Stuff for the Teen Age

NYC Teen Author Festival, March 2015

Teen Author Festival is a week-long series of literary events relating to youth literature that has occurred every March since 2008. David Levithan, teen author, along with Gretchen Kolderup, Manager of Teen Programming at NYPL, organized this splendid event. I look forward to it every year, and this year's programs did not disappoint. The two-day symposium on Friday and Saturday occurred in the venerable Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. This event is a terrific forum for allowing new authors to present about their work. Many authors, teachers, librarians and teens attend this event.

Symposium Day 1: March 20, 2015

Creating Something Out of Nothing

Tear You Apart

This panel discussion consisted of authors Selena Castovilla, Sarah Cross, Amalie Howard, Claire Legrand, Mary McCoy, Jennifer Nielson, Aaron Starmer with moderator and author David Levithan. 

Levithan opined that there are no original stories; there exist only re-crafting of age-old tales. He wanted the panelists to discuss their work in terms of other work.

One author discussed her work, which was based on Wizard of Oz. Winterspell by Claire Legrand is a retelling of the Nutcracker ballet. Sarah Cross writes dark, dystopian fairy tales.

Levithan asked the authors to describe how often they consult their source material during their writing process.

Cross constantly fact-checks since her books are fairy tale mash-ups. Some people know that fairy tales are dark, but many people grew up on Disney cartoons, and they have a sugar-coated version of the tales.

Levithan inquired as to whether the authors saw the fairy tales that their books were based on differently after they wrote the books than they did beforehand. He then asked the authors to communicate which other retellings of fairy tales that they found particularly compelling.

YA Explains It All: the Ultimate Q & A

Sparkle Spa

Levithan asked the authors to ask a deep philosophical question and provide the answer in the form of a story. I loved the creativity of this session.

The authors Lisa Colozza Cocca, Timothy Decker, Amy Ewing, Gabriel Guarante, Emmy Laybourne, Jill Santopolo, Len Vlahos, Maryrose Wood, Kass Morgan and Lindsay Ribar participated.

Cocca: "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

Decker: "How am I supposed to live with you?"

Ewing: "Why is the sky blue?"

Guarante: "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?"

Morgan: "Am I human or am I a dancer?"

Ribar: "Why don't we do it in the road?"

Santopolo: "Who's on first?"

Vlahos: "Who let the dogs out?"

Fame Game

Red

These authors were scheduled for the panel discussion: Alison Cherry, Sarah Darer Littman, Maya Rock, Rebecca Serle, Alecia Whitaker, and it was moderated by author Leila Sales

The authors read from their books, and talked about teens, acting, and having the spotlight shone on characters.

Sales asked why the panelists chose to write about characters who found fame accidentally.

One of the authors expressed an interest in acting. She stated that it is preferable to find a way to get paid to do what you love.

Sales mentioned that some people find fame through reality TV shows, and others become famous for a particular skill that they have.

The authors expressed that they enjoy the attention of presenting on a panel; however, they also love the solitary nature of being alone in a room with a computer and writing a terrific story.

The Thrill is All Mine

Tokyo Heist

David Levithan moderated this panel discussion. The following authors were scheduled to appear: Martina Boone, Laurie Crompton, JJ Howard, Lee Kelly, Nicole Maggi, Diana Renn, VC Stanley, and CL Gaber. 

Levithan wanted the authors to describe how they bring out the characters in their thriller books. Levithan asked them to describe the genesis of their books. He wondered if the character comes first and the situation second, or vice versa. He wanted to know if the authors read something that gave them an idea or if they got their ideas for stories in other ways.

One author wrote a book with her friend almost entirely during her ten-minute commute to work. It was fun for her to work with someone who likes to play with stories. They had daily phone conversations, and whoever could get to a computer first wrote down their ideas. She had been friends with her co-author for 30 years, and it is an entirely different process to write with someone versus writing solo. She has been told by others that writing together can ruin friendships, but it has been a great experience for her, and it has strengthened her long-term friendship. The two constantly do research during the writing process, and what they discover sometimes changes the plot. She loves developing knowledge of subjects that she was previously quite naive about. 

Levithan inquired about the challenging aspects of their writing process.

One author commented that it was quite disturbing and intense to do research for her book on sex trafficking.

Symposium Day 2: March 21, 2015

Libba Bray: Books and Gender

The Diviners

Bray wants people to stop assigning gender to books. There are not "girl books" and "boy books;" there are just books, and they are for everyone. Some parents do not want her book, Beauty Queens, for their sons. There is a movement towards wanting more books for boys, since there is a perception that boys do not read fiction. However, she will continue to write books with girl characters. Kid lit professions, including librarians, editors, and agents, are female dominated. In order to demystify how gender influences books and reading, she invited some teens to her house for pizza. She was struck by what the kids said. One teen mentioned that some books contain topics that boys are supposed to read, and the same goes for girls. They stated that the gender of the author does not influence what they read.

Feminist Teen Books

Afterworlds

Levithan was glad to moderate this panel since this topic is not discussed in literary circles much. Authors Libba Bray, Gayle Forman, Nova Ren Suma, and Scott Westerfield participated.

Levithan asked the authors how much feminism informs how they choose to write a book. 

One author writes characters that she wants to write. She considers all the characters to be feminist because she is a feminist. 

Westerfield said that books are machines for becoming other people.

Bray and another author agreed that boy characters are easier to write than female characters. She believes this is the case because it is acceptable in American society for boys to be angry. They are allowed to experience and express that emotion without shame. 

One author believes that the genderizing of books begins with the gender of the author.

Westerfield has had boys tell him that they wrap brown paper over the cover of his book Pretties so that they can carry it around without embarrassment. 

One author heard of a librarian who tore the covers off of books so that boys would read them. 

Bray commented that the kids she interviewed would love to have a conversation about gender and books in school. 

Some authors use their first and middle initials, instead of their first names, which makes their gender less apparent.

Representation in Teen Literature

None of the Above

Authors Maria Andreu, Coe Booth, Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton, IW Gregorio, Adam Silvera, and Andrew Smith were moderated by David Levithan for this discussion of issues in teen lit. Their professions include teacher, editor, medical professional, and librarian.

Levithan asked the authors why they choose to portray certain identities in their characters and not others.

Smith never chose to exclude anything in his books.

Silvera is a gay Puerto Rican male, and he wrote about such a character. However, going forward, he wants to learn about other cultures and include them in his literature.

Levithan does not believe that authors can only write about characters that are very similar to themselves.

Charaipotra mentioned that it is impossible to write everything about an entire culture in one book.

Smith believes that there are no "gay books" or "bisexual books;" books are pieces of paper bound together or text on a digital platform.

Levithan commented that Booth's books are often thought of as urban fiction, even though they are not, simply because they contain Black characters.

Booth has been told by school staff that they love her book because they have 45% free and reduced lunch students. She eventually figured out that this meant that the school had many Black kids, which meant that the staff determined that primarily Black kids would be reading her books. Her books feature Black characters, but readers of any race can enjoy them. She has also been told that since certain schools do not have Black kids, they do not need her book.

Levithan echoed her sentiment by saying that it is an assumption that people have that if they do not have a certain demographic, they do not need books about that demographic. However, kids greatly benefit from a wide variety of books that are available.

Smith feels as though he is a channel of the story; he does not plan out what he writes ahead of time.

Levithan found it interesting to write about a  character and explore how people are defined by body and gender in his book, Every Day. I found this to be a brilliant and enlightening book. That book has spiraled into everything else; it has influenced every book that he has written since then.

Andreu informed us that very few books are written about intersex characters. One of her books was inspired by an actual patient that she cared for and operated on. She gave the manuscript to intersex individuals to ensure that she had accurately reflected their experience. 

Levithan wanted the authors to speak of the future of teen lit.

Clayton acknowledged that straight heterosexual people are used as default characters, and she thinks it would be great for that to change. 

Booth would like to see books that include diversity where diversity is not the story. Including color in the book changes where it is shelved and how it is read.

Charaipotra's four-year-old daughter cried inconsolably about not having the yellow hair that was included in the fairy tale Rapunzel. Luckily, she and her husband were able to find an African version of the tale. Her daughter was very relieved to find a girl with dark hair; she could see a little bit of herself in that story.