Occasionally, a writer seems to fit my interests perfectly. This happened early in my academic career when I was rereading The Catcher in the Rye and thinking about books set in boarding schools. How do these settings add to the notion of adolescent struggling to find his place in the world? I began collecting and reading books set in boarding schools and found E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.

This book struck me as both funny and serious, a mixture that is often hard to achieve. Well, Emily does it brillantly. The characters in this book jump off the pages and live. They followed me around as I thought about the legacy of The Catcher in the Rye and the variey of ways that Holden seems to reappear throughout various incarnations of Young Adult fiction.

As I planned for a presentation at NCTE, I kept think I want to talk about The Catcher in the Rye and wouldn't it be great if E. Lockhart could join the conversation? Well, I figured out how to get in touch with her and she agreed. It was fabulous, we had a nice crowd and Emily was fabulous. We have kept in touch causally over the last decade and a half. Generally, if we were at the same conference or if she had a new book.

In 2014, We Were Liars made its way into the world and it was and is fabulous. Now it will be a limited series on Prime Video beginning June 16, 2025. For fans of the book and Its follow-up Family of Liars this is great news. Even better, the third book in the We Were Liars universe, We Fell Apart will be out this fall.

​If you are late to the party, don't feel bad, just get the book and start reading. ​

I don't get star struck around authors very often, but every time I talk with Virginia Euwer Wolff I am in awe.  Virginia is amazaing and she is still alert and being productive at 86.  

In my opinion she doesn't have an average book. Every effort is exceptional. Even her first book, Probably Still Nick Swanson. is a masterpiece. It is difficult to discuss "special needs" students, indeed, which term is correct to use when discussing these exceptional students? Nevertheless, Virginia manages to pull it off with a strong sense of respect. I never stopped recommending the book to new teachers who would often find these students mainstreamed into their classes without help.

Joan Bauer is a NY Times Best-selling author, screenwriter, songwriter, and speaker who has won numerous awards for her fourteen novels for young readers.

Those recognitions include: the Newbery Honor Medal, the American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award, three Christopher Awards, the LA Times Book Prize, the Chicago Tribune Young adult Literary Prize, the Golden Kite Award of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the St. Katherine Drexel Award of the Catholic Library Association, New Jersey Reading Association M. Jerry Weiss Award; the New England Booksellers Award; the Arkansas Charlie May Simon Children’s Honor Book medal; and the Boston Public Library’s “Literary Light” Award.
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Joan has twice participated in the US State Department’s Professional Speakers Program, traveling to both Croatia and Kazakhstan. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America East, the Authors Guild, PEN, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is currently publishing on Substack and working on new novels. She lives just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Evan and their joyful rescue dog Cleo. She enjoys cooking, hiking. playing the piano and the guitar.

Desmond Hall is a Jamaican born author whose debut YA novel, Your Corner Dark, has been described as American Street meets Long Way Down. It’s a searing and gritty book that takes an unflinching look at the harsh realities of gang life in Jamaica, and how far a teen is willing to go for family. The book confronts police brutality, colorism, gang culture and political deception.
His second YA novel is titled, Better Must Come. Barely Missing Everything meets American Street in this fiercely evocative, action-packed young adult thriller that looks at the darker side of light-filled Jamaica and how a tragedy and missing drug money helplessly entangle the lives of two teens who want to change their fate.
Desmond graduated Marquette University with a BA in Journalism and was selected for the “Who’s Who of American College Students.”
He’s written and directed an HBO feature movie, “A Day in Black and White” which was nominated for the Gordon Parks Award.  He’s also written and directed a full-length stage play, “Stockholm, Brooklyn” that won the Audience Award at the Downtown Theater Festival at the Cherry Lane theater. The play was also picked for the Public Theater’s New Works Series. 

​​​After my fourth son was born, I decided that since my family dreams were now well underway, it was time to pursue writing novels. I went back to school and earned an M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of the Fine Arts, where I learned from many talented and committed writers for young people. My first novel for young readers was published in 2009.  All the Truth That’s In Me, my first YA novel, was named a 2013 Horn Book Fanfare title, a School Library Journal Best of 2013 book, and a Kirkus Best Teen Read for 2013. My next novel, a middle grade titled The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, was published September 2014 in the US by Roaring Brook, and also in Germany, the UK, Japan, Brazil, and Vietnam. My next novel, The Passion of Dolssa, published by Viking Children’s Books, won a 2017 Printz Honor from the American Library Association, was a New York Times Notable title, was nominated for the Los Angeles Book Prize, earned five starred reviews, and earned a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten award. 

Having a conversation with Jen Calonita is a joy. I wish all of you would have the chance to take a few minutes to have a chat with Jen. Since you probably can't, we invite you to join us by listening to this conversation.

Jen talks about how she started as author of books for adolescents and a little bit about the trajectory of her career.

Jen has been tremendously prolific over the last 20 years. Browse through some of the titles below in the slide show and you are sure to find something that you will like.

Finally we talk about her newest book, Isle of Ever, that comes out next week, but is available for preorder right now!

Having a conversation with Kate Messner was a delight.

I love talking with her and learning a little bit about here first career as a television journalist and then about her transition to becoming a teacher.

It was when she was a teacher that she first became interested in writing for children and adolescents. 

Her newest book is called The Trouble with Heroes. In this book the protagonist is given the task of hiking all of the 46 peaks in the Adirondacks that are over 4,000 feet. I learned that Kate is also an official 46er having climbed all of those summits.

Kate is persistent notetaker who carries a notebook of one kind or another wherever she goes. She has some interesting stories about taking notes while hiking through the snow with middle school students or sitting in a small town cafe after near by prison break.

Take a few minutes to join our conversation.

Brent and I have made contact a few times over the years. He has been on my lists of authors to interview for a couple of years. 

Finally, we made it work. 

Brent is one of the early writers of queer YA literature. A couple of his books, most notably, Geography Club and The Last Chance Texaco, standout as quality literature.

Over the last two decades Brent has continued to stay viable and present through a wide variety of writing projects. Most notably, he has a presence on Substack as a digital nomad. 

Join us for our conversation surrounding Brent's first entrance into the world of Young Adult Literature and to a discussion of how he exists in the writing world.

Join us in our conversation.