Kelly McWilliam debut novel explores cancel culture, anger, and grief, and challenges the romanticization of America’s racist past with humor and heart. Elizabeth Rusch tells the gripping inside story of the ongoing landmark federal climate change lawsuit. Moderated by Megan Savage.
Kendare Blake is back with the first installment of an epic duology starter that follows a young woman training to join a fabled order as she attempts to lead a hero to his critical first victory. Kayvion Lewis's debut novel is a cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother’s life. Moderated by Emily Suvada.
In this queer YA psychological thriller from Jennifer Dugan, the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre search to uncover the truth of what happened that fateful night, but what they find out might just get them killed. In Courtney Gould's supernatural thriller, two sisters travel to an isolated Arizona town to investigate its connection to their mother’s death, but uncover more than they bargained for. Moderated by Jenn Chávez of OPB.
Students featured in the 2022–23 anthology present their work.
In Jennifer Baker's searing indictment of the juvenile justice system, one teen in detention weighs what she is willing to endure for forgiveness. From Kim Johnson comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to reclaim both his innocence and his first love. Moderated by Alicia Tate of Multnomah County Library.
Arya Shahi has written a bold novel-in-verse starring a Persian American teen navigating his first crush, his family’s post-9/11 dynamics, and the role of language in defining who we are. Jen St. Jude's debut from about queer first love and mental health at the end of the world-and the importance of saving yourself, no matter what tomorrow may hold. Moderated by Aiden Thomas.
