Opinion
This month kicks off a celebration of books featuring or by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders. I am excited to shine a spotlight the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander portion of that lengthy acronym.
The bar and bat mitzvah—or, to use the modern gender-neutral term, bnei mitzvah—occurs at such a perfect, middle gradey moment. And new stories grounded in bnei mitzvah are being told all the time.
As an author, how do I approach the potential for pain in the lines I write? How, as a reader, do we make these mostly well-intended but sometimes trivial-feeling statements actually hold meaning for us?
I hope my work will encourage others to think about disability in a broader context, whether that’s rethinking how disabled characters are portrayed or creating more opportunities for disabled writers to tell their own stories.
Book lovers can't help but feel enchanted upon walking into The Curious Reader. After my first visit several years ago, I got the same magical feeling as seeing The Shop Around the Corner in You’ve Got Mail.
In the book, Claire, Billie, Raelynn, and Tasha are the leftovers. The kids no one else wants to associate with. They are, for me, a celebration of the kids who got me through middle school. And high school. And honestly, who still help me today.
It’s crucial to empower teens to find their voice and their community while advocating for their rights. It’s just as crucial to highlight queer joy and friendship, especially when readers are coming of age during turbulent times.
So here’s my challenge: I dare you to get outside, in your community. Connect with your neighbors. Make a project out of it — get some extra credit or community service hours in.
In Finally Fitz, I wanted to write a mental health representation that felt true to my experience, one where the symptoms aren’t so obvious in a culture that conflates perfectionism with ambition.
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