A Fantastic Young Adult Novel: Like a Love Story

I would like to rave about a young adult book I recently finished reading. Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian was a fantastic read, and I want to share it with you if you like young adult novels. I didn't know anything about it when I picked it up for the "split second" that the library was open in St. Louis when COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions were lifted. (Currently, libraries are not open to the public here right now.)

One summer day, my daughter and I went to the library and to the teen section. I told her I wanted to check out some young adult romances because that's the next thing I'll be working on, and she actually found Like a Love Story for me. She said, "This has to be about love--look at the title." When I saw that it was set in 1989/90, that sold it for me since that's when I graduated from high school! 

But once I started reading, I could hardly put it down. And of course, as an author, I want to figure out why that is.

Is it the three point of view characters?

Possibly! The first is Art. He is a rich, white, gay kid who is out and involved with an activist group in New York City who is protesting against pharmaceutical companies and churches for their roles in the AIDS crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is also a photographer. So that's a super interesting character.

Then there's Judy--she's a slightly overweight, fashion diva who is heterosexual and wants a boyfriend. She is Art's best friend. Her uncle is a mentor to her and Art, and he is dying of AIDS. 

Finally, my favorite POV character is Reza. A senior in high school, like the other two, his mom, sister, and he are from Iran, but they landed in Canada, where his mom met a rich New Yorker and remarried. So Reza now lives in New York with his new stepfamily. Plus he's gay. But he's not out, and he is scared to death of his culture, of AIDS, of his mom's "heartbreak." 

So these three characters kept things interesting in the book, but I think what I loved about the story so much was that it was predictable in some ways, but in others--it definitely wasn't. It was just the right balance. There's a trope: love triangle, but Abdi's characters acted like real people--with all their complications and flaws. They didn't forgive super easily. They made mistakes. They had to live with the consequences of those mistakes. 

He also worked in historical facts. (Yes, the 1980s are now historical fiction!) The protests that Art went to were real. There were a lot of 80s and 90s pop culture references, and how can I forget about MADONNA?! Let's just say, she plays a huge part in this novel, and most of the references to her were pretty factual. 

The other thing is...it was just good writing. It flowed. It made me feel like I was in 1989 New York. It was smart and witty, and the kind of book when I finished, I thought: Man, I wished I would have written that.

But I couldn't write anything like Abdi's book. And that's okay. It's not my style, and it's not my story. My story has a quirky, conflicted, kind, White girl who loves her family, her boyfriend, and her friends. But I can strive to write a true character who acts like a real person like Abdi did. I can strive to write as beautifully and smart as he did. 

If you like young adult, I highly recommend this book. I will let you know it is not "clean." It is at least PG-13 if we are rating books. I only let you know this because I want you to read this book, but only if you enjoy this genre. 

What's a great book that you've read in a genre you write in lately? And why did you love it so much? 

By the way, I'm teaching a writing class about young adult and middle grade novels, starting on September 30. Want to join? It's called "Writing Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction: A Study and Workshop." You can sign up here.  To find out more about my writing (Margo Dill), go here: https://www.margoldill.com. 

Read More »

4 comments historical fiction, Margo L. Dill, novel writing, young adult novels, young adult writers

One of the Best YA Heroines and Why She Is

Sometimes, I get stuck on what to blog about here on The Muffin. I've been doing it for years (Yes, you think, we know), and there are so many wonderful bloggers on here that cover such interesting topics--I get stuck. So I often review my files or blog posts I've written for other sites to brainstorm some ideas and possibly repurpose an old post for this lovely blog.

While, oh let's call it, "researching" this post, I reviewed some old posts I wrote for The Lit Ladies blog. Two really stuck out, and you will be so glad that I decided to repurpose this one below about Eleanor and Park, instead of the post where I wrote about going to the Ozark Creative Writers conference in Eureka Springs with my daughter and parents in tow. See, Katie found TWO piles of dog poop in our room, AFTER we had slept there all night. What does that have to do with writing in the present? Well, this coming weekend I am going to participate in the wonderful Missouri Writers Guild conference, and my advice with that "number 2" post was to always check your hotel room! (I won't forget this weekend, or ever again.)

But instead of dog doo-doo in hotel rooms, I want to tell you about an amazing young adult book I read a couple years back--one of my all time favorites. Since I have written in the last few months about other young adult authors, Jay Asher and Andrew McCarthy, I felt it only fitting to stick with the rule of three and let you know about Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Ah-Mazing book!

If you love YA or if you write YA, here's why you need to check out this book:

First I’ll tell you Eleanor is a high school girl and Park is a high school boy. From Park’s family watching Wheel of Fortune after dinner to Eleanor thinking all she knows about kissing from the Fonz on Happy Days to the mix tapes and walkmans, the 80’s references are wonderful and took me back to my own high school years. But this is not the only reason why this book is amazing. One word. . .

Eleanor

She is the model for strong, unique girls who aren’t afraid to be themselves. She’s one of the best young adult heroines I have ever read about, and this list includes Katniss and Hermione. But, Eleanor is strong, smart, and beautiful in such a different way than the other two.

A little background about the novel: Eleanor is new at school because her mom let her return home after being kicked out of her house by her step-dad for an entire year. Eleanor now lives with her four brothers and sisters, her mom and the fictional-character-I-would-most-like-to-punch-in-the-face Richie the step-dad in a two-bedroom house–one room for the kids and one for the adults. They have one bathroom with NO DOOR off the kitchen. Richie is an abusive, creepy drunk, and all the kids fear him. Eleanor’s strategy is to stay out of his way when at all possible, and this includes taking a bath when she gets home from school before he’s home. Her clothes are from Good Will, and her belongings fit in a trash bag, including one small fruit box, which contains a few personal, important items, such as a walkman with no batteries. Eleanor is poor and large and awkward with bright red hair.

She also has to ride the bus to school. The kids are mean–they each have their own seat, and no one wants her to sit down with them on the first day. Finally, Park moves over and lets her sit down, not very nicely, and this starts the beginning of a beautiful friendship and love story, but not right away. Eleanor won’t look at him or talk to him. She wonders why the “weird little Asian kid” even let her sit down, but she is interested in his comic books. He notices she reads over his shoulder, and so he starts to leave the pages open a little longer to make sure she can read them all. Then without speaking, he lets her borrow some; and then finally when they talk and discuss these stories, they realize they both have a love for music, too.

Eleanor is a survivor. She survives getting kicked out of her house for a year, away from a mother who has chosen an abusive husband over her own children. Eleanor survives boredom and abuse by turning to music and comics. She survives bullying by trusting a few kind souls. She fights until it’s too dangerous to fight anymore. She knows when to flee and when to start over. She is brave. She is stubborn. She is not afraid to show her style, regardless of the stares and smirks. Even Park’s Avon-lady mom who is petite and caring in stone-washed denim mini-skirts tries to change Eleanor’s look, but Park loves her for her. And Eleanor learns to love herself and see her beauty through his eyes. She’s not perfect–she’s sarcastic, withdrawn and stubborn, but she is a strong girl.

I know you want to rush out and buy it now. I know you want to get to work on your manuscript and create a beautiful character like this. :) So I'll stop here, and let you.

Margo L. Dill is a writer, editor, teacher, and mom living in St. Louis, MO. For more information about her books, please check out her website, where she also blogs about being a single mom and writer. You can also check out her novel writing course here in the WOW! classroom. 

Read More »

3 comments character depth, great book, heroines, Margo L. Dill, Rainbow Rowell, young adult novels

Being Unique

Watching the Oscars last night made me think about how all of us are trying to make our statement in the world, and many of us do that by working on being unique. I think it is possibly one of the hardest things to do in a world where people who are truly unique are often criticized, bullied, and in some places–ostracized. But let’s look at it on even a smaller scale. What happens to kids and teens (and even adults) who do not fit the mold of what everyone else is doing? Every once in a while, this person will hit it big somehow--maybe even win an Academy Award. But unfortunately, we don’t have to look too far to find the disappointing and often depressing answer to this question: many of these kids and teens wind up committing suicide or suffer from depression. They are pleading with society to just understand that they are unique, and that this is something to be celebrated.

This is one of my favorite photos of my daughter--she is unique. And of course, I think that because I'm her mother. But I find her struggling with this concept even in preschool--I'm telling her to be herself, and she wants to make sure all her friends like and play with her. I hope that I am teaching her that in a world where everyone expects you to fit in and be like them, it is okay to always think you are “QUEEN OF THE WORLD.” No matter what challenges come your way, you will end the day with your hands above your head, with a song in your heart, and with a love for yourself. I wish this for her in the worst way, and I will work as hard as I can for this to happen.

I also thought I would share a couple of young adult and middle grade books with you that I think do a tremendous job of sharing the stories of unique people. If you haven’t read these yet, then please check them out. If you have read them, then share them with someone who hasn’t.

• Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher: You only hurt the ones you love. Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. Sage has been homeschooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won’t tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she’s actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.
• Tithe by Holly Black: Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries! Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms — a struggle that could very well mean her death.
• Wringer by Jerry Spinelli: Palmer LaRue is running out of birthdays. For as long as he can remember, he’s dreaded the day he turns ten — the day he’ll take his place beside all the other ten-year-old boys in town, the day he’ll be a wringer. But Palmer doesn’t want to be a wringer. It’s one of the first things he learned about himself and it’s one of the biggest things he has to hide. In Palmer’s town being a wringer is an honor, a tradition passed down from father to son. Palmer can’t stop himself from being a wringer just like he can’t stop himself from growing one year older, just like he can’t stand up to a whole town — right? Newbery Medal winner Jerry Spinelli’s most powerful novel yet is a gripping tale of how one boy learns how not to be afraid.

Wringer, a middle-grade novel, is one of the best books I’ve ever read! The other two are amazing young adult novels. I would love to hear if you’ve read a book with a unique main character. Please share the title below. I would also love any comment about being unique--in your writing or in your life!

Margo L. Dill is a children’s and young adult author of three books: Caught Between Two Curses, Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg, and Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire: The Case of the Missing Cookies. You can find out more about Margo and her books at http://www.margodill.com.

Read More »

4 comments middle-grade novels, unique, writing inspiration, young adult novels

How What My Children Are Reading Affects My Own Book Selections

My daughter engaging in her favorite pastime . . . reading.

I discovered a fun new reading discussion website in the past few weeks with book suggestions for children’s literature. Author Allison Winn Scotch got the idea to start up Parents Reads Best while she was searching for new reading material for her two children, ages 7 and 9. As an aspiring children’s writer, I love browsing through the forums not only to get ideas for my two kids, but to see what books are getting buzz in the genres I enjoy reading.

Yes, I read children’s books, and a lot of them. I rediscovered my love for children’s literature around the time my daughter (almost 11) started reading longer middle-grade books. First, I introduced her to some of my old favorites, such as The Babysitter’s Club series, Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown. From there, she branched out to Roald Dahl and more stories with magical realism and fantasy. But there have been several instances where I’ve heard great reviews about a middle-grade book and suggested she read it first, such as Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. When she finished it she couldn’t stop raving about it so I read it, too.

She got hooked on author Wendy Mass not long after that and encouraged me to read A Mango-Shaped Space, where I learned all about a really unique neurological condition called synesthesia. The main character, Mia (also my daughter’s name, by the way) can actually see sounds and letters of the alphabet in color. I haven’t cried that much after reading a children’s book in years. I am so thankful that she loves to read and discuss books with me, and I feel like the books I’m exposed to through my daughter are just as valuable as what I would find in any contemporary children’s literature class.

The books I learn about from my son, an 8-year-old who loves typical boy humor, are much different. He likes borrowing my daughter’s Sonic the Hedgehog graphic novels and snickering over the scrapes Greg Heffley from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series gets into. They make for a good laugh, but I usually find myself trying to explain a teachable moment from Greg’s escapades. His teacher noticed he loves books with very mischievous main characters, which is funny because he is very much the rule follower in class. Thankfully, he does appreciate more serious literature, too, as he gave me a full summary of Kate Di Camillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane the other day when his class finished it in read aloud. It will be interesting to see how his taste in books changes as he grows older, and I look forward to seeing what he’ll read as a teen.

Do you know a voracious young reader? If so, how do his or her book selections affect the books you decide to read?

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and editor who also blogs at Renee's Pages.

Read More »

3 comments Allison Winn Scotch, children's authors, Children's Literature, middle-grade novels, Parents Read Best, Renee Roberson, young adult novels