I love attending the annual NYC Teen Author Festival, and, as usual, this year's program did not disappoint. I was only able to attend the afternoon panel at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on March 24, 2017. I was super excited this year to not only see what the organizer and fabulous teen author David Levithan put together, but also to see one of my favorite teen authors, Laurie Halse Anderson. I have read many of both of their books, and they definitely have a unique take on literature and presenting social and psychological issues in a fictionalized format. Caitlyn Colman-McGraw, Teen Programming Specialist for NYPL, introduced David Levithan, who hosts the event, and he also is  an editor for Scholastic. 

Panel on Evil

Tiffany Jackson, Justine Larbalestier, and Laurie Halse Anderson were a wonderful trio in this panel on the dark side of teen literature. All have written teen books that focus on trauma and/or bad behavior. 

Larbalestier asked why people write about the dark side of humanity. 

Jackson mentioned that everything was not great when she was growing up. She wanted to foster empathy in teens towards situations that people have that they may not have experienced directly themselves.

Life Is Not a Cake Walk

Anderson opined that some people want their kids to be raised with rainbows and flowers. This can come from people who live in a "privilege bubble." Kids go through a lot, and even those are well-off have peers who experience a variety of problems. Adults who are fractured have often experienced real hardships while they were growing up. Writing about painful issues offends some people, but it is the duty of teen authors to discuss real issues honestly.

Larbalestier stated that some kids prefer dark material. She has  a niece who loves to be scared of things, and she frequently requests that the adults in her life scare her.

Jackson started watching horror movies at age four. She could not relate to series like The Babysitter's Club because she did not understand houses and lawns. That just seemed like a lot of work to her; she grew up in an apartment. 

Anderson believes that we have some memory for the lives of our ancestors. Storytelling is a medium that people use to understand and deal with life's challenges. 

Larbalestier wrote a book about psychopaths. As a result, readers contacted her about their experiences with dealing with difficult peers, supervisors, family members, etc.

Larbalestier asked Anderson how she creates evil characters and those who go along with the bad behavior without descending into caricature. 

Anderson responded that the people who go along with evil are just like you and me. That is what makes them so dangerous. It would be much easier to detect dangerous if pernicious people had glowing eyes or some highly visible unique characteristic to alert us. People who engage in bad behavior sometimes do not perceive themselves as evil. They engage in elaborate mental gymnastics in order to convince themselves that their victims deserve such treatment, and that they are somehow fundamentally different than themselves. This is how the systemization of evil occurs. 

Larbalestier wrote a book which featured a bad 10-year-old girl named Rose. She was condescending towards everyone, and she perceived her behavior as a sign of superior intelligence, not evil. 

Anderson indicated that horrible people exist in the world, including authors of manuals of how to sexually assault people. Connotations of the word evil differ culturally. In some societies, evil is considered to be supernatural and immortal. The systematization of evil leads to a lack of consequences for such behavior. 

Jackson has absolutely received push-back for writing about pain and darkness. She does not want to sugarcoat reality.

Larbalestier mentioned that we have a rape culture in this country. However, people seem to forget or be unaware of the fact that boys are also molested. 

Jackson mentioned that some girls are in prison for fighting back and killing their abusers, which she finds reprehensible.

Larbalestier thinks that it may be useful to talk about the choices that people make instead of labeling individuals as evil. 

Trauma and Bad Behavior

Anderson suggested that we need to discuss trauma, the cycle of abuse and self-medicating behavior that people engage in. Unfortunately, we do not have a good model for talking about hurtful things in this society. Instead, we live in a consumer-driven culture. Life can be scary, and she believes that kids are hungering for dark material. When faced with parental criticism for the content of her work, she wishes that parents would stop talking for a moment and find ways to really listen to their kids. They need to parent their kids, and spend time with them. They could watch the movies that their progeny enjoys with them and discuss the content. 

Jackson researched her book on female delinquency by interviewing five girls who had been through the juvenile justice system. Social workers became upset about the manner in which they were portrayed in the book. However, each of the girls had their own views about how those professionals operated, and they did not feel that the social workers understood where they were coming from.

Larbalestier wrote about a 15-year-old who had been in the juvenile justice system since the age of nine. Being imprisoned for that long shapes a person's world view. Some people expect teen novels to take a moralistic approach to reality, and this does not always happen. A nine-year-old girl who read her book, Liar, was relieved to discover that she was not the only one who hated her parents. She always finds herself at a loss of how to respond to such communication, but she responded that a larger family can include relatives and close friends.

Teaching Empathy

Anderson appreciates the privilege that it is for her to write for kids and teens. She wants kids who are hurting to feel less alone -- to know that there are people that they can go to and talk about. She thinks of authors as aunties and uncles who care about kids. Sometimes she gets letters from kids who go overboard trying to convince her how great their lives are.

One of Larbalestier's fans informed her that one of her books opened her eyes to the girl who was sitting alone at lunch. She realized that there must be something going on with her, so she sat with her one day. The reader may never understand that girl, but she wants to ensure that she never has to eat alone. 

Jackson wants to encourage her readers to become activists. If she accomplishes that, then all of the hate mail that she receives is worth it.

Larbalestier mentioned that novels encourage good behavior, even if they are not written in a moralistic way (which kids might not read anyway). There has been research on this subject. Novels can teach empathy if kids are reading about people who are not like them and who have had experiences that they lack. Kids and adults need to read outside of their race, culture and sexuality. 

Anderson opined that adolescence is a time for falling flat on your face. Kids go to institutions that are designed to break their spirits. She mentioned that fact that kids hit adolescence right as their parents are going through mid-life crises. Kids are sometimes able to internalize the successes when they see child characters triumph in the literature. Readers learn from the experience of others.

Larbalestier thinks that authors should step out of their comfort zones. Writing dark stories is fun, and she invites anyone to try it.

Anderson wants everyone who has not registered to vote to do so and contact their representatives about issues of importance to them.

Difficult Characters Panel

Kayla Cagan, Lisa Selin Davis, Pete Hoffmeister, AR Kahler, Amanda Pavitch, Alyssa Sheinmel, Catherine Stine discussed characterization with moderator, Melissa Walker.

Many of the authors expressed surprise that the characters in their books were considered to be difficult. They believed that they were simply writing about people and/or people who were in difficult circumstances. All characters should be and are difficult. They wrote about characters with anger management problems. One of the books featured a girl who had a sister who was dealing with a mental illness. They expressed the idea that their stories do not always have happy endings. This is reflective of actual life experiences. In the words of one teen author, "Sometimes things don't get better, and then you die." They write about real, complex people. These authors wrote about a variety of societal issues. One boy was raised in a cult. Someone wrote about a girl whose brother was murdered. Another girl had her face burned in a fire and received a face transplant. Everyone expected her to feel lucky, but that was not her experience.

Writer Panel

Karen Bao, Cathleen Davitt Bell, Aimee Friedman, Kody Kleplinger, Sarah Darer Littman, Shani Petroff, Yvonne Ventresca had a conversation with moderator David Levithan.

To Outline Or Not?

Levithan writes a story to find out what will happen in the story, and he engages in no outlining. He wondered what the writing process of the other panelists looks like.

One of the panelists constructed two separate calendars while writing about two sides of a girl's summer. 

Another writer opined that knowing too much about your story kills your story. She makes outlines, but she does not always stick to them. 

A computer programmer turned author is still trying to figure out the writing process. Sometimes, editors ask authors to outline, and she finds that the pressure of deadlines makes her more productive. 

One of the authors used to love drafting when she wrote fan fiction. Now, she hates drafting. She is an editor who also teaches a children's writing course, and she likes for all of her work to be perfect.

Levithan has already read the first draft of his work, so when he is revising, he feels that he already read the material. 

One writer had many imaginary friends as a child. She feels as though she still has them. Only now, she is writing about them.

Levithan was discussing the writing process with a co-author that he produced a book with. She sees her works as movies, but he does not.

People's brains work in different ways. Some authors gesticulate while writing to work out the physical moves of their characters. 

An author who is legally blind needs to consult with sighted individuals in order to determine how to describe visual phenomenon in a verbal way. For example, she needed to ask people if it is possible to read by moonlight. 

One author wrote a military book that was filled with much hand-to-hand combat. In order to research the book, she took tae kwon do classes, and she was very sore afterward. 

Levithan asked about the authors' favorite and least favorite things to write about.

Someone loved romance scenes; another hated them. Some liked chapter beginnings; others loved chapter endings. A couple of authors stop writing just before the end of a chapter or book in order to regroup and come back with a fresh perspective later. Some loved writing description, others hated it. One author likes writing reverse outlines after she writes passages or first drafts. 

Fan Feedback

Levithan asked for the best compliments and least helpful comments that the panelists had received.

Authors love it when people say that their book created a love of reading in the person. Making the truth more palatable or enhancing clarity of a subject was awesome. Criticism without basis is not helpful. However, some readers have valid criticisms. One reader said that reading her book was better than medication. Comments on the author's religion or race were signs of discrimination which the authors rightfully did not appreciate. One reader commented that the author of Pandemic that she did not kill off enough people with the avian flu. Readers who assume that the author is writing autobiographical work are frequently incorrect. 

One of the authors recommended that aspiring writers read books on writing, of which the library has many. 

The NYC Teen Author Festival is a fabulous week-long event that occurs every March. If you can make any of the events next year, you will experience scintillating discussion of youth literature with the people who create it in a variety of venues. Book signings and readings also are available. 

Books on teen literature