Cary Library's next Literary Café will spotlight three Boston-area Young Adult authors—AUTUMN ALLEN (ALL YOU HAVE TO DO), TM Blanchet (HERRICK’S END, HERRICK’S LIE, HERRICK’S KEY) and Desmond Hall (YOUR CORNER DARK and the forthcoming BETTER MUST COME). We'll explore the different ways each writer interprets and embraces YA storytelling to craft meaningful and moving stories that inspire readers of all ages. The Young Adult genre —which includes fantasy, realistic and historical fiction, thrillers, and much more—is only growing in reach and relevance, and our panelists will address what drew them to writing YA and how their writing careers have developed. Hosted by Cary Library Foundation Board Member Kimberly Hensle Lowrance.

About the authors:

Autumn Allen is an educator and author of the historical young adult novel ALL YOU HAVE TO DO (Kokila/Penguin, 2023), a People Magazine must-read for fall 2023 and a Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of 2023. Her picture books, STEP ON BOARD: SCULPTING A MEMORIAL TO HARRIET TUBMAN, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and ANSWERED PRAYERS, are forthcoming from Knopf. Autumn is a senior editor at Barefoot Books and a lecturer in children’s literature at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Autumn grew up in Boston and lives in Massachusetts with her family.

T.M. Blanchet is the internationally tolerated, New York Times best-reading author of Herrick's End and Herrick's Lie: Books 1 and 2 of The Neath Trilogy, available now from Tiny Fox Press. (Book 3 in the series, Herrick's Key, is scheduled for release on April 23, 2024.) She's also a former reporter, magazine editor, and award-winning humor columnist. She founded the nonprofit organization Operation Delta Dog: Service Dogs for Veterans in 2013.

Desmond Hall was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and moved to Jamaica, Queens. He has worked as a high school biology and English teacher in East New York, Brooklyn; counseled teenage ex-cons after their release from Rikers Island; and served as Spike Lee’s creative director at Spike DDB. Desmond has served on the board of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and the Advertising Council and judged the One Show, the American Advertising Awards, and the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival. He’s also been named one of Variety magazine’s Top 50 Creatives to Watch. Desmond is the author of the gritty YA novel Your Corner Dark which confronts the harsh realities of gang life in Jamaica and how far a teen is willing to go for family. He lives outside of Boston with his wife and two daughters.

This is a hybrid program - you can attend in person or watch via Zoom. If you are attending via Zoom, please register to receive the Zoom link.

Sponsored by the Cary Library Foundation.