Tuesday, Aug. 19 is shaping up as a red-letter day for the Bradford Area Public Library’s Teen Book Club.
That’s the day the three-year-old organization will have its regular monthly meeting, participate in a poetry workshop, and be treated to a light reception. But the big event of Teen Book Club Day, which kicks off at 3 p.m. in the Community Room, is a discussion of a new teen novel by one of the Club’s own members, Hannah Ruttan.
An entering freshman at Bradford High School this fall, Hannah began the work last November, although she has been mulling over the idea since a sixth-grade class at St. Bernard’s. “I remember looking at the clock and it was eleven minutes after eleven on November 11, 2011,” she said. The book’s title is 11:11:11, and the number eleven turns out to have a special significance to the characters in the novel.
The story follows the life of Annabel Hopfrey, a sophomore in a fictitious private school in a fictitious town somewhere between New York and Pennsylvania. Annabel plays bass guitar and wants to be in a band. She manages to overcome a series of difficulties and finally succeeds in forming a group. “I thought about hundreds of possible names, and finally came up with ‘Indifferent Conspiracy’ as the name of the group,” Hannah said. The band has a breakthrough at the end of the novel, but Hannah isn’t telling what it is. “You have to read the novel to find out,” she advises.
The young author credits two online sites as aids in her writing and publishing efforts. “An online writing project called national Novel Writing Month got me started,” she relates. When she finished the writing, she used another website, Createspace.com, which helps authors design covers and set up their books, then handles the publishing.
Copies of the book will be available at Hannah’s talk and reception on Aug. 19, and the author will happily sign copies at the event, which is free and open to the public.
Hannah is the daughter of Thomas Ruttan and Tammy Wilton, who both encouraged her during the long and sometimes difficult process of writing and publishing her work.
“Hannah is also an avid reader, which any author must be,” said Marie Troskosky, the former Cattaraugus-Little Valley English teacher who started the Teen Book Club at the library. “She amazes me by the number of books she reads.”
Troskosky explained that the Club meets the third Tuesday of every month and discusses books that are chosen by club members. “We look at teen books that are on the best-seller list, and the kids choose the ones that sound most interesting to them. The library has been very supportive in ordering copies of the books for Club members to read.” The Club currently has about 20 members; new members between the ages of 13 and 18 may sign up any time at the library.
Following Hannah’s talk and reception, Troskosky will conduct a workshop on “Patch Poetry.” She explains that this is a creative process that combines newspaper headlines, song lyrics, parts of published poems, and the author’s own contributions to make a new poem. This product is then combined with scrapbooking materials to make a collage which can be displayed.
The Club will conduct its regular meeting after the Patch Poetry workshop. In addition to discussing recent teen books, the Club has also been active in making “book trailers” for some of their young adult readings. “These are original videos that are designed to promote books, just as film companies make trailers, or previews, to promote their movies,” Troskosky explained. “As far as I know, this is something unique to our Club. I haven’t heard of any other public library doing anything like this.”
Troskosky encourages adults as well as young people to attend the talk and reception at the library. “We’ll not only be celebrating the launching of a writing career, but also the involvement of our young people in intellectual and creative endeavors. It’s something in which the whole community can take pride.”
