Last week I attended the launch party for Lena Coakley’s first novel, WITCHLANDERS. It’s a YA high fantasy being published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers and it’s been getting great reviews – you can check out more coverage on Lena’s website.

Sadly, October 6th was a busy day for me and I didn’t make it out to Ben McNally Books, the launch party location, until after Lena had finished her reading. On the plus side, that means I got to read the book without even a hint of a spoiler. It’s a really fun ride, with solid pacing and some great coming-of-age elements with appeal to middle grade and teen readers of both genders.

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Even though I arrived late, there was still a pretty good crowd for the launch! It’s hard to tell because of the Ben McNally layout, but there were a lot of people tucked in among the bookshelves and crannies of the shop.

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Grabbing my signed copy! I met Lena through the TorKidLit group, so it’s been fun watching her go through the whole process of getting ready for her debut launch.

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Obligatory author-poses-with-book shot. Lena seemed pleased with the launch, and she should be – from what I can tell, she got a great turn-out and sold a lot of books! Lena’s written up a blog post about the launch, if you’d like to check out the experience from the author’s perspective, and there’s a ton more photos in this Facebook album.