Write Back Soon Please: Advice to Teenage Writers

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Advice to Teenage Writers

Comic books are so "in" now because graphic novels (those based on comic books) are hugely in demand by Young Adult publishers and so many are made into movies (like Avatar).

Libraries have entire shelves of graphic novels. The "action" figures are most popular and para-normal is much in demand!

Read a bunch of comic books and keep in mind inventing a hero -- someone really different who kids can ID with. If I were looking for a new type of hero I'd have a person with a handicap like in Avatar, to overcome their disability. The usual hero is bigger than life -- which kids are NOT, but would like to know how to be. Everyone can relate to someone with a flaw.

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WestSide Books Review January 2010

Grade 9 and up; Told from alternating perspectives, this novel captures a snapshot of life in depression era Chicago. The story opens with the police looking for the hand of a five year old girl who has been raped and murdered. Each successive narrator sheds a little more light on the circumstances, allowing readers to guess the identity of the perpetrator before it is revealed at the end. Zane, the minister's son, spends his days "slumming," haning with his friends from schoo, predominantly immigrants who live on Kenmore Street. Maizy, a heavy girl with low self-esteem, is wholly in love with him, even though she's not sure that their one sexual encounter wasn't a rape and she becomes pregnant. Fred is a friend to everyone, the moral center of the story. This tight narrative is evocative of Sharon Draper's or Angela Johnson's work, but the historical setting will draw reluctant readers into a whole new era. -Leah Krippner, Harlem High School in Machenney Park, Il.

Amanda Orozco Review

I absolutely loved your book. I haven't read many mystery-like novels that actually keep me guessing through the whole book. The emotions that were expressed were so real, too! Not being able to tell anyone what you know, either because it was your dad or because it would mean you getting in trouble... I would have to say my favorite character is Maizy. She, I think, has the hardest part of all. Being an underaged mother in that time era, it seems unheard of. Even in today's society, single, underage mothers have a hard life because of the way society views them. And then, to keep the baby, to make sure that life is brought into this world, to give Josef and Anna another chance to make their family whole again. Mrs. Stillerman, this book was awesome for me to read. Thank you so much for that opportunity.

Write Back Soon Please