SWOONWORTHY SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE: YA ROMANCE

4:00 pm - 4:45 pm
| Location of Session: Copper Kitchen
Young Adult (YA) Sessions

Start of Signing: 5:00 pm
| Signing Location: Festival Marketplace

My Schedule

About the Event

Join two young adult authors whose work explores stories of first loves, community, and family. In Hot Boy Summer by Joe Jiménez, four teens have the summer of their lives while discovering important truths about belonging, queerness, and friendship. Two Mariachi rivals fall in love in Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa, an ode to Mexican culture, and family and legacy. This is a can’t-miss session about forging your own path… and finding love on the journey.

About the Author

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jonny Garza Villa

Jonny Garza Villa

Jonny Garza Villa is an author of contemporary young adult literature with characters and settings inspired by their own Tejane, Chicane, and queer identities, including their most recent work, Canto Contigo, part grief novel, part rivals-to-lovers romance all about the epic highs and lows of high school mariachi. Their other work includes debut YA novel Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun, a Pura Belpré Honor Book and a Kirkus Best YA Fiction of 2021 selection, and their sophomore contemporary YA, Ander & Santi Were Here, a Barnes & Noble YA Book Club pick and an AudioFile Earphone Award Winner. When not writing, Jonny enjoys reading, playing Dungeons and Dragons, visiting taquerías, listening to Selena, and caring for their many plant children. They live in San Antonio.

Photo Credit: JPL Productions

Joe Jiménez

Joe Jiménez is the author of the poetry collection Rattlesnake Allegory and the young adult novel Bloodline. He was the recipient of the 2016 Letras Latinas/Red Hen Press Poetry Prize, and he was awarded a Lucas Artists Literary Artists Fellowship. His writing has appeared on PBS NewsHour online and Lambda Literary. Joe lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he is a high school English teacher and a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop. His latest book for young adults is Hot Boy Summer.

Moderator

Jonathan Rowley

Jonathan Rowley is a Kindergarten teacher at Young Women’s Leadership Academy Primary. He has been a teacher for 9 years with a passion for supporting and empowering our youth. His passion for education has led him to be a board member for San Antonio Leaders and Teachers where he celebrate our city’s educators year round. He resides in San Antonio, Texas with his spoiled poodle, Dash.