Join us in conversation with Susan Metallo and Celeste Dador to discuss Hearts on the Table: a fun, queer, neurodivergent take on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

The conversation will focus around why queer retellings of classic stories matter, neurodivergence, and intersectional identity in queer writing. The event will include approx. 45 minutes of conversation, a 15 minute Q&A, and a book signing with both authors.

Book Summary

As World War I rages, a seventeen-year-old English feminist with a penchant for thrashing men at cards finds herself stranded on an enemy-controlled island and tangled in the last mess she’d ever expect: love.

Violet is used to winning—with her mathematical mind, no one stands a chance of beating her at cards, or much of anything else. So, when her wrathful father threatens to marry her and her trans twin brother Seb to the highest bidders, she’s certain they can escape England, even with a war on. But before they reach safety in Italy, a U-boat sinks their ship, and Violet washes up on a small island, on the wrong side of enemy lines, desperate to find her missing twin.

To earn passage to the mainland, where she hopes Seb has landed, Violet disguises herself as a man and accepts a job delivering love poetry for melancholy pacifist Teo, the island’s irritating golden boy. The object of his affection, fair Olivia, is less than enchanted, but she is intrigued by the handsome delivery boy—Violet in disguise. While Violet struggles to sidestep Olivia’s attentions, she’s vexed by her own inconvenient but undeniable attraction to Teo.

Add a mysterious newcomer, who converts the love triangle into a square, and Olivia’s autistic sister, who’s concocting a devilish revenge against the island’s biggest bully, and odds are things will only get messier.

Fortunately, playing the odds is Violet’s specialty.

In a twisty transformation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, populated with queer, trans, and neurodivergent characters, Violet’s bold prose alternates with verse chapters from the perspective of autistic musical prodigy Faustina. Susan Metallo’s whip-smart writing and the fresh wartime setting make for a witty, elegant, and high-stakes exploration of love, loss, friendship, and identity.

Susan Metallo will be in conversation with cozy romance author, Celeste Dador.

About the Author

Susan Metallo (she/her) is a neurodivergent young adult author and librarian. Her debut novel, Reasons to Hate Me, was one of Publishers Weekly’s Best YA Books of the Year, a Children’s Book Council Teacher Favorite, a “Rise: A Feminist Book Project” selection, and a finalist for the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association’s Reading the West Award. It was also selected by the American Booksellers Association for Indie Next Kids and Indies Introduce Kids, and it is currently nominated for Pennsylvania’s Mountain Laurel Book Award. In addition to these accolades, her work has received starred reviews in School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and The Horn Book and has been published in Ladybug, Cricket, The Seven Hills Review, and Publishers Weekly.

A graduate of the College of William and Mary, she is living her best nerd life, and when she's not writing a book (or reading someone else’s) you might find her doing a crossword puzzle or singing the soprano line of a Baroque fugue. She lives in Virginia with her husband, her children, and an 80-lb. bulldog who fervently believes she will fit on your lap.

About Celeste Dador

Celeste Dador writes cozy, swoony, seasonal romances with big heart and laughs. A former reality TV show semi-finalist on America’s Next Great Author, Celeste is also an advisor with SCBWI, a global nonprofit writing community. Her young adult debut Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights has been featured on WAMU-NPR, NBC4, ABC7, Girls Life, Nerd Daily, and was named one of Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Reads in 2026. Celeste grew up in the Bay Area but now calls Virginia home. Like many of her characters, she’s proudly Filipino American. When writing adult romance, which includes a dash of spice, she uses the pen name C.C. Dador. Instagram | Substack | Goodreads

Contact the host of Author Event: Susan Metallo Hearts on the Table

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