Utah
Reading changed these authors’ lives, now they want the same for Utah’s youth
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.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
It’s on nights like these that I’m reminded of the ravine that divides the NBA from all other levels of basketball. This Summer League tilt was sloppy on both sides, and not many fringe players earned an NBA contract tonight, by the looks of it.
This matchup has always been about the number-one pick AJ Dybantsa and the number-two pick Darryn Peterson. Rivals since high school, these two are in an eternal struggle for the designation of being “number-one”. They wanted to be the best in their high school class. They wanted to be the first off the board in the NBA Draft. Rest assured, these two will be battling for Rookie of the Year honors by the season’s end.
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Both stars were fully aware of the magnitude of this game, and both wanted to be the first to strike in the Thomas and Mack Center.
Dybantsa took his first touch all the way to the basket and forced up an off-kilter shot that missed everything.
Peterson took the ball the other way and forced up a top-of-the-key three-pointer that missed badly.
Dybantsa quickly picked up the slack, flipping an under-and-around lay-in and following that up with a good leading bounce pass through traffic to find a cutting teammate.
From there, the 1-2 combo settled in and let the game flow around them.
For the first time in a Utah Jazz uniform, Darryn Peterson walked among mortal men as a commoner. He had a very slow start in his Las Vegas debut, opening the night 0-for-3 from the floor and even whiffing on his first all-or-nothing foul shot. His steps were hurried, and he stood unstable before his first trip to the bench. Not quite so infallible outside of the mountain air in Salt Lake City.
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AJ claimed the first quarter, dicing up the defense with fadeaways, dribble chains, and this vicious, inhumane slam that will dominate your social media feed for the next day or so.
Washington set the tone for some — should we say physical — defense out on the perimeter, and the officials gave the Wizards liberty to reside in Peterson’s chest for the majority of the game. The number-two pick couldn’t get himself into a rhythm as he’d step out of bounds, dribble off his foot, and sputter under the heat of the Wizards’ aggressive double-team scheme.
They were incredibly handsy from end to end, frustrating Jazz ball handlers as the whistles piled up at the other end.
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AJ Dybantsa lives at the foul stripe — that’s his superpower — and he has since his days at BYU, where he led the nation in foul shots taken per game. Perfectly within his idiom, Dybantsa was 6-of-7 from the foul stripe — keeping in mind the experimental do-or-die free throw rule. Considering how much more physical the Wizards played at the defensive end, it’s a mystery how the Wizards managed to reside in the comfort of the bonus for the entire first half.
Neither player was efficient from the floor, but Dybantsa won the first half of this marquee matchup.
Dybantsa finished the first half with 19 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Peterson lagged behind with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting and a pair of dimes.
The lead shrank to single digits, and what appeared to be a blowout in the first half — Washington led by as much as 20 — rapidly drew tighter in the second half. It had become a two-possession game before the clock hit 0:00 in the third quarter.
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Both stars lived up to the bill in this one, clearly displaying their individual talents despite their efficiency not leaping off the box score.
Peterson’s tendency to cough up possession has to get straightened out. He’ll be a target for his whole career, so learning to handle and exploit on-ball pressure will be critical to maximize his effectiveness and keep his teammates involved.
Cody Williams stole the show a bit for the Jazz, despite a rocky opening to the night. Though he struggled to stop Dybantsa on the defensive end, he notched 16 points on great efficiency (6-11, 2-3 3PT) plus 5 rebounds. He’s not a ball-handler, despite the Jazz’s wishes, but thrived on a newly added stepback mid-range jumper tonight.
Dybantsa had a strong night, finishing with 27 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals.
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The Wizards ultimately won this game behind the strength of their NBA guys, Tre Johnson and Will Reily, who combined for 41 to pair with Dybantsa’s 27. They also strongly benefited from Jamir Watkins, Darryn Peterson’s assignment fouling a grand total of 9 times (not a typo).
Peterson likewise fouled 9 times in this one, an ugly blemish on what was an unsteady night for the rookie. He finished with 24 points on 6-18 shooting and 2-7 from three-point land (thanks to a bank-shot heave at the final horn). Dybantsa will be crowned the winner of this head-to-head with Peterson thanks to better highlights and the team win, but neither player dominated, despite what X will likely tell you.
Washington defeats Utah with a final score of 92-88.
Calvin Barrett is the Associate Editor for SLC Dunk. Originally from Springville, Utah, he currently lives in Japan and has covered the NBA and college athletics since 2024.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The man arrested for murder in the 2006 death of his wife at a Utah national park left behind a suicide note in his Las Vegas jail cell, according to a police report.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police released a public report on the death of David Vander Meer, 49, who was in custody on an out-of-state warrant.
The Washington County District Attorney’s Office said in an affidavit that Vander Meer, a former youth pastor, was a suspect in the death of his then-wife, 28-year-old Bernadette Vander Meer, 20 years ago.
Bernadette fell to her death at Angels Landing in Zion National Park. Prosecutors said in their affidavit that they received new information implicating David, alleing that he began having a close relationship with a young girl when she was 14 and he was her youth pastor.
A fugitive task force took Vander Meer into custody in Summerlin, according to an arrest report, and he was booked into Clark County Detention Center on June 22.
In the report on his death, LVMPD said a corrections officer was conducting visual checks at about 9:30 p.m. June 24 when he noticed Vander Meer lying face down on the ground and unresponsive.
Several sections are redacted, but police wrote that the officer performed chest compressions until medical personnel arrived. Vander Meer was taken to UMC, where he was pronounced dead just after 2:36 a.m. June 25.
Investigators wrote that because of “the nature of his case,” Vander Meer was placed into protective custody. He was seen sitting upright and awake at 9 p.m., and he had no known medical conditions. He also did not mention being suicidal during a mental health screening.
Inside the cell, police wrote that Vander Meer “left a hand written suicide letter and a hand written will in his cell which has been photographed and impounded.” The following paragraph of the report was redacted, and no further details on Vander Meer’s death were disclosed.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office has not yet released its official rulings on his cause and manner of death.
Bernadette’s parents, Richard and Laura Gudenkauf, told News 3 they long suspected Vander Meer played a role in her death.
“Because of the girlfriend,” said Laura. “I found insurance policies months later that he had, lots of them.”
It has been a long time since the Jazz last played a meaningful game I desperately wanted them to win, and it is unhealthy how excited I am for this matchup. After a solid three games in the SLC Summer League, the Jazz head south to Las Vegas, and as hot as the desert sun is sure to be outside, on the court, the Thursday night primetime game featuring the top two picks in the draft will be much hotter.
How to Watch the Las Vegas Summer League?
Who: Utah Jazz vs Washington Wizards
When: Thursday, July 9, 2026 | 7:00 MT
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
How to watch: ESPN, Jazz+
Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa
Summer league games do not matter in the record books, but this game is a statement-making opportunity for both AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. Given the historical nature of this draft class, especially at the top, there is some real juice to this game that is atypical of most Summer League games. AJ has the chance to silence the noise that has swelled after Darryn’s remarkable performances in the SLC Summer League. Meanwhile, Darryn has the chance to ratchet up the noise and take the NBA world by storm with another solid performance against the Wizards. Can you imagine the narratives if Darryn were to come out and dominate AJ as he has through high school and college? In the words of the great Charles Barkley, I have two words for you… Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, must-see TV.
Ace Bailey looked really impressive in his 2.5 quarters of play in Salt Lake before missing games with back spasms. It is unknown whether or not he will be ready to go for the Vegas opener, but if he is available, he will probably be the one checking AJ Dybantsa on defense. His combination of length and athleticism could not only make things difficult for AJ on the defensive end but also expose his lackadaisical defense on the offensive end. If Ace is able to go, he will be looking to show the Jazz and the NBA that he is ready to take a leap in year two.
Which Jazz Big Man Will Stand Out?
Which big man will step up this game? In Game 1, we saw a lot of Kylor Kelley, who was a little less than impressive. Against Memphis, Jaxon Kohler, the Utah native, showed up and showed out against Cam Boozer. In game three, although the number of NBA-level players was few and far between, Jonas Aidoo stole the show with his rebounding and ability to play his role. Will we see one of those same three guys seize their opportunity, or will another guy like Micah Handlogten or Eric Dixon steal the show? We saw how vital a big that can roll and catch passes is for Darryn Peterson as a lead guard, playmaking-wise. It will be interesting to see who steps up to the plate to relieve pressure when he is blitzed and double-teamed.
SIDE NOTE: Adam Silver is LAME
No one should ASPIRE to be as boring as Adam Silver. After much excitement was made about Keyonte George making his unofficial coaching debut on Thursday night, according to Sarah Todd, the league has nixed that excitement and won’t allow Keyonte to be coaching on the sideline because who knows why…? I guess they were worried about the Jazz circumventing the salary cap to pay Keyonte or something. Anyways, I guess Will Hardy’s coaching TREE will have to wait for more branches to grow. Adam Silver remains evil in my book.
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