Middle School Monday – Author Victoria Schwab

After about 4 years of friendship on social media, I finally got to meet Victoria Schwab this weekend. I shouldn’t complain; I have a wonderful local book store which is able to attract some of the biggest and brightest stars of the writing world as well as some of the more obscure. On the other hand, I don’t live in New York or Texas (where they seem to have ALL THE AUTHOR EVENTS.) So, when I heard that Victoria was coming to Malaprops Book Store in Asheville, NC, I started making plans immediately. After all, it’s only four hours away from where I live. I’m so glad I did.

In addition to being a brilliant and prolific author, Victoria is gracious, friendly, and an enthusiastic featured author. She has a lovely demeanor which puts both attendees and others on stage at ease and invites them to glory in their love of story. I was doubly fortunate that this event included 3 other authors to whom’s works I had yet to be introduced (Ryan Graudin, Jessica Khoury, and Delilah S. Dawson) as well as being moderated by local author Beth Revis.

This event was to celebrate the recent release of her adult novel A Gathering of Shadows (which premiered at #15 on the NYT Best Seller’s list), the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, so it might seem odd that I’m featuring her on Middle School Monday, but not if you’re aware of the vast body of work this young author has produced. In addition to her adult titles, Victoria has written 4 middle grade titles and 3 (4 this summer) young adult titles.

Her Everyday Angel series is very popular in my library. They are stories about an odd guardian angel and the three young girls she must help in order to earn her wings. Additionally, we are eagerly awaiting our copy of her addition to the Spirit Animals series, Broken Ground, in which the four protagonists battle an ancient evil.

We are fortunate enough to also have copies of her 3 released Young Adult Titles. The Near Witch, her debut novel, is ‘part fairy tale, part love story.’ Her next two YA titles, The Archived and its sequel The Unbound tell the story of Mackenzie Bishop, who is tasked with keeping order in the world of the Archive, where the stories of the dead are stored. These two are my most favorite of her books.

I’m really looking forward to her next YA novel, This Savage Song. From the publisher:

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war; a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their homes at stake. For fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, who uses his power to protect the innocent. Thrown together by a crumbling truce and a failed assassination attempt, Kate and August must flee to save themselves. In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab creates her own dark metropolis, worthy of being compared to Gotham. But it’s not superheroes who will save this city—it’s two teenagers. This Savage Song begins a two-book saga about finding where we belong, and becoming who we are meant to be.

I didn’t get a picture of us together (so sad) but the line was so long, I didn’t want to hold it up any longer than necessary. To compensate, here is the picture I did take – from the front row – while I was waiting for the event to start.

Filed under: Middle School Monday, Victoria Schwab