Glad You Asked: Library offers writing opportunities for teens

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Teens have a few exciting opportunities to hone their writing skills coming up this week at two different Delaware County District Library locations.

First, today kicks off a monthly series with local author Jennifer PC Allen that will teach teens different ways to enhance their creative writing skills. The series will take place in the Ostrander Branch Library on the fourth Saturday of each month at 2 p.m. through April. Topics will cover finding inspiration, prose, free writing and critique.

Going by the pen name, JPC Allen, she began her writing career in second grade with an homage to Scooby Doo. Allen is a 2016 semi-finalist for her contemporary YA novel “The Truth and Other Strangers” in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Genesis contest. An English major and former children’s librarian in public libraries, she loves to introduce tweens and teens to the adventure of writing through her workshops.

Then on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6:30 p.m. we are joined at the Delaware Main Library by Jennifer Nielsen, author of the Ascendance Trilogy including “The False Prince,” “The Runaway King,” and “The Shadow Throne.”

Nielsen has more than a dozen titles to her name and her books are constantly flying off the shelves at DCDL. She comes to Ohio thanks to a visit sponsored by Delaware City Schools. Nielsen will stop by the schools earlier in the day, but in the evening her visit at the Library is free and open to any teens who are interested in flexing their writing skills. (Curious adults may also be able to sneak in, if there’s room and they’re so inclined.)

Learn more about these authors at www.JPCAllenWrites.com and www.jennielsen.com. If you find yourself inspired to read some new titles in young adult fiction, check out some of these stories that made their debut in 2017.

“Invictus” by Ryan Graudin. Born outside of time as the son of a time-traveler and a first-century gladiator, Farway takes a position commanding a ship that smuggles valuables from different eras before meeting a girl with knowledge that places his existence in question.

“That Inevitable Victorian Thing” by E.K. Johnston. In a near-future Toronto where the British Empire never fell, Helena, August, and Margaret are caught off-guard by the discovery of a love so intense they are willing to change the course of the monarchy to keep it.

“There’s Someone Inside Your House” by Stephanie Perkins. One year after moving to Nebraska to live with her grandmother, Makani Young is forced to confront dark secrets about her past in Hawaii when a serial killer begins to target her fellow high school students.

“The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives” by Dashka Slater. Tells the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, a crime that focuses on the concepts of race, class, gender, crime, and punishment.

“Dear Martin” by Nic Stone. Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.

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By Nicole Fowles

Glad You Asked

If you have a question that you would like to see answered in this column, mail it to Nicole Fowles, Delaware County District Library, 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, OH 43015, or call us at 740-362-3861. You can also email your questions by visiting the library’s web site at www.delawarelibrary.org or directly to Nicole at [email protected]. No matter how you contact us, we’re always glad you asked!

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