YA Author Nerd Throwdown

Our fiercest, nerdiest trivia night yet! Watch as we pit ten YA authors against each other in a fandom quiz covering Harry Potter, Buffy, Star Trek, Doctor Who and more. Audience members are eligible to win excellent door prizes, including books, bookish swag, and a McNally Jackson gift card. 

Hosted by the inimitable RL Stine, an incredible good sport who is likely already regretting his involvement with this spectacle. 

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Tara Altebrando is the author of several middle grade and teen novels, including The Leaving and Roomies, an ALA 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, co-written with Sara Zarr. Her next book, The Possible, publishes in June 2017. She lives in New York City with her family.

Scott Bergstrom lives with his wife and daughters in Colorado. The Cruelty, out in February '17, is his fiction debut.

Jeff Giles grew up in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Most recently, he was the deputy managing editor of Entertainment Weekly, where he oversaw all coverage of movies and books, including the magazine's championing of YA fiction. Jeff has written for Rolling Stone and The New York Times Books Review. He also coauthored The Terrorist's Son, a nonfiction book that won an Alex Award from the American Library Association and has since been translated into more than a dozen languages. While reporting on the Lord of the Rings movies for Newsweek, Jeff was invited to be an extra in The Return of the King. He played a Rohan soldier, and--because he didn't have a beard or mustache--they glued yak hair to his face. Jeff lives with his family in Montana.

Emmy Laybourne  is a novelist, teacher and recovered character actress. Emmy's first series, MONUMENT 14, tells the story of fourteen kids from Monument, CO who are trapped in a superstore as civilization collaspese outside the gates. The sequel, MONUMENT 14: SKY ON FIRE, picks up the story as some of the kids leave to try to make it to an evacuation site in Denver, while others are forced to remain behind.

Danielle Paige is a graduate of Columbia University and the author of the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series. Before turning to young adult literature, she worked in the television industry, where she received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She currently lives in New York City.

Sarah Porter is a writer, artist, and freelance teacher who lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two cats. She has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from City College.

Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Winner's Curse, The Winner's Crime, The Shadow Society, and the Kronos Chronicles, which includes The Cabinet of Wonders. She is a professor at Brooklyn College and lives in New York City. 

VE Schwab’s first adult novel, Vicious, debuted to critical praise and reader accolades. Schwab is the author of YA novels, including the acclaimed The Near Witch, along with writing Middle Grade for Scholastic. The Independent calls Schwab "the natural successor to Diana Wynne Jones" and someone who has "an enviable, almost Gaiman-esque ability to switch between styles, genres, and tones."

Danielle Vega spent her childhood hiding under the covers while her mother retold tales from the pages of Stephen King novels instead of reading bedtime stories about princesses and dwarves like a normal parent. Now an adult, she can count on one hand the number of times in her life she’s been truly afraid. Danielle has won numerous awards for her fiction and nonfiction, and earned a 2009 Pushcart Prize nomination for her short story “Drive.” She is also the author of The Merciless and Survive the Night.

RL Stine is one of the bestselling children’s authors in history with more than 400 million books sold to date. In 1989, Stine created the Fear Street series, one of the bestselling young adult book series in history with 80 million copies sold worldwide. He is also the author of the bestselling children’s series Goosebumps, which began in 1992 and has sold 300 million copies around the world. The Goosebumps series was made into a feature film starring Jack Black as R.L. Stine.