When asked about her evolution as a writer, author (and Wes Anderson fan) Leslie Stella sums it up perfectly: “I have been broke for most of my life, so pursuing a writing career seemed to make sense for me.” More gems to follow in our interview with the witty scribe of Permanent Record.

After withdrawing from public school under mysterious circumstances, Badi Hessamizadeh enters Magnificat Academy. To make things “easier”, his dad has given him a new name: Bud Hess. Grappling with his Iranian-American identity, clinical depression, bullying and a barely bottled rage, Bud copes by resorting to small revenges and covert acts of defiance. But the pressures of his home life, plummeting grades, and the unrequited affection of his new friend, Nikki, prime him for a more dangerous revolution. Strange letters begin to appear in Magnificat’s newspaper, hinting that some tragedy will befall the school. Suspicion falls on Bud, and he and Nikki struggle to uncover the real culprit and clear Bud’s name.

YOUNG ADULT: What made you decide to start writing?

Leslie Stella: In the 1990s, I cofounded a magazine here in Chicago called Lumpen, which covered mostly politics and pop culture. I did a little bit of everything there: wrote editorials, essays, conducted interviews, reviewed bars, and edited the literary supplement. There were some absolutely crazy stories—and crazy people—I worked with at that time. Like people who would scrawl their submissions on the back of menus and then drop them off at the office at midnight (we all had other jobs, so we kept odd hours there). Anyway, it opened me up to the idea that there are all different kinds of writing, all different kinds of writers. It gave me the confidence to try my hand at short stories, which then segued into my first novel, Fat Bald Jeff. I have been broke for most of my life, so pursuing a writing career seemed to make sense for me.

YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about Permanent Record?

LS: Everything I’d ever written prior to Permanent Record had been a comedy. I really had a horror of writing about real emotions, real people, and especially creating likeable protagonists. I’m kind of immature and juvenile, and I felt a profound embarrassment in writing anything that might be construed as a serious commentary on—or reflection of—myself. I think my reluctance to reveal myself came from growing up in a temperamental family that was quick to express anger and derision. But after I had my own children, emotions that had nothing to do with mockery or rage bubbled to the top. I guess you could say that my empathy for other human beings grew. So out of that personal growth came a desire to imagine realistic characters with real problems—and a desire to help them. Permanent Record is a direct result of that change. It is a complicated book about bullying, about trying to fit in when your personality and heritage make you different. I saw the protagonist, Badi, as a flawed hero, a real person, who I hope the reader can empathize with and root for.

YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.

LS: I’m a mother and a writer and I also work part-time while my kids are in school, and I’ve come to the realization that I no longer have typical writing days! Sometimes I get up before everyone else and write for an hour or so and then get the kids ready for school, and then work at my job. Other times, I am able to write all day until the bus comes. Often I write at night. Many of my Saturdays and Sundays are spent at the library writing while my family has fun without me. I used to think I could never write in this slapdash way, that I could only work in my special and sacred cone of silence, but when the demands on your time are greater, you learn to make use of the time you are given more effectively.

YA: Can you describe the path to getting this work published? Was it difficult to sell a non-paranormal, non-dystopian piece of YA fiction?

LS: It was difficult getting this published, but the reasons are complicated. First, the initial incarnation of Permanent Record was adult fiction told from the perspective of a teacher who no longer appears in the novel. I tried hard for years but couldn’t make the story work. It struck me eventually that what drew me over and over to that story were the teens in it. It was a flash of insight: Oh, I’ve been suffocating a really interesting YA story underneath a bunch of adult characters’ midlife crises. Second, I’d had three novels of adult fiction to my credit, but I was new and unproven in the YA field. Third, Permanent Record has a boy protagonist—which is generally a harder sell than a girl protagonist in YA—and fourth, the subject matter is challenging. The book was a risk—I was a risk—but my editor believed in me and in the story I wanted to tell.

YA: The book seems to deal with a lot of hot button issues, like immigration identity and clinical depression. What do you hope the YA audience takes away from reading your book?

LS: The two issues you mention are a double whammy because in Bud’s culture (his parents are Iranian immigrants), even admitting you struggle with mental illness shames the family. In the story, his parents cringe and turn away when he speaks of his psychiatrist or his depression; how are you supposed to get better when your parents don’t want to admit you need help? In that sense, our culture, too, stigmatizes mental illness: Why aren’t you happy? What’s wrong with you? You have so much to be grateful for. It’s like people are personally offended if your brain processes things differently than theirs. So I would want my readers to know that clinical depression is an illness; it’s real; it affects how you breathe and see and feel and think. It’s so incredibly painful. Have compassion for those who suffer; and have hope if you are the one suffering.

YA: What were your specific influences for this book? Films, literature, other stories?

LS: Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War was a profound influence, both on me as the author and on Bud as the protagonist. Bud is powerfully moved by that book, which he describes as a realistic portrayal of human cruelty and conformity, mirroring the abuse he suffers at the hands of his classmates. As for creating the lighter side of Bud’s personality, and there definitely is one, I was influenced by my mad obsession with the Wes Anderson movie Rushmore and particularly its hero, Max. Like Bud, Max is an outsider trying to create a place for himself when the rest of the world just seems to want to exclude him.

YA: If you hadn’t become an author, what path would your career have perhaps taken?

LS: Are there professional croquet players?