This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. 

Charis welcomes Kelsey Day & Kelly Quindlen  for a discussion of queer young adult fiction - the gritty, the romantic, and everything in between!

Out on February 24th is Kelsey Day's young adult debut The Spiral Key, a high-stakes thriller set in a virtual-reality paradise turned hellscape - where best friends know each other the best and ex–best friends know how to hurt each other the worst.

Out most recently from Kelly Quindlen is the paperback release of Her Name in the Sky, a sapphic romance about two best friends who fall in love and find the courage to choose—and be—themselves.

Kelsey Day is a young adult author and queer Appalachian poet. Their writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Orion Magazine, Freeman’s and more. The Spiral Key is their first novel for young readers. You can find them online at KelseyDays.com or on Instagram @KelseyDays.

Kelly Quindlen is the bestselling author of the young adult novels She Drives Me Crazy (winner of the Volunteer State Book Award), Late to the Party, Her Name in the Sky, and the forthcoming This Must Be the Place (May 2026). Her books have cumulatively sold over a quarter of a million copies worldwide and been featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, Vulture, and Paste. She enjoys speaking to high school GSAs, PFLAG groups, and all manner of LGBTQ+ organizations. Kelly lives in Decatur with her fiancée and their saucy cat, Peach Marie. Follow her online @kellyquindlen.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. 

In-person event guidelines:

All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.

We will begin seating people at 6:00 PM ET.

This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast.

As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.

Queer Young Adult Fiction: A Conversation with Kelsey Day & Kelly Quindlen