About six years ago, I launched into a young adult reading binge and pretty much read one book every few days. I like YA books. The good ones move quickly and are very connectable. I can take a break from grading, read something that doesn't require a deep dive, and emerge with incredible ideas on how the new writer connects to classic works that I love to read, reread, and when I am lucky, teach.
When I came across John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Papertowns, I immediately responded to the characters. I know girls with Hazel's sense of humor. And while Margo Roth Spiegelman reminds me mostly of Holden Caulfield, she also lives and breathes in quite a few students I have met over the years.
John Green gets kids. In his characters, I hear the voices that make up the buzz of my work day.
This may be the exact reason I am very excited about two writers I came across this year, Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down and Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give. Future blogs will post on both authors, but both capture what I find really is the enduring essential quality of a great teen read: when I listen to the characters, I need to recognize the voices.
And some writers that are best sellers in the teen world just don't create characters that sound like the kids I know. Thank you John, Jason, and Angie. You obviously know real teenagers and listen to them.
