The Texas Teen Book Festival occurred on campus on Oct. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The festival is one of the biggest book festivals in the nation, bringing together 40 authors and over 4,000 readers. The festival is free and open to the public.

People could get a schedule and pick events they wanted to attend around different areas on campus. Attendees of the festival said that this year’s festival was “much better than last years. It feels homier this year.”

James Dashner, the author of the famous series The Maze Runner, was the main event for the day. Dashner spoke in the Recreation and Convocation Center in front of a huge audience from 1:20 to 2:05p.m. The majority of his fans were not even at the event because they had already begun to wait outside for his book signing. Before Dashner even started speaking, the line for his book signing dragged all the way around the RCC.

Dashner mainly talked about his journey as an author, and really emphasized, “if you work hard in life, you will be happy.” He started off his speech by introducing his family on a powerpoint presentation (he used this the entire time). He talked about everything in his life, from studying accounting in school, to the lack of success he received after he published his first book, A Door in the Woods.

Of course, Dashner talked a lot about The Maze Runner series. He said that he kept receiving rejection letters from companies, until one day he rewrote the entire story and finally got it published. He admitted that the idea for the book came from the maze scene in The Shining, Lord of the Flies, and the TV show Lost.

Dashner stated that he still could not believe the success he has had from the series. “The Maze Runner” is now sold in 40 different languages around the world. Before the success, he would have book signings where people would ask him where the restroom was.

As a speaker, Dashner was very personable with the audience and kept everyone laughing. It was obvious that he was appealing to a young audience from his word choice and his powerpoint slides. At one point he said, “I want to know what happens when I say these two words: Dylan O’ Brian.” The RCC vibrated from the screams from girls.

Overall, the festival was a huge success. One volunteer for the festival said, “This year has the largest crowd ever, which is so great. I wish they had this when I was younger.” The festival brought authors and readers together from Texas and beyond. The fact that it promotes reading is wonderful, and it is great to see the festival having such a huge success.

To find out more about the festival, go to: texasteenbookfestival.org