The Hudson Valley YA Society presents a panel of today’s top YA writers including Meagan Brothers (Weird Girl and What’s His Name), Gary D. Schmidt (Orbiting Jupiter), and Kate Scelsa (Fans of the Impossible Life) on Sunday, October 18 at 4pm. The event will be held at Oblong Books & Music, 6422 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY, (845) 876-0500, http://oblongbooks.com. Admission is free. For reservations, email [email protected] or join the Facebook event.

WEIRD GIRL AND WHAT’S HIS NAME is Meagan Brothers’ fresh LGBT YA novel that speaks, in piercing prose, to anyone who has ever felt unwanted and alone, and who struggles to find their place in an isolating world. In the tiny podunk town of Hawthorne, North Carolina, seventeen-year-old geeks Lula and Rory share everything—sci-fi and fantasy fandom, Friday night binge-watching of old X-Files episodes, and that feeling that they don’t quite fit in. Lula knows she and Rory have no secrets from each other; after all, he came out to her years ago, and she’s shared with him her “sacred texts”—the acting books her mother left behind after she walked out of Lula’s life. But then Lula discovers that Rory has not only tried out for the Hawthorne football team without telling her, but has also been having an affair with his middle-aged divorcee boss. Brothers is a writer, poet and musician best known for her young adult novels Supergirl Mixtapes, a 2012 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nomination, and Debbie Harry Sings in French, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, which won a GLBT Round Table ALA Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. She was founder and lead guitarist for the punk rock band Steel Pier Sinners.

In ORBITING JUPITER, two-time Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires. Gary Schmidt received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and a Newbery Honor for The Wednesday Wars.

Kate Scelsa’s captivating and profound debut novel, FANS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE, is about complicated love and the friendships that have the power to transform you forever, perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby. Kate grew up in New Jersey, went to school at Sarah Lawrence College, and now lives in Brooklyn with her wife and two black cats. She spent most of 2004-2012 traveling the world performing in an eight hour long show called “Gatz” that uses the entire text of “The Great Gatsby.” Current interests include: angsty singing ladies, interior revolutions, and exterior adornments.

Admission: FREE RSVP Requested [email protected] or here on Facebook