Book WeekA celebration of children's literature

2013 author: Gene Luen Yang

What are the career options for a gaming addict with a terrific hand-eye coordination? What are the four prerequisites for immortality? Is it possible to breach cultural difference? How can comics and graphic novels be used in education?

Join us on October 21 and learn about these and other questions you’ve always wanted to ask from the author of the first graphic novel ever to win the prestigious ALA’s Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature.

Best known for his American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang is a voice of the digital generation who appreciate visual formats as legitimate literary forms. A teacher, author and illustrator, Gene has produced an array of works that deal with complex questions of identity, multiculturalism, and the search for a place to belong in a world where young people’s loyalties lie in seemingly irreconcilable areas. His Level Up, The Eternal Smile, The Avatar: the Last Airbender and a recent graphic novel diptych Boxers and Saints have won high praise from reviewers and deep appreciation from their young readers.

If you have ever wondered about the appeal of comic books and graphic novels to modern teens this is the event for you. Learn about the year’s best books for children and young adults, hear Gene’s talk on his work and the use of graphic formats in the classroom, and engage with him and the audience in a lively Q&A session that will follow.