Birmingham is proud to support Alice and Solitaire, young and British authors, and awesome literature on the YA scene. 

Cathy Cassidy Signing

Cathy Cassidy and her Chocolate Fairies

Yesterday, my friend Kyra and I went to Waterstones Birmingham to meet Cathy Cassidy!

Cathy has been one of our favourite authors since we were about eight or nine... before we even knew each other! So when I texted Kyra and asked if she wanted to come with me, the answer was pretty much unanimous.

For pretty much a week, all of our texts, snapchats and tweets to each other have consisted of "ahhhhh", "omg we're going to meet Cathy Cassidy" and "WHICH BOOKS SHOULD I TAKE?!"

Cathy said that we could take all of our books if we wanted, but I didn't have room, so I picked four: Scarlett and Dizzy, because they were the first two I read, and then Cherry Crush and Summer's Dream, because they're my two faves out of the Chocolate Box Girls. I also bought Sweet Honey at the event.

We were let in in about clumps of five, so we were in the second clump, because we had gotten there about half an hour early. We flailed. A lot. And talked to people in the queue! It was awesome before we even got to meet Cathy.

Cathy is probably the nicest person I have ever met! She signed all five of my books, with little drawings and everything, then Kyra's. We got to talk to her quite a bit, which was really nice. She knew us from Twitter and my blog, which was really awesome! We talked about our favourites, and about what we thought could happen in Sweet Honey.

Thank you to Cathy Cassidy for signing our books and coming to Birmingham, and to Waterstones for hosting!

- Charli.

(http://charliotherworld.blogspot.co.uk)

City of Heavenly Fire Book Party

To celebrate the release of City of Heavenly fire, we're holding a very special fan party. It's going to be in store as usual, on the 31st May at 7-9pm.

If you have been to any of our previous Fan Parties you'll have an idea how much fun they are, but this time instead of a quiz we've got:

 

A special video from Cassandra Clare and professional nail artists and Rune painter!

 

Like the sound of that? Well, each person will recieve a goody bag with bookmarks and a poster, and we normally addsome other super cool things in there too. We put all of our children's books on Buy One Get One Half Price too, so if there's something you've always been meaning to read you can grab yourself a bargain.

 

Did I mention we have some limited edition tshirts in our raffle too?

 

We all need to give @WalkerbooksUK a tweet to say thank you!

 

Tickets are limited to 100 and are £1. You can purchase them in store or over the phone on 0121 633 4353. Parents won't need a ticket, but are still allowed to have some of our cake.

 

Tweet us @yabirmingham if you have any questions.

 

See you there, Shadowhunters!

An Evening With Laini Taylor - 1st May 2014

On the 1st of May we were overjoyed to have Laini Taylor join us for the evening. She is an author that we tried so hard for so long to host and so when the tickets were announced and you guys snapped them all up? THAT was incredible. We are so proud of our local scene and how strong it is becoming with every event. Keep getting in touch and getting involved - everything we do is for you (and clearly a bit of an indulgence for us) so make sure you have your say. You can email any feedback you have for us or even your author event wish list to us here so we know who you want to meet.

Thank you all for coming, both Laini and us appreciate all your support. Don't forget to email us your photos if you want us to include them!

Click through to read more about the evening and see pictures!