Whenever I’m in the Chicago area, I must have at least one meal at Joy Yee! They have the best pan fried noodles in the world…and the biggest smoothie assortment I’ve ever seen. Love the Strawberry-Pineapple-Banana-Coconut. I also tried the pineapple fried rice which was delicious. It was a shame that I couldn’t finish it all and had to leave it in my hotel fridge.

The best part of any literary festival is getting to know the other authors. Marie Lu (Legend), Antony John (Elemental), Kody Keplinger (Shut Out), Jennifer E. Smith (The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight) and Jack Gantos (Dead End in Norvelt) are all amazing people that I hope I get to see lots more of in the future.

At LitWorks each of the authors is assigned their own entourage of helpers! They each took turns carrying around my severed head, perhaps as a homage to Game of Thrones (debuting it’s 4th season later that weekend).

Even I was excited to meet Dave Roman! I totally fanboyed him.

Seriously, if you ever have a chance to see Jack Gantos give a presentation, DO IT! I’ve been fortunate to see him a few times now, and he always leaves me winded from laughter. Not to mention totally inspired to go out make great things.

During my breakout sessions I had some teens collaborate on improvised comics, which is always a ton of fun. This one involved Humpback Whales attending a Metallica Concert.

Everyone got free lunch and tons of swag!

Kids Read Comics
Ann Arbor District Library
June 22nd-23rd
A totally free comic convention featuring Ben Hatke (Zita the Space Girl), Rafael Rosado (Giants Beware!), John Martin (Vordak), Jim Ottaviani (Feynman) and so many more!

I’ll be hosting the Comics Quickfire! on Saturday at 12:30 & Sunday at 12:30.

KCR! Comics Awards
Ann Arbor District Library
4th Floor conference room
June 23rd at 4pm

The first ever comics awards voted on by kids. I’ll be the co-host and there will be puppets, cosplay and tons of surprises. So you won’t want to miss it!

Green Brain Comics
13210 Michigan Ave Dearborn, MI 48126
June 24th from 2-5PM

Come celebrate the re-opening of this awesome comic shop!

Challengers Comics + Conversation
1845 N Western Ave #2R
Chicago, IL 60647
June 27th 6-8pm

An all-ages comics party! Live drawing games! Book signing!

ALA American Library Association Conference
Chicago, IL
June 28th-July 1st
We will be appearing in the graphic novel artist alley and on several panels on the Graphic Novel Stage! Come check out our live comics readings, podcasts, and drawing competitions!

FRIDAY:

Comics Quickfire!
6:00 – 6:45 pm

SATURDAY:

Saturday Supercast: TV to comics & back again!
1:00 – 2:00 pm

To Astronaut Academy and beyond!
3:00 – 4:00 pm

SUNDAY:

Kids Comics Revolution! Live recording
10:00 – 11:00 am

The Angst of Being a Teen, the Thrill of Being A Boat!
1:00 – 2:00 pm