Megan: Summer Reading for Writers

Summer reading.

For some of you, just the words make you shudder as you recall a slog through teacher-approved books that seemed intent on teaching you that life was a bummer and always would be. Others know that in the right hands, summer reading can be a gateway to unknown worlds. Summer reading can mean sunny afternoons spent swinging in a hammock, or rainy days on the couch. I think a successful summer reading list relies on choice, not only in book titles, but also in what the reader hopes to get out of it. It is in that spirit I offer this highly subjective list of summer reading books for writers.

A Classic:
The Chocolate War and Beyond the Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
A case could be made that Cormier started the current trend of YA literature. He was one of the first to write specifically for teens and many of us who came of age reading his books are now writers ourselves. The Chocolate War is a quintessential story of standing your ground amidst abuses from classmates and teachers. It’s sequel, Beyond the Chocolate War, achieves the trick of making you feel sympathy for the villain of the original novel.
Alternate Choices: Are You there, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Craft Book:
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Personally, I’m not much for craft books, but I love this one, perhaps because it is a craft book tied up in a memoir. King can spin a good yarn, and also offers concrete, nuts and bolts writing advice from avoiding adverbs to keeping rejections out in public.
Alternate Choice: Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott, The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood

A Beach Read:
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
A beach read should be light, funny, with a bit of romance, and this book has that, especially the funny. Beware of reading in public: you will be laughing out loud.
Alternate Choice: The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour (less laugh-out-loud funny, more wry-funny)

An Adult Book:
Pocketful of Names by Joseph Coomer
There are adults who say they only read YA and MG books because those books are better/more interesting/what have you. (See Roger Sutton for the counterpoint). I think it’s a false dichotomy. Adult books and kids books are necessarily different. A couple of summers ago I read Pocketful of Names. It begins with a dog overboard, struggling to swim to an island. For pages. And pages. Whereas a YA novel would have jumped right in, Coomer took his time. Reading for this difference can teach you as much about writing for children as reading an all kidlit-diet, not to mention the simple pleasure in revelling in the language and the more languid pace.
Alternate choices: The adult books in my pile are Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, though I think I may be the last person on earth to read it, which brings me to . . .

A Buzzed-About Book:
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd, illustrated by Jim Kay.
When I found out that Jim Kay was going to be doing the cover and interior illustrations for The Water Castle (Walker 2013), this title moved to the top of my TBR pile. It is, quite simply, stunning, and I’m not surprised it won both the Carnegie and the Greenaway awards.
Alternate titles: It never hurts to read the latest big award winners: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (Newbery Medal), Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (Printz), Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai (National Book Award), No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Boston Globe-Horn Book).

This list is undeniably contemporary realistic fiction heavy, which reflects my bias. I would love to get a more complete list going in the comments. So, what are your summer reading suggestions?

Megan: Back to School

As I write this, we have just completed opening day at the school where I work. The first day was just for freshmen, and I watched them wander the halls wide-eyed – or with a swagger that belies self-doubt.

I've been back at school for weeks now getting the library ready for students and staff. Like most people involved in education, I like the beginning of the school year. I like to see the sports teams in their pre-season workouts, reminding me of my own sweltering days on the field hockey field (minus, thankfully, the sweating and shin splints). The marching band rehearsed in the parking lot just outside my library. Students filtered through to pick up their schedules and compare teachers. As the smell of cut grass wafted into the building, I had the feeling that the world was filled with so much promise.

Working at a high school while writing YA Fiction is a terrific opportunity. I am often shot back to my own teenage years. At the high school where I used to work, faculty ate in the cafeteria with students and I was always pained on the first day of school watching freshman paralyzed as they try to figure out where to sit. Having those emotions right at the surface makes it easy for me to draw on them when I write.

As the groups of new ninth graders came through the library for their orientation tour, one of the teacher advisors asked me, “Can you imagine being a ninth grader today?” I replied that no, I wouldn't go back for the world. And it's true that I would not choose to relive my high school years. But imagine it? Yes. I do that every day.

Megan: Why We Need LGBTQ Books

Back in January I found out that Secrets of Truth & Beauty had been named to the Rainbow List. I'd like to say that this was a pleasant surprise, but really I'd known that it had been nominated, and I'd been aching and hoping for it to be included. The more I work with teens as a librarian, the more I realize that the books on lists like the Rainbow List and the Lambda Literary Awards are vital to have in a collection, not simply for the LGBTQ students, but also for their peers. The recent defeat of same sex marriage and a controversy over a transgendered student in my current home state of Maine have driven home the point that we’ve still got a long way to go in terms of acceptance.

The funny thing is, when I was writing Secrets, the sexuality of the characters was not something that I'd really thought of as a big deal. There are gay people in the world, and so there are gay people in my novel. Nothing revolutionary there, or so I thought.

To be fair, while I wrote most of the first draft, I was living in what can only be called a LGBTQ Friendly Bubble. I lived in the Davis Square area of Somerville, Massachusetts, a stone's throw from uber-liberal Cambridge, and I was working at what could very well be the left-most high school in the America. Many faculty members were out and proud, and sometimes it seemed unusual if a student were not questioning his or her sexuality. This attitude was reflected in early drafts. When Owen described his coming out, it was as rosy as it might have been in my previous school. But my editor encouraged me to make it a little more rough, and after having moved out of my bubble, I knew what she meant.

As a librarian, I knew that some people would probably take issue with the book simply for its inclusion of gay characters. If I allowed myself to imagine any confrontations, I always played the role of the eloquent hero, vociferously tackling prejudice. In reality, it didn’t quite go down like that.

I was invited to meet with a book group at a small library. They had read Secrets and I went to discuss it with them. The conversation was going on nicely when a little old lady told me that she thought the book was fine – she had enjoyed it – but that it was inappropriate for children. She explained, “It makes it seem like homosexuality is normal.” I did not expect the challenge to come from a kindly woman. Her tone was both respectful and matter of fact. My strident reply: “I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.”

Some hero.

While I didn’t write Secrets as a political book, it definitely contains my point of view. And if the book itself didn’t convince her that it’s okay to be gay, well nothing I could say at that meeting would. I can't decide if my reaction is just rationalization, but I do think that it's unlikely that any one book is going to change people's mind. We need more of a chipping away. We need, in short, many books, many movies, many stories – and many lists like the Rainbow List that celebrate these stories. And that's why I'm so proud to be a part of it.

More good news!

HOLD STILL by Nina LaCour and GENTLEMEN by Michal Northrop are both on the ALA's 2010 Best Books for Young Adult's List,

SECRETS OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY by Megan Frazer is on the ALA's Rainbow List

and

GENTLEMEN by Michael Northrop and FAR FROM YOU by Lisa Schroeder are on the TAYSHAS list for 2010.

Congratulations, all!

Megan: The Myth of Reading Up

It is a truth universally acknowledged that teens read up. Your protagonist should be a couple of years older than your audience, or so the thinking goes. It's time to start questioning this assertion, at least when it comes to high school students.

I'm surprised how many times I'm asked what aged audience I was thinking of when I wrote Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Occasionally a parent or teacher has told me, a bit guiltily, that they liked the book but wouldn't give it to their fifth grader. That's fine, I think, I didn't write it for your fifth grader. I wrote it for high school students.

In my job as a high school librarian, I help teens to make their reading choices every day. For the most part, they want to read about other teenagers. When I look at the fiction on my return cart, I do not see a row of adult novels. Instead I see mostly YA, with a few Jodi Picoult and Stephen King thrown in – authors, it should be noted, who often feature teen characters.

It would be a reasonable assumption to think that since I am a YA author, I would be inclined to purchase and recommend YA books. However, my evidence is not simply anecdotal. Every year, librarian Jo Lewis asks members of LM-Net, a school librarian list-serv, to report their top ten checkouts. She collects and analyzes the data, and compiles lists for each type of school (elementary, middle, secondary). If you go to the list, and choose "secondary" from the drop down menu, you'll see that the top ten for high school students are all young adult novels.

So that's high school. What about younger teens? In 2009, the Twilight series was tops in middle schools as well as high schools – no surprise there. With a few notable exceptions (The Lovely Bones!?), the rest of the top ten are books with a middle school audience in mind. While it seems that younger teens may range both younger and older, they too, are eager to read stories about kids their age. Teens it seems, want to read about teens.

Thankfully the explosion in YA literature means that there are books for every age and interest. For me this is not simply a matter of curiosity, but one of equity. Teens, like everyone else deserve to see themselves in books. Sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen year olds shouldn't be forced to read about mid-life angst since the younger kids are reading about their lives.

As writers it's our responsibility to portray our world's honestly. If the stories we tell about teens also find resonance with a fifth grader, so much the better, but we needn't simplify or clean up because this younger reader might pick up the book. Write your story. Write the truth. Everyone will be better off for it.

We Ask An Editor: Emily Schultz, Disney-Hyperion

Emily Schultz is an editor at Disney-Hyperion. She is the editor for Alexa Martin Pruit's novel due out in 2010 and Megan Frazer's debut Secrets of Truth & Beauty (July 2009). She's a busy and dedicated editor, but Alexa and Megan managed to pin her down and ask her a few questions about editing, working with authors, and what she looks for in a project.

A&M: Alexa is in the middle of a major revision, and you went through three major revisions with Megan. Did you know that these were going to be major revisions when you acquired our books? Did you see potential for something in these books, and does that play a big part in your acquisition decisions?

ES: When I decide to acquire a book, I have a pretty clear idea of the changes I’m going to suggest. So I like to talk to authors first, to make sure we have a similar vision. I’d never take on a project if I didn’t totally believe in the author! But sometimes a revision will reveal new possibilities in the story that weren’t present in the previous draft, and the original vision evolves. I’ve learned that you can’t really see what will culminate from the revision process until the book is bound. It’s a splendid thing. Sometimes it takes a few rounds and a book has to move back a list, but I think it’s always worth it.

A&M: We both feel like we took most of your suggestions. What percentage do you expect an author to take? What do you do when there are disagreements?

ES: That’s so funny! I often reread my letters and think, "Thank god she didn't agree with me on that one." I write really long editorial letters with plenty of suggestions, but my real aim is to show authors potential in their stories they might not have realized. Sometimes they’re good ideas in themselves. But usually it’s the back-and-forth that propels the evolution of a story. One of the most moving ironies in Meg’s book, Secrets of Truth & Beauty, emerged from her resistance to certain suggestions and partial acceptance of others.

When I have concerns about what I perceive to be real flaws in a story, I try to back them up by sharing the manuscript with a colleague who isn’t as close to it as I am. Extra insight from a disinterested party almost never fails to open up solutions.

A&M: Megan tends to work quickly, while Alexa takes more time to work through her writing and edits. Is there a difference between how you work with these different kinds of writers? Can you tell ahead of time what kind of writer you might be dealing with?

ES: Pace isn't a big issue for me as long as an author has a realistic idea of how quickly she can deliver a first revision once she’s received my first edit. I usually get a sense of an author’s revision style during our phone chat about the first edit letter, and at that point I decide which list to put the book on. It hasn’t seemed to affect my editorial process that much.

A&M: Sometimes when reading other writer's works, it seems like the easiest way to "help" would be to just jump in and rewrite for them. Do you ever have the urge to do that, and, if so, how do you stop yourself?

ES: I guess that’s the fundamental challenge of editing—figuring out the best way to draw out an author’s best writing through thoughtful questions and comments. It takes trust and patience and mad articulation skills. I’m still learning! My approach evolves with every project.

A&M: Megan's book was one of the first you acquired and edited on your own, and now you've worked on Alexa's. Though it's been less than two years, is there anything you have learned along the way about revising with an author?

ES: So many things! I don't know where to start. I guess the most important thing I've learned is that positive feedback is an author's best resource. Absolutely by far. I've also learned that in a first edit, general feedback and questions are usually more helpful than detailed suggestions. Then in the second edit I offer more specific ideas for things that I think still need development.

A&M: We think you have a great sense of the book as a whole as well as the little details. Where does that overarching sense come from? We theorized that it came from your own writing experience, but wanted to hear your take?

ES: That’s about the nicest thing you could say to me! I don’t have a lot of fiction-writing experience, but I read a lot, and I have an oddball family who loves to tell stories. I also have a pretty vast reservoir of humiliating memories. (Humiliation is an amazing eye-opener!) All these things help me find interesting tensions and themes as I read manuscripts. It’s thrilling when a story crystallizes feelings I’d never been able to articulate—that’s why I love YA so much. The protagonists are so smart and so honest, and they’re just discovering how bizarre the world is; I love to see how they grow. I guess that’s where the narrative arc really pops out to me, that dramatic rounding the bend. All the books I’ve acquired so far have protagonists I deeply empathize with, and that empathy guides me quite a bit as an editor.

Thank you, Emily!