Derrick Barnes, Dori Hillestad Butler & Ruby Lal: Middle Grade Books…Not for Kiddos!
Sat, Oct 04
|First Baptist Church of Decatur
From small-town football fields to fractured families and royal courts, Derrick Barnes, Dori Hillestad Butler, and Ruby Lal share powerful middle grade stories about justice, identity, and history—told with bold voices, unforgettable characters, and timeless truths.
Time & Location
Oct 04, 2025, 3:15 PM – 4:00 PM EDT
First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairemont Ave, Decatur, GA 30030
About
These unforgettable books explore themes like justice, family, truth, and resilience through the eyes of bold young protagonists. A gifted athlete challenges the system in a divided town. A pair of audacious tween cousins must confront the long-buried secrets that destroyed their broken family. A fearless empress rises to power in Mughal India. These are middle grade books that don’t hold back.
Join Derrick Barnes, Dori Hillestad Butler, and Ruby Lal as they discuss writing for readers who are ready to think deeply, feel fully, and see the world in new ways.
Following the panel, authors will proceed to signing tables to autograph books.
Purchase your book from Little Shop of Stories using this link, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the festival.
About the Moderator
Karen Strong is the critically acclaimed author of Just South of Home, Eden’s Everdark, and The Secret Dead Club. Her novels have been praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and School Library Journal and selected for numerous best of year and recommended reading lists. Karen’s writing also appears in multiple award-winning and bestselling anthologies, and as a Star Wars contributor her short fiction is featured in Stories of Jedi and Sith. Born and raised in Georgia, Karen is an avid lover of strong coffee, yellow flowers, and night skies.