Best Of YA Event 2014: Event Recap

On Sunday November second I went to the ‘Best of YA Event’
in Amsterdam. A couple of
weeks ago I saw the announcement that Kiera Cass would be coming to Amsterdam
and I learned about the ‘Best of YA Event’. I love love love the ‘Selection’
series and I seriously devoured the three books in this series so I was really
excited to learn that Kiera Cass would be visiting Holland.

As
anyone who visits my blog can see I’m a huge book fan and I love YA books.
Unfortunately for me there aren’t many book events here in Holland in which you
can meet Authors, especially not US authors. And since I’ve only been reading
my books in English since I was about twelve years old, I don’t really know much
Dutch authors and well I haven’t met many authors because of that. So this was
my big chance and I immediately bought tickets. Since my mom also loves books I
asked her to come with me. I waited like what felt like many many weeks but
this Sunday it was finally there: November second. 

The ‘Best
of YA Event’ would begin at 3.30 p.m. so my mom and I took the train to
Amsterdam around 2.00 p.m. After a little walk we finally arrived at the Club
Panama in which the event would take place. I was really scared that there
would be a very long line but fortunately we were early and the line wasn’t long
at all. 

The
doors opened around 3.00 p.m. and my mom and I hurried to find a nice place so
we can see everything. What immediately grabbed my attention was the stage with
the two seats. I immediately got more and more excited. There was a bar open
for drinks, there were a lot of these lovely little cakes to grab, there was a
photo booth where you could take a picture with a ‘Selection’ attribute and
there was a stand filled with books you could buy (unfortunately for me there
were mostly in Dutch).

After my
mom and I found two great places near the front I saw that I was probably one
of the oldest out there (without taking my mom into account of course, LOL).
That was a little disturbing to be honest. I’m only twenty five and I’m
definitely not too old for these books!! At least that what I think. But I
decided to just not pay attention to the people around me and enjoy the event.

The
event started at 3.30 p.m. with Dutch Author Helen Vreeswijk. I never read a book
written by her but her new book definitely sounded like a great one. And what a
strong and positive woman she was. She has incurable breast cancer but still
finds the strength to visit her fans and promote her new book. I was definitely
touched by her story.

After
the interview with Helen Vreeswijk the YA promo team was called on stage. This
is a promo team for a Dutch publishing house and they are in need for some new
team members. It was definitely fun to hear about their passion for the team.
But again seeing how young they where I just felt really old. (LOL!!)

The
first part of the event ended with the live announcement of who will be acting
in the play of a Dutch book called ‘Boy7’ by Mirjam Mous. I hadn’t heard about
this book before but it sounded like a fun thing.

After a
short break the moment was finally there. Kiera Cass was called upon stage and there
was a great interview with her. I immediately loved Kiera. She was so funny,
kind and enthusiastic. After the interview was done we, as a public, got the
chance to ask Kiera questions. Kiera answered every question with great
enthusiasm and it was just so much fun. 

Way to
soon the event ended and we got the opportunity to get an autograph of Helen
Vreeswijk and Kiera Cass. That part was definitely not what I expected. From
the moment the word was out that both authors would be signing, the crowd just
ran to the front of the stage. I was just stunned! There was no line at all and
everybody was pushing like crazy. My mom told me to go and since I really
wanted Kiera Cass to sign my books I walked into the crowd. What an adventure
that was! I don’t like places filled with a lot people and now I was standing
in the middle of a teenage crowd trying to not get pushed away. After almost
two hours I finally got on stage and met Kiera Cass. I was so excited. Kiera
signed my three books and after that I asked her if I could get a picture with
her.. Even after two hours of signing she was really friendly and took the time
to get a picture with me. I loved it. 

 

So
around 6.30 p.m. I left the ‘Best of YA Event’ with a goodie bag and best of
all I got my autograph and even a picture. I think, this being my first book
event, it was a huge success. I loved it and I loved meeting Kiera Cass. This
day is definitely one I will never forget and I hope I will get the opportunity
to visit more book event.