Mordechai LaubIf anything, this past week showed us that there still is a little magic left out there, and that our country can sometimes actually take a step in the right direction. The strides toward equal rights this week will hopefully communicate to young people all over that yes, it’s OK to be who you are, no matter who you love. And it will hopefully open up new avenues for new voices telling new stories, for a wider audience to hear.
One of those stories is 2003’s Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger, which has been adapted into a film currently making the festival circuit. Brent’s story is about a boy, Russel Middlebrook, and his two best friends. The story teaches us the valuable lesson of acceptance in a world of being unaccepted. You get to laugh and cry your way through this adorable LGBT coming of age novel, and of course there’s also a hot guy to moon over (it is, after all, a good summer read).
I had the privilege of speaking with Brent in this month’s issue of YA, take a look. Also in the issue, one of our editors got to discuss the highly anticipated novel The Eternity Cure with author Julie Kagawa, who is famous for the brilliant Iron Fey series.
Finally, make sure to take our Poll and choose which YA book you feel deserves to be the first of a series. Maybe we can use our own magic to get the publishers to push the writers to create one!
Hope your summer’s going as smoothly as ours, and enjoy what’s left of vacation.
-ML