Idris Goodwin, Selina Li Bi, and Vanessa L. Torres
In YA, The Power is Within
Saturday, November 8, 2025
2:00pm, Red Cap Room (located upstairs from the Book Fair)
When faced with particular and dire challenges, the three protagonists of these new YA novels search deep inside themselves for the inner strength, creativity, and love to prevail. In King of the Neuro Verse, Idris Goodwin presents a powerful story (in verse!) about a Black teen with ADHD who finds self-expression and first love during an epic summer school season. Sunlight Playing Over a Mountain, Selina Li Bi’s debut novel, combines lyrical prose, Chinese mythology, and tropes of fantasy to explore the sobering narrative of an imperfect mother-daughter relationship. And in On the Wings of La Noche, Vanessa L. Torres offers a spellbinding tale of a lonely science girl who at night becomes a Lechuza, a shape-shifting witch-owl of Mexican lore tasked with guiding the dead to the hereafter. Don’t miss this riveting talk on finding the power within!
About the Authors
Idris Goodwin is an award-winning neurodivergent storyteller, playwright, and breakbeat poet. He is the author of the picture book Your House Is Not Just a House, as well as over sixty original plays, ranging from his hip-hop–inspired breakbeat series to historical dramas to works for young audiences. A dedicated mentor to emerging writers, Goodwin serves as associate professor of dramatic writing at Arizona State University. Visit him at idrisgoodwin.com.
Selina Li Bi was born to immigrant parents from the Philippines. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University Moorhead and is also a certified Creativity Coach. Her work has appeared in Nonwhite and Woman: 131 Micro Essays on Being in the World, riksha: Asian American Creative Arts in Action, Cricket, among others. Visit her at selinalibi.com.
Vanessa L. Torres is a Mexican American author, an adventure seeker, and a mom to a flashlight-under-the-covers-reader. She is a thirty-year veteran of the fire service and is equally proud to call her herself an author. Her debut young adult novel, The Turning Pointe, released in 2022. When she’s not writing, she balances her time between anything outdoors, and spending time with her family close to home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.