Literacy foundation hosts virtual young adult lit event

November 19, 2021 | By Waterbury Roundabout 

Teen and children’s librarian Yahira Vallario is a panelist at CLiF's young adult online discussion. Photo courtesy CLiF

The Children’s Literacy Foundation hosts a virtual young adult literature event Friday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. featuring authors, educators, and librarians. 

All ages are welcome to attend via Zoom to discuss recent trends in the genre, book recommendations, and how books are created. The panel includes Meg Kearney, Beth Little, Erin Moulton, and Yahira Vallario.

Kearney is author of three critically acclaimed young-adult verse novels: "The Secret of Me," "The Girl in the Mirror," and "When You Never Said Goodbye."  She also writes for adults, including "All Morning the Crows," and her poetry has been featured on Poetry Daily, Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry” series, and Garrison Keillor’s “A Writer’s Almanac.” The founding director of the Solstice Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program in Massachusetts, Kearney lives in New Hampshire. 

Little is a writer, scholar and educator currently teaching humanities at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. Beth’s work has been published in the anthology "Somebody’s Child: Stories About Adoption," "Eastown Fiction" and the "YA Review Network." Her most recent piece of short fiction for young adults, “Where Did You Go?” was published in the spring 2019 edition of "Hunger Mountain."

Moulton is an experienced novelist, librarian, and genealogical researcher. Her book titles include "Flutter," "Tracing Stars," and "Keepers of the Labyrinth." She holds degrees from Emerson College and Vermont College of Fine Arts and a certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. 

Vallario is a teen and children’s librarian at the Derry Public Library in New Hampshire.  

This event is free and open to all. Register online at clifonline.org/events/. 

The nonprofit CLiF is based in Waterbury and works to cultivate a love of reading and writing among low­-income, at­-risk, and rural children up to age 12 in New Hampshire and Vermont through literacy and grant programs. More information at clifonline.org.