The YA Book Log

FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS

A FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS IN TEEN SECOND LIFE on Saturday, February 2, 2008 You can celebrate young adult books in virtual reality with other teens!
The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), TeachingBooks.net, and Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries and Information Services are pleased to announce a very special event, “A Festival of Authors”, a virtual literary celebration that will take place on Saturday, February 2, from 10 am to 2 pm PST (1 pm – 5 pm EST), in Teen Second Life. This event will showcase a group of selected authors of young adult literature for a teen audience. There will also be avatar author appearances by Barry Lyga (10am PST/1pm EST), Marc Aronson (11am PST/2pm EST) , and Carol Baldwin(12pm PST/3pm EST) .
Teen Second Life (http://teen.secondlife.com) is a 3D virtual world where teens can learn valuable 21st century skills and build a variety of developmental assets as they engage with their peers from all over the world, communicate in multiple media formats, and express their identities through their own virtual appearances.
Teens have helped construct a space for author exhibits with content provided by TeachingBooks.net, including author photos, brief profiles, selected bibliographies, and links to other interesting information about the authors. Teens have helped select the authors they would like showcased. Writing, role playing, and anime/manga groups are just some of the teen-driven, literary-related groups within Teen Second Life.

To Participate –Teen Second Life is a virtual reality grid for teens ages 13 – 17. Teens can register for their free avatar account at the website. Registration is authenticated via a credit card or select cell phone providers. For the best experience, plan to prepare and complete orientation several days in advance. Use the following steps:
1. Begin registration at https://secure-web5.secondlife.com/join.
2. Download the client software at http://secondlife.com/community/downloads.php
3. Verify system requirements at http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php
4. Log onto Teen Second Life using the downloaded software.
5. Go through the various orientation activities.
6. Search for the Eye4You Alliance land or sim and teleport to that location. Alternately, use the SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eye4You%20Alliance/168/203/25 to teleport to the event.
7. Participate in the “Festival of Authors” on the day of the event.