Barnes and Noble is more than just a bookstore. Throughout the year, Barnes and Noble has many book readings, meet-the-author events, and book fairs. This weekend, Barnes and Noble stores nationwide hosted four events in its first ever “B-Fest,” a book festival organized specially for teens.

The festival, lasting between June 10 and June 12, had fun games, giveaways, and sneak peaks that enticed Staples’ avid readers.

Tricia Tierney, the Westport Barnes and Noble’s Community Business Development Manager, organized the events this weekend in the Westport branch.

“Teen books have been selling fantastically, I mean that’s kind of a hot new area,” she said. “I think based on that, the idea is to kind of make a festival just for teens.”

Tierney attributes this overwhelming popularity to the idea that they’re enticing to adults, as well as teens. “You see like established adult authors now kind of moving into [Young Adult] books,” she said. “There’s a lot of crossover.”
This nationwide “B-Fest” is bringing hundreds of authors to Barnes and Noble stores across the country, such as Jay Asher and E.C. Myers, among others, to celebrate teen reading.

On Friday, Barnes and Noble had its first “B-Fest” event: a trivia blast created by Penguin Teen and Random House. In the trivia game, a referee quized the readers on quotes that the players matched to the teen book, identifying which plot belongs to which title, and plenty of other tricky games.

Samantha Smith ’19, one of the four participants, considered it a challenge, but still enjoyed herself. “It was a bit hard because some of the books were different than books that I read,” she said. “There were some that I hadn’t read, but it was fun.”

Anina Hoffman ’17, a participant in Saturday’s spelling showdown, another one of the many “B-Fest” events, also enjoyed the festival. “It’s really nice to have an event just for teens,” she said. “Plus it’s cool that they can make it fun and easy to play for all ages.”