It’s banned book week. YA novels are often banned for reasons centering around diversity, sexuality, and ‘bad’ language. But teens need diverse role models, books that depict sex realistically and honestly, and books that reflect the language they actually use.
I was recently talking to a woman about my book at a wake (yeah, I promote wherever I can 🙂 ). When I said, “It’s a YA thriller,” her eyes glazed over. I quickly added, “But I originally wrote it…
Another anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone. Like everyone in the country, I can tell you exactly where I was when the planes hit the twin towers. But what about today’s teens, who were only infants or toddlers…
The lists of YA novels to look out for this fall are coming fast and furious, and already overwhelming me. So many I want to read, so little time. I’m actually starting to feel list fatigue, i.e. a longing to…
The debate about whether YA is good for teens or adults or space aliens has surfaced again, and much as I wanted to resist the click bait, I read the article. I got annoyed.
Unlike 1969, dubbed the “summer of love,” I would label 2016 the “summer of hate.” Between gun violence, shootings of unarmed civilians and police, violent demonstrations against such incidents, and the Orlando massacre here in the U.S., and terrorist attacks…