SALT LAKE CITY — “If you don’t think you’re a reader yet, it’s because you haven’t found the right book.”

Utah author Sara B. Larson believes there is a book out there for everyone that can make someone love reading. She and dozens of other authors gathered at StoryCon this weekend to teach and inspire young kids to love reading and writing.

“It’s hard to see the drop in literacy that has happened, but it’s also encouraging to see so many people banding together to try and combat it and help our youth,” Larson said.

StoryCon is a literature conference that brings together authors, educators, teens, tweens and everyone in between to focus on the power of literacy. Around 3,500 people flocked to the Salt Palace Convention Center for workshops on writing concepts, shopping for book merchandise, author signings, and even panels about Brandon Sanderson’s famed fantastical universe known as the Cosmere.

Sanderson, one of the most well-known fantasy authors to come out of Utah, said writing can feel isolating because it is such a solitary activity. He attended a conference similar to StoryCon in Nebraska when he was 18, and the opportunity to connect and meet with real authors was “so invigorating.”

“It was so powerful to just have a community. So I’ve always tried to do what I can to support communities, particularly for young people,” he said.

Aspiring writers don’t need to stress about writing the perfect book immediately, Sanderson advises. While some authors get lucky, like Christopher Paolini, who wrote “Eragon” at just 14 years old, most of the time writing is about exploring genres and just improving your skills over time, he said.

Sanderson himself didn’t love reading at first until between his eighth and ninth grade years.

“I went from being a C student to an A student because of books. This was partially because I found myself in the books; I had a reason to care, but your reading comprehension going up helps in all aspects of life,” he said. “Having a fluency with reading, reading for the love of it, which will just build those muscles in your brain, is extremely important.”

Brandon Mull, author of the “Fablehaven” series, said he also didn’t like reading as a kid until he read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which made a “light go on.” He now feels he owes C.S. Lewis the credit for how his life turned out.

“When I learned to read for fun as a kid, it changed the trajectory of my life,” Mull said. “I’m a practical example of how big a difference learning to love reading can make for someone.”

Mull focuses on children’s literature and said he tries to write stories that children and families can enjoy. Reading fiction helps children develop “a rich inner life,” learn how to be empathetic and develop their minds to be a place ideas can be explored.

The Utah author will soon be celebrating the 20th anniversary of his book “Fablehaven,” which will include a special illustrated edition of the beloved children’s book, a dramatized full-cast audiobook, and the premiere next year of a film based on the novel. He also will be releasing a new series this year called “Guardians” that he believes is some of his best work.

With so many things competing for kids’ attention every day, it’s crucial to teach them to read, Mull said.

“If we don’t get kids to learn how to read a book and turn it into a story in their head, they are missing an aspect of education that makes them good consumers of information and good consumers of stories,” he said.

Larson agreed with that sentiment, saying people’s brains are being “hijacked” and getting stuck in a loop of only having a 3-second attention span because of social media. Larson has written more than eight fantasy books, including the popular “Defy” trilogy.

“This phenomenon that is happening to our kids, they are losing the ability to focus, losing the ability to even think with any sort of deep analytical process. It’s so vital to get to these kids and help them realize you have got to put down the phone and pick up a book and train yourself to focus,” she said.

There is wealth, knowledge, joy, happiness, peace and calm to be found when you put social media away and instead dive into a book, she said. Reading helps children grow up to be successful adults who can pursue goals, constantly learn and successfully contribute to society.

StoryCon CEO Jennifer Jenkins said it has been overwhelming to see the success of the event. StoryCon was created by the nonprofit Operation Literacy last year and has become the biggest literacy-focused event in Utah.

Growing up, she felt there wasn’t a place for writers compared to athletes or dancers who always had camps and conventions, so she helped found Teen Author Boot Camp, which evolved into StoryCon.

“Kids need to know they are being taken seriously. They need to be validated and know they are being encouraged,” she said. “That’s the why behind all of this. We really want to put them before anything else. These kids are the heart of everything we do.”

Arizona State basketball is at a crossroads. After back-to-back road losses to Baylor and TCU, the Sun Devils are suddenly fighting just to stay above .500. 

Now, with Utah coming to town Saturday afternoon, this isn’t just another conference game. It feels bigger than that. It feels like the moment that decides whether this season still has life or if it quietly fades away.

SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial Utah proposal to crack down on the presence of immigrants in the country illegally that had seemed stalled gained new life Friday, passing muster in new form in a relatively narrow vote.

In a 39-33 vote, the Utah House approved HB386 — amended with portions of HB88, which stalled in the House on Monday — and the revamped measure now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.

The reworked version of HB386, originally meant just to repeal outdated immigration legislation, now also contains provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to tap into in-state university tuition, certain home loan programs and certain professional licensing.

The new HB386 isn’t as far-reaching as HB88, which also would have prohibited immigrants in the country illegally from being able to access certain public benefits like food at food pantries, immunizations for communicable diseases and emergency housing.

Moreover, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton and the HB88 sponsor, stressed that the new provisions in HB386 wouldn’t impact immigrants in the country legally. He touted HB88 as a means of making sure taxpayer money isn’t funneled to programming that immigrants in the country illegally can tap.

Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, the HB386 sponsor, sounded a similar message, referencing, with chagrin, the provision allowing certain students in the country illegally to access lower in-state tuition rates at Utah’s public universities. Because of such provisions “we’re taking care of other countries’ children first, and I want to take care of Utahns first. In my campaign I ran and said Utahns first and this bill will put Utahns first,” she said.

If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us.

–Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful

The relatively narrow 39-33 vote, atypical in the GOP-dominated Utah Legislature, followed several other narrow, hotly contested procedural votes to formally amend HB386. Foes, including both Democrats and Republicans, took particular umbrage with provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to pay in-state tuition and access certain scholarships.

As is, students in the country illegally who have attended high school for at least three years in Utah and meet other guidelines may pay lower in-state tuition, but if they have to pay out-of-state tuition instead, they could no longer afford to go to college.

“If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us,” said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.

Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt Lake City, noted her own hardscrabble upbringing as an immigrant from Vietnam and said the changes outlined in the reworked version of HB386 run counter to what she believes Utah stands for.

“I fear that what we’re doing here in Utah is we are eroding what truly makes Utah special, the Utah way. We are starting to adopt policies that are regressive and don’t take care of people. Utahns are one thing. Citizens are one thing. People is the first thing,” she said.

Rep. John Arthur, D-Cottonwood Heights, said the measure sends a negative message to the immigrant students impacted.

“If we pass this bill today, colleagues, we will be telling these young people — again, who have graduated from our high schools, these kids who have gone to at least three years of school here — that you’re no longer a Utahn,” he said.

If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways.

–Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland

Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said the debate underscores a “fallacy” about compassion. She backed the reworked version of HB386, saying Utah resources should be first spend on those in the country legally.

“If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways,” she said.

The original version of HB386 calls for repeal of immigration laws on the books that are outdated because other triggering requirements have not been met or they run counter to federal law.