Austin Teen Book Festival.

Very early Saturday morning my best friend Donna and I drove up to Austin from San Antonio for the Teen Book Festival. It was our first bookish event so we were beyond excited. In fact, I was so excited, I forgot to take some pictures of her and I together while we were there.

We got there about 30 minutes before book sales opened so we decided to walk around outside for a little bit since it was such a beautiful morning.

Then we went and got in line to buy some books.

I bought: Lola and the Boy Next Door, Wolfsbane, and It's Not Summer Without You. I really wanted to buy  We'll Always Have Summer also, but it was in hardback and I now have the first two in paperback.

Then, while I was checking out, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" started playing. It seemed really random at first, then we went into the main hall and found this:

A group of middle school students did a zombie flash mob and were dancing to "Thriller". And I have to say, they were really good.

Scott Westerfeld was the main speaker and he spoke about illustrations in books, which was pretty interesting.

Then it was time to go to the individual panels. First we went to Alternaworlds because we both wanted to hear more from Scott Westerfeld and Maureen Johnson was on that panel and you would have to be crazy to not want to listen to her.

Rosemary Clement-Moore was the moderator.

Brian Yansky and Jonathan Maberry were also on the panel.

At first, it was a bit hard to hear them talk because, behind that curtain, another panel was going on. And then to the left there was another curtain, behind which another panel was going on. So for the first half we could hear all three panels at once. It finally got a little better towards the end.

After the first round of panels were over it was lunch time, so we walked down to Whataburger, then stopped and had snowcones on the way back.

The next panel we went to was Pen Fatale: 

It was moderated by Margo Rabb who asked Alyson Noel, Mary Pearson, Jessica Brody, and Gabrielle Zevin questions about their books and writing processes.

The last panel we were going to go to was the I Heart Love Stories panel, which I was pretty much dying to get to because Stephanie Perkins was on that one...and I love her, a lot. But they canceled it because of the sound problems...so I didn't get to hear her :/ That was pretty much heartbreaking.

So we decided to go outside and enjoy the afternoon since we had an hour to kill before book signings began. We went and sat in the park which ended up being a lot of fun because we made up stories about random people that we saw.

Since I didn't get to hear Stephanie Perkins in her panel I decided she was going to be the first signing line I was getting in to so I wouldn't miss my chance to talk to her there. It was a good thing we got in that line first, too. It took us 50 minutes to get up to her table and the signings were only open for an hour. But I got her to sign my copy of Anna and the French Kiss and the copy of Lola that I bought that day. I reallllllly wanted to get a picture with her, but by the time we got up there they were trying to hurry people along so that as many people as they could could get their book signed. But she was so super sweet and kept talking to us while signing my books and I could barely speak cause I was pretty much starstruck haha.

AND! I loved her blue hair so much I think I am going to do a couple streaks in mine for Halloween...totally doesn't go with my costume...but I'll make it work :D

There was only about 5 minutes left of signing when we left Stephanie's table so I had to hurry and get in Jenny Han's so that she could sign my two Summer books. And then I practically sprinted over to Andrea Cremer's table and got to her just in the nick of time. Right after she signed my books they announced signing was over. *Phew*...it got pretty intense there at the end.

And by the way, Andrea Cremer is super sweet and has such a pretty smile. I was a bit nervous to meet these authors but they were all just so nice and really make you wanna hang out and talk with them.

Overall, it was a great day. Tons of fun. And I really hope I am in town to go next year. You should plan on going to. It was definitely worth it!

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.

"Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?"- GoodReads.

Hardcover, 452 pages

Published October 19th 2010 by Philomel

All around this book is made of awesome. From the cover, to the characters, to the plot. All awesome.

I am really into 'new worlds' being built in stories and the world that Andrea Cremer has created for her characters is just brilliant. 

It's one of those "the humans think they run the Earth, but these mythical creatures really do, and they protect ancient secrets, and just let humans think they run things". And the history! Oh the history that is written about the wolves is just perfect, and in-depth. It just adds so much to the story.

And the plot. It just keeps going. Never a dull moment. Finding out about the Keepers, the Guardians, and the Searchers, how they are all weaved together and who is really good and who is really bad. It gets intense. Lots of moments when I had to remind myself to breath.

But I want to look at some of the characters and linger on them for a few minutes.

As awesome as some of the characters are I had many problems with some of them.

Calla is supposed to be this strong Alpha female, in control of her pack, about to make a union with another Alpha (Ren) so that they can bring their packs together and form a new pack.

Calla had her strong moments, but she also had very very weak ones. She was just never in control of her pack as she thought she was. They were always going behind her back even when she ordered them not to.

She constantly tells Ren she wants to be his equal, and he agrees that that is what he wants to, but when the moments arise for her to step up as an Alpha, she falters. 

I just get a little tired of characters who say and think they are strong, but end up letting everyone steamroll them.

I do not, could not, and will not ever like Shay. He should have "World's Biggest Douche Bag" tattooed across his forehead. Calla saves his life, which automatically puts her life at risk. She tells him that and he STILL keeps asking her to do things that puts her life in even greater danger. 

He knows that being with her is out of the question. She is supposed to be with Ren, but he keeps trying to win her over. Shay just really needed to back off.

And I love love triangles. Always have, always will. I just felt like Calla wanted Shay because he was off limits. It just never felt romantic between them. And it was one of those "the second I saw you I knew I had to have you" relationships. Bleh!

Ren is my favorite. He is an Alpha, in every sense of the word. He is strong, protective, charming, sarcastic, dangerous, sexy, and so into Calla. Ren makes decisions based on what he thinks is best for his pack. Always thinking of them. Always thinking of Calla. 

I think I am having a hard time with the fact that he is a fictional character.

Okay, I will stop going on about the characters now, even though I could probably go on and on about them.

But that was something else that made me love this book. Even though I had problems with some of them, that is something that made it feel even more real. I don't like every person in real life, so I shouldn't like everyone in a story.

Even though this is paranormal and fantasy it felt so real. Like there really could be packs of wolves protecting ancient secrets in Vail, CO. (Maybe I need to make a road trip over there and check it out. Purely for blogger research, of course :p)

In the end, Calla had to make some big decisions that would effect her, Ren, Shay, her pack...her entire life and I cannot wait to read Wolfsbane to see how her decisions play out and if she ends up thinking they were the right decisions.

Release Date: July 26th 2011