From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 11:26:33 -0500

ME, you've commented that in writing for young adults, "the themes are the same whether they're set in 1944 or today. The theme of acceptance, rejection, outsiders, that hasn't changed." (Interview with Jim Roginski in "Behind the Covers, Vol. II.)

I'm wondering if in the years you have been writing for young adults you HAVE seen anything that has changed, either in your audience or in the books you are writing--or even thinking about writing. Or perhaps in publishing. In recent years it's often been noted how "dark" young adult literature has become, and yet since the genre "began" in the late 1960s, there have always been writers who have honestly address the realities of young adult lives, which often revolve around the impact of acceptance vs. rejection, of being on the outside, although the ways these themes play out are endless. What is your perspective on your own writing over the years as it relates to how you explore your themes? Or on publishing?

Megan


Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education UW-Madison 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Thu 27 Jun 2002 11:26:33 AM CDT