The Nonfiction Question
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
For the fifth question in Chasing Ray's fascinating series, What a Girl Wants, Colleen Mondor asked the panel to reflect on those subjects that "should be addressed in YA nonfiction that teen girls would want to read about and just as important — should read about." Colleen never asks easy questions, but this one proved to be tougher than the rest.
My answer, as you'll see, if you travel over to the site, relates to place and culture—to the need (in my estimation) for books that transport YA readers to places they've not yet been and puts them there not in textbook fashion but in a way that opens doors to compassionate, empathetic, engaged living. I was thinking about Juarez, among other places, when I developed my response, and so my photo choice of the day.
But it's not really my answer that concerns me here. It's what Lorie Ann Grover, Zetta Elliott, Laurel Snyder, Jenny Davidson, Sara Ryan, Mayra Lazara Dole, and Colleen herself have to say that I hope will interest you.
