Welcome to National Teen Book Club – Hero Read 3

National Teen Book Club (NTBC) believe everyone should have a chance to enjoy reading and grow in confidence as part of a welcoming peer community – so for 2024-25 we launched one in-school NTBC for school groups and one after-school NTBC for individual learners.

We’ve had an exciting start to our school offer, with new names and familiar faces from the Young Adult genre and the broader storytelling industry, including a Hollywood screenwriter, several award-nominated writers and an MBE! For term three, we’re bringing you more exciting books and inspirational speakers, including a Shakespeare expert and an actor! Read on for more information about our upcoming in-school sessions.

NTBC Session Information

Our third hero read is a fantasy YA by Brittany N. Williams. That Self-Same Metal centres West African mythology and queerness within a reimagined Jacobean England. Whether your students are studying Shakespeare or not, our sessions will aid discussions around representation in stories and the historical fiction/fantasy genre – and, as usual, we’ll be exploring creative careers during them too!

We’ll be joined by five other authors in the weeks leading up to Brittany’s finale session, each with a career story to share and a book to discuss. Join us live or catch up with the recording!

That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams

Session 1 – Molly X. Chang, Wednesday 7th May 2025, 2 pm

Molly is the bestselling author of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, the first in the anti-colonial fantasy series, Gods Beyond the Skies. Born in Harbin, China, Molly was raised on folklore told by the grandparents who taught her to take pride in the heritage and cultures that shaped her life, and the harrowing history of the ancestors who’d come before her.

Session 2 – Kayvion Lewis, Wednesday 14th May 2025, 2 pm

Kayvion is a YA author living in Shreveport, Louisiana. She’s been working with books since she was sixteen, hopping from libraries to bookstores and back again. Her first novel, The Half-Class came out with the indie press Parliament House in 2021. Her book Thieves’ Gambit was released around the world and in over 20 languages in 2023, and film rights have since been bought by Lionsgate. Kayvion spends her free time breaking out of escape rooms and occasionally jumping out of aeroplanes!

Session 3 – Dr Will Tosh, Wednesday 21st May 2025, 10 am

Will is Head of Research at Shakespeare’s Globe, London. He teaches, writes about, and researches the literature and culture of Shakespeare’s England, and he leads the Globe’s scholarly research mission. His latest book is Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare.

Session 4 – Shade Lapite, Wednesday 11th June 2025, 2 pm

Shade has worked in TV production, journalism and teaching before becoming an author. She’ll be discussing the power of reimagining, as well as world building with West African influence in her book Goddess Crown.

Session 5 – A. B. Poranek, Wednesday 18th June 2025, 10 am

A. B. grew up in Canada but spent her summers in the Polish countryside, raiding her dziadek’s library and helping care for his chickens. Her love of animals led her to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine, though she never stopped writing along the way. Her first novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, is an ode to Poland’s wild woodlands, wilder folktales, and the girls who were raised by them.

Session 6 – Brittany N. Williams, Wednesday 25th June 2025, 2 pm

Brittany is an author and a classically trained actress. She studied Musical Theatre at Howard University and Shakespearean performance at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London. Previously she’s been a principal vocalist at Hong Kong Disneyland and a theatre professor at Coppin State University. That Self-Same Metal is a fantasy YA that’s swashbuckling, romantic, and full of the sights and sounds of a reimagined Shakespearean England.

Additional Session Information

We’re very much looking forward to having you join us for upcoming sessions for schools via our private livestream page. A link will be shared with you each time. Please note, there must be a teacher in attendance with the group – please do not share the session link with your students.

A reminder to please read the blurb for each author’s book via the links below to gauge the suitability for your group and note any relevant trigger warnings. We will not be discussing book content in detail, but as our Q&As are directed by questions posed by our young people, it is possible that sensitive topics may be touched on. We also encourage you to read the hero read chapter samples, which we email to you when you register for one of the three cycles.

You and your group will be able to pose questions on the day, or questions can also be pre-submitted via www.slido.com. You will be provided with the Slido code ahead of each session via email.

Please head to our website for further details about our hero reads and our NTBC FAQs.

Attendance

We would really appreciate you letting us know whether you intend to be attending the session live, or if you intend to participate via the recordings at a time of your own convenience. All our past NTBC talks – as well as many others! – can be accessed through our Broadcast Library.

Discounted Books

You should have already received the book ordering details for our three hero reads via email. Let us know if you need this information again or require assistance.

A reminder that purchasing copies is an optional cost for schools and colleges – we’ll be making light-touch links to our hero reads and the curriculum texts they connect with during every broadcast, but sessions will mainly focus on our speakers’ careers and books – so there’ll be lots to take away from our sessions either way!

We’re excited to be able to share so many wonderful books and diverse author perspectives with you this year!