So it can be so cliche to say things like stories matter, stories bring us together. The human experience is what ignites us and unites us, but it’s really true that stories matter and that they do bring us together. And I have been blown away and sweetly surprised by the amount of young people who reach out to me or who in the signing line or at an author visit say things to me about relating to my characters when they are opposite of the main character. I’m mostly right about dark skin, Black girls as my main characters. And I have had so many people of all walks of life come to me and say that they identify and relate to those characters.
And one that stands out to me and that I remember so deeply is a young boy in New Zealand who’s white stood up and he’s in the seventh grade and he is standing in front of there were about 800 young people in this auditorium. So he’s being very brave to ask this question and to say this in front of his peers. He says to me, I just finished reading, Watch Us Rise. And I love that that book is about girls standing up for theirselves and finding their voice. I have a sister and my best friend is a girl, and I want to know if you can give me advice on how to be a better feminist. And I was like, what? You were in the seventh grade and you’re asking, how can you be a better feminist? So of course, I told him, the fact that you’re asking that question means you are absolutely on the right track that you’re aware, that you want to know that you’re thinking about these things. I was so moved by him. I’ve been moved by the quiet student who oftentimes identifies with a side character or with a character who is the unlikely hero or the person who gets the crush or becomes popular.
And a lot of my books poets are popular, and it’s not about the sports and the basketball stars. So I’ll get a lot of young people who come up to me and whisper that they appreciate that the artist is the one who’s the cool kid, and that they identify a lot with those characters. And it always makes me feel good because I think sometimes when I’m writing, there’s the pressure of, well, this is ya, so you’re supposed to include a dating relationship and this and that, and friendship, drama and all the things. And sometimes I lean into that. But other times with piecing me together, I chose not to give Jade a romantic interest. And I felt like that might be a risk. I wasn’t sure how teenagers were going to respond to that. And overwhelmingly, they appreciate that Jade could just focus on herself and loving herself and loving her friends, and that it wasn’t about the romantic love. And so I love that kind of push and pull of what are the tropes of YA? What are we supposed to do? What makes a story YA? And then how can I mess with that a little bit and offer something else for young people who are reading?