Three 2012 Michael L. Printz Award honorees continue on a two-state book tour after stopping at the Palo Alto High School library Wednesday, April 25,  to talk to students about their award-winning novels.

Daniel Handler, John Corey Whaley and Maggie Stiefvater each read excerpts from their respective novels, talked about what influences their writing and answered questions from a crowd of several hundred students.

Whaley, who goes by Corey, is the winner of the 2012 Printz Award for his novel “Where Things Come Back”, a story that juxtaposes multiple storylines spanning multiple countries to illustrate a story about second chances. The novel was his first as an author after having taught public middle and high school English for five years in his home state of Louisiana.

Whaley said that his humble beginnings along the Arkansas-Louisiana border and a National Public Radio story he heard while in college about a small town in Arkansas both proved to be inspiration for his debut novel. In addition, Whaley said that he wanted to divulge into the world of adolescence.

“I wanted to explore a place when you feel like as a 17-year-old things can’t get worse,” he said. “Then I decided I would take more away from him [the character].”

During the question and answer session, Whaley described differences between his personality and his writing style.

“I tend to be a little more serious when I’m writing,” he said. “I can be very serious, but most of the time I’m very ‘go-with-the-flow’. Writing is like therapy for me.”

Similarly, Handler is a Printz Award honoree for his book “Why We Broke Up”, which chronicles the break-up of two teenagers through stories about items in a box that were collected during their relationship. The novel was his second collaboration with illustrator Maira Kalman, who proposed illustrations to draw before he started writing a manuscript, Handler said.

Using profanity and giving sarcastic warnings to students, Handler advised them to never do what the characters do in “Why We Broke Up”. 

Handler is known also by his pseudonym, Lemony Snicket, under which he wrote the popular “A Series of Unfortunate Events” series, which contains 13 books written across seven years starting in late 1999. Before finishing his presentation, Handler mentioned a new series under the Snicket pen-name are scheduled to arrive this fall.

“I don’t remember ever wanting to do anything besides writing,” Handler said.

Stiefvater’s novel, “The Scorpio Races”, is also a Printz Award honoree. She describes her writing style as “Maggie unfiltered” and chooses to write about childhood tales, which have influenced her writing style. She explained that “The Scorpio Races” is based on the legend of Irish water horses and has ended up becoming what she considers the favorite book she’s written.

Homeschooled from sixth grade on, Stiefvater began college at age 16, not before she and her sister became fascinated with animals and even bought their own horse, a former thoroughbred racing horse, she fondly shared. Her love of animals inspired “The Scorpio Races” and her series, “The Wolves of Mercy Falls” trilogy.

The Printz award, which was named after a Nebraskan librarian that died in 1996, is awarded annually to the “best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit”, according to the Young Adult Library Services Association, which administers the award. Michael Printz was an active member of the YALSA before his death.

The authors visited Paly two days after the tour, which includes stops at bookstores and high schools in California and Virginia, began on April 23. Christine Hinwood and Craig Silvey, the two other 2012 Printz Award honorees, were unable to be a part of the tour due to scheduling conflicts. Unlike most book tours, this tour was organized by three different publicists and all for honorees of the same award.

Junior Josh Stabinsky said what he found most interesting about the authors’ visit was “how funny they [the authors] were.”

Handler, Whaley, and Stiefvater had only met each other online before the tour, according to Publisher’s Weekly’s website, but they each expressed the joys and camaraderie of the writing community.  

“There’s a very strong community of writers,” Whaley said. “For the most part, you’re all working toward the same goal.”