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Student Voices: Looking At Characters from Favorite Books from Omayma H., Abigail D., Cassie W., Ethan S., and Gabriela T.

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Looking at Characters from Favorite Books

“Top Ten Favorite Book Couples” by Omayma H., 8th grade

Romance in books is special. Readers feel connected to characters as they experience love and challenges. Whether it’s enemies to lovers or friends to lovers, here are my top 10 favorite book couples. (Note: These couples are NOT in order.  I can’t pick!)

Powerless – Kai and Paedyn
Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Kai and Paedyn come from two different social classes. Kai, the prince and the future Enforcer of Illya, and Paedyn, an illegal ordinary, who lives in the slums. They aren’t supposed to meet, not when Peadyn is supposed to be hiding from Kai and his job as the enforcer to get rid of all ordinaries. But when Kai gets into trouble in the slums, Paedyn saves him without really knowing who he is, and that results in her getting chosen for the purging trials, all because she saved the prince. Now, Kai and Paedyn have to compete in the trials against each other. But instead of becoming rivals and hating each other, they form a relationship of teasing, pretend hatred, and care. They help each other through the trials, slowly falling for each other at the same time. Despite a small problem that happens in their relationship, Kai and Paedyn grow to trust and love each other through the trilogy. Facing challenges to be with each other, but always caring for each other.

The Cruel Prince – Cardan and Jude
Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Fae and mortal, prince and outcast. Carden and Jude were enemies from the beginning, ever since Jude and her sisters were brought to faerie when they were small. Carden, the youngest and meanest of the kings’ children, had always seemed to have something against Jude. Though during the progression of the series, Jude and Carden get closer as they work together and fall in love. Their relationship is filled with heartfelt words, filled with adorable nicknames, confessions, and teasing. Not to mention supporting each other all the time. Their sharp banter hints at a growing attraction. Cardan’s harshness hides sensitivity, while Jude’s strength draws him in. Their journey shows that love can develop even in rivalry.

The Selection – Maxon and America
Trope: Friends to Lovers

Maxon and America’s relationship starts as a friendship. They get to know each other during the Selection competition. America enters the Selection for other reasons, but begins to have real feelings for Maxon. Maxon is kind, understanding, and supportive. America struggles with her feelings and her past. They share sweet moments and face challenges together. They learn to trust each other. Their relationship is built on friendship, respect, and a growing romantic bond as they navigate their world. Both of them face hard challenges, but are always there for each other. Filled with sweet first times and love like no other.

The Inheritance Games – Jameson and Avery
Trope: Friends to Lovers

Jameson and Avery’s relationship begins as a friendship. They work together to solve puzzles and uncover secrets in a game set by Jameson’s grandfather for Avery’s inheritance. As they spend time together, they develop a strong connection and trust. Jameson is protective and supportive of Avery, while she brings out his softer side. Their bond grows as they face challenges, leading to deeper feelings for each other. No matter what challenges they face, both of them stay by each other’s side and help each other no matter what. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Percy and Annabeth
Trope: Friends to Lovers

Percy and Annabeth’s relationship begins as a friendship, but it slowly develops into something deeper. They face many adventures and challenges together as demigods, supporting and protecting each other along the way. Their bond is built on trust, loyalty, and mutual respect. They also share a lot of playful banter, which adds a fun dynamic to their connection. Over time, their feelings grow, and they become a strong couple, always there for one another through thick and thin. 

Shatter Me – Aaron and Juliette
Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Aaron Warner and Juliette’s relationship is intense and complicated. At first, they are enemies, with Warner being a powerful figure who represents the world Juliette is trying to escape. However, as they spend more time together, they start to understand each other’s struggles. Warner reveals his softer side, showing he cares for her deeply, while Juliette learns to trust him. Their relationship evolves from hatred to a deep emotional connection, filled with passion and support as they face challenges together. At the end, they become a strong couple who help each other heal and grow.

Once Upon a Broken Heart – Jacks and Evangeline
Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Jacks and Evangeline’s relationship starts with them as enemies. Jacks is mysterious and often manipulative, while Evangeline is strong and wants to protect herself and her loved ones. As they spend time together, they begin to understand each other. This leads to unexpected feelings between them. Despite the tension and challenges they face, their connection grows stronger. They learn to trust and care for one another, turning their rivalry into a romantic relationship.

Caraval – Julian and Scarlet
Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Julian and Scarlet have a strong friendship that grows into a romantic relationship. They start by supporting each other and face challenges together. As they spend time together, their trust in each other deepens, and they develop romantic feelings. Throughout their journey, they help each other grow and overcome obstacles. Even though their relationship has some problems like lies and hidden secrets, they learn to trust each other.

Keeper of the Lost Cities – Keefe and Sophie
Trope: Friends to Lovers

Keefe and Sophie are close friends with a complicated relationship. They start as friends and build a strong bond based on trust and support. Keefe is playful and brings fun to their friendship, while Sophie is serious and focused on her tasks. Their differences balance each other. They understand one another and help each other with challenges. As they go on adventures together, their feelings for each other deepen. Overall, their relationship includes friendship, loyalty, and growing emotions. Keefe had feelings for Sophie from the beginning, and even so, Sophie was oblivious to it all and had her own crush. And despite it not being him (and also feeling all her emotions, which makes it harder), Keefe always supported her and was happy for her no matter what. And when she finally realized her feelings for him, Sophie did not wait to tell him, hoping he still felt the same, which started this relationship.

Carval – Donatella and Legend
Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Donatella and Legend have a complicated relationship that changes throughout the story. At first, they seem like enemies because they have different goals and backgrounds. As they spend more time together, they start to understand each other better. Tella sees that Legend is more than just mysterious and manipulative, and Legend appreciates Tella’s strength and determination. Their relationship has tension and challenges, but they learn to trust and care for each other despite their differences.

“Thoughts on Characters from my Favorite Graphic Novels” by Abigail D., 7th grade

The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat

I’m making my thoughts on  Christina because I love her story and how much of a good impact she made in this book. She’s the kind of girl with confidence in everything she does which I admire so much.

Ghost by Raina Telgemeier

I’m making my thoughts on Catalina because I love how much she inspired her little sister. I’ve noticed this in every book but this one is my favorite yet. I enjoy their relationship and how Raina was the best role model she could be.

Logan Likes Mary-Anne! by Ann M. Martin

I’m making my thoughts on Mary-Anne because at first in the story she was really shy around new people but as the story went on she progressed to be herself more and even when she would be embarrassed she always had someone by her side and Mary-Anne wasn’t afraid.

The Squad by Christina Soontornvat

I’m making my thoughts on Megan because when Christina was going through a really hard time in this book, Megan stood by her side and never left. She was an amazing friend toward Christina which I love most about Megan.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

I’m making my thought on Cassie because I love how she has a love and passion for theater/drama because it suits her incredibly well which makes the story so much better, In my opinion when you can see that in a story the actually have a passion for what they do, it makes the story 10x better.

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

I’m making my thoughts about Amara because while they were on a road trip they all got to spend quality time with each other and even though it got to a point where they got tired of each other, Amara was always making the story more and more interesting for me.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

I’m making my thoughts on Raina because when her teeth got ruined, she thought that she didn’t look pretty and she was in a lot of pain but later in the story she learns that she’s pretty no matter what and doesn’t let that define who she is. Meanwhile her teeth end up looking so much better in the end!

Guts by Raina Telgemeier

I’m making my thoughts about Raina’s mom because in this book Raina was so afraid of sickness and she was very overwhelmed but her mom was by her side attempting to make her feel better and was really trying to the best of her abilities for her daughter.

Real Friends by Shannon Hale

I’m making thoughts on Jen because I feel like her perspective on things is real and genuinely takes things seriously. She has a whole group of friends but doesn’t know if some of them could be real or not is a big determination that is important to realize.

New Kid by Jerry Craft

I’m making thoughts on Jordan because when he moved to a whole new place and school he was very shy and didn’t have any friends but soon enough he made friends. I love how he also had an amazing passion for drawing and how much he admired it.

“10 Characters I’d Be Friends With in Real Life” by Cassie W., 8th grade

Percy Jackson from Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Percy would do absolutely anything for his friends, he is very funny, and his mom is arguably the best book mom out there. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with him?

Molly Frost from Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

Molly stands up and does something when her friends aren’t being treated right. I want to be more like Molly and speak up more.

Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos from The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

Lester is dramatic and sassy,(I mean when you get cast down to Earth from Mount Olympus, who wouldn’t be?) which is a lot like me, so I think we would have fun together.

Marlee Tames from The Selection by Kiera Cass

Marlee is a very fun and happy person to be around. She knows how to turn a bad situation into a good one. I really like being around people that are happy, so me and Marlee would have lots of fun together.

Taylor Jewel from The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Taylor is a very good friend to Belly. Even when they are fighting, Taylor still loves Belly and helps her through her problems. I would love to have Taylor as a friend.

Hazel Levesque from The Heroes of Olympus

Hazel is very sweet and she has been through a lot, so I really want to be her friend and comfort her.

Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Annabeth is very smart and she likes designing things. I also like design, so we could talk about design and she could help me with Geometry.😭

Bianca Di Angelo from The Titan’s Curse

Bianca is someone who would do anything for her brother, and I would also do anything for my family. I think our brothers would get along well because my brother likes Pokemon and Nico likes Mythomagic.

Bronwyn Rojas from One of Us is Lying

Bronwyn would not give up until she found out how Simon died. I also like investigating things and figuring out how things happen.

Harper Lancaster from 12 to 22

Harper is a big fan of Taylor Swift and likes makeup. I also like those things, so I think we would have a good time together.

“Books That I’d Want to Be the Main Character In” by Ethan S., 7th grade

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

The main character in this book is so interesting, she was able to lead a whole group of fish and whales and basically the whole ocean to destroy a ship that was producing a lot of pollution which was killing a lot of sea life. I would want to be Roz (the main character) in this because I would want to know how it would feel when your whole family is dyeing and you had to do something to stop it. 

Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland

I’d love to be the main character in Wings of Fire because getting to be Clay, a dragon with a big heart and hidden strength, sounds amazing. He’s brave even when he’s scared, and he cares deeply about his friends, which I really admire. Being part of a secret prophecy and going on wild adventures would make life so exciting. I think it would be incredible to discover who I really am while helping save the world. Plus, flying and breathing fire? That’s just awesome.

The Liars Society by Alyson Gerber

I’d like to be the main character in The Liar Society because Kate is fearless, clever, and never gives up, even when the truth is buried deep. She’s willing to risk everything to solve a mystery and stand up for her best friend, which I really admire. Being in her shoes would be intense, but also thrilling—I love the idea of uncovering secrets and outsmarting people who think they can get away with lies. Kate’s loyalty and determination make her someone I’d want to be. Plus, who wouldn’t want to wear a pink hair ribbon and take down a secret society?

A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga

I’d love to be the main character in A Rover’s Story because getting to explore Mars and learn new things every day sounds incredible. Even though I’m a robot, I start to feel emotions, which makes me unique—and I think that’s something really special. I’d get to help people by sending back important information, and that would give my journey a real purpose. It might be lonely out there, but I’d still feel connected to the humans who believe in me. Being curious, brave, and learning what it means to care—that’s the kind of adventure I’d want to have.

“Top 5 Best Book Characters” by Ethan S., 7th grade

While reading books, there is always that one character that gets you attention. Whether it’s for their good acts and intentions, or even for their sense of humor, these characters are often loved by all. Here are my top 5 favorite book characters:

  1. Celeste Newsome – The Selection series

Although Celeste is one of the main “villains” in the first book, she has grown a lot throughout the series. She has shown guilt by what she has done wrong, and changed to be a better person after the selection, even though life had other plans for her.

  1. Cammie Morgan – Gallagher Girl series

Cammie is a brave, smart character, who is determined to do everything for what she believes in. She and her friends use what they learned to protect their sisterhood and investigate Cammie’s first love.

  1. Lina – Love & Gelato

Lina shows how good her heart is by attending to her deceased mother’s last wish, even though it was something she did not want to do. By moving to Tuscany with her long lost father and visiting Italy with her new friend ren, she shows bravery to end up discovering a secret that will change everything she knows.

  1. Melody Brooks – Out of My Mind (series)

Melody is the definition of bravery and determination, after everything she went through. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, her life started out as a challenge since the beginning. It was hard for her to make friends because of her disability, but even then, she was able to prove herself into making a national TV competition. She says that although her body might be broken, she is not.

  1. Paedyn – Powerless

Paedyn is brave and fights for her survival everyday. Being an ordinary, she has to live in the shadows and steal in order to survive. After making a good deed, she is given the place in the Purging trials, a deadly battle that could make her rich, or dead. She sacrifices everything and goes to these trials, where unexpected things happen.

Thank you so much to my student voices today and their look at characters in books they love!

Author Guest Post: “What Would It Take to Love a Snake” by Sunya Mara, Author of Embrace the Serpent

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“What Would It Take to Love a Snake”

.I’ve always been afraid of snakes. They give me the primordial heebie-jeebies—a fear so deep in my blood that I’m sure my ancestors are recoiling, too. But, one day, I saw this king snake in my backyard — an enormous, black-and-white striped, insanely long creature — and for some reason, a little voice in my head said: what would it take to love a snake?

I had been tinkering with this idea of a girl who made magic jewelry, but it was at that moment that Embrace the Serpent really had a spark. Jewels and snakes go together often in fairytales—there are too many examples to name, but I’m particularly fond of “The Snake Prince” and “Muchie-Lal”—and I started wondering why. Why do fairytale serpents have bejeweled palaces? Why does a queen’s ruby necklace turn into a snake, and the snake into a prince? Why does a bride have to embrace a hundred-headed snake for an entire night without letting go, to save her bridegroom? Why do they go together, the things we covet and the things we fear?

One thought kept nagging at me. It’s a simple one: both snakes and jewels are found deep in the earth, hidden from sight.

That idea inspired me. That something could be lurking just beneath your feet—something that could be wonderful, or dangerous. And you can’t know which it is unless you’re brave enough to seek it out, to reach into the dark, the unknown, and take hold of it.

Saphira, the main character in Embrace the Serpent, is a girl who’s so afraid of the world that she lets someone else take the credit for the magical jewelry she makes. But, she doesn’t realize that her work is so extraordinary that powerful people are paying attention, including the Serpent King. That idea, of being afraid to claim your work as your own, and therefore limiting yourself to a cage of your own making—that became the crux of Saphira’s character.

She’s tested when the Serpent King sends his cleverest huntsman to find the best jewelsmith in the world, and he realizes that the unassuming little apprentice is the true genius behind these extraordinary works. Unfortunately, his scrutiny leads others to discover her, and sets of a chain of events that leads to Saphira making a dangerous deal with the Serpent King: she’ll help him, if he’ll give her the means to hide forever.

And that’s where the unlikely romance begins. As they journey together, pretending to be newlyweds, they begin to see each other as more than a means to an end. Both Saphira and the Serpent King have something to hide, and I wanted to capture the feeling of guarded people slowly opening up to each other, and finding that under the fear, there’s something to love.

Who we love shows us who we are. And sometimes who we really are is a surprise to ourselves—in a good way. Sometimes being loved changes the beloved.

That feeling of transformation—of becoming stronger because you have something or someone to be strong for—was the thing I most wanted to explore with this story.

Some of the books and movies that have been a touchstone for this story include Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen—all these have one thing in common, which is that the main character undergoes a radical transformation because they found a reason to be braver in loving someone else. I found those stories powerful, especially in the context of a world that seems increasingly self-centered and fearful.

Fear can be good, because it keeps us alive, but it also can keep us stagnant. You can only be sure no one will hurt you if you’re all alone, that you’ll never say something wrong if you never speak at all, and that nothing horrible can happen to you if you never leave the house—but centering fear seems like such a shame, when there are so many wonderful things to embrace instead.

That, I think, is what Embrace the Serpent is about. It came out of me as an antidote to fear. It reminded me of the power of delight, of choosing to be strong enough to care. I hope that if you choose to give Embrace the Serpent a chance, that Saphira and the Serpent King’s love story will take care of you the way it took care of me.

And, the funny thing is, I still think about that king snake. In a way, it gave me this book, and the adventure of writing it. It changed me for the better, and I’m grateful to it.

And I wonder, what would it take for you to love a snake?

Published June 24th, 2025 by HarperCollins

About the Book: “An exquisite jewel of a book.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

In this sweeping romantic fantasy, a dangerous deal binds a young jeweler’s apprentice to the mysterious Serpent King in a marriage of convenience, thrusting her into a deadly game between the cunning, fearsome ruler and his rebellious huntsman. Perfect for fans of The Wrath & the Dawn and Once Upon a Broken Heart!

The Serpent King is the most eligible bachelor in the land: a monster with dark and terrible magic and the ruler of the last free kingdom. Riches and power await his future bride—but so does a life forever trapped in the games of court.

That fate is eighteen-year-old Saphira’s worst nightmare. Ever since the Empire made her an orphan, she’s found freedom in being invisible. So despite her rare gift for harnessing the magic in gemstones, she lets an unscrupulous jewelsmith take credit for her increasingly sought-after work.

But when the king sends his most clever huntsman to find the best jewelsmith of all, the spotlight lands on Saphira. Faced with choosing between falling into the Empire’s grasp or marrying a monster, she chooses the latter — even if it means getting increasingly caught between her cold, serpentine husband and his cunning, handsome huntsman.

About the Author: Sunya Mara grew up in six different cities across five different states and now calls Los Angeles home. She studied film and business at the University of Southern California and went on to write and illustrate at Kobe Bryant’s Granity Studios. When not telling stories, she spends her time haunting old movie theaters and staring at museum walls.

Thank you, Sunya, for sharing your fear that became power in this post!

Author Guest Post: “Scared Safe: How Horror Literature Can Comfort Young Readers” by Ann Dávila Cardinal, Author of You’ve Awoken Her

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“Scared Safe: How Horror Literature Can Comfort Young Readers”

When people learn what kind of young adult novels I write, I often get the comment, “Oh, I can’t read horror. I’m too scared!” I always respond with, “Oh, me too! I’m so afraid, I’m medicated!” I usually get a confused look in reply, “But . . .you write horror?”

I know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense at first glance, but I’ve always loved scary stories, even when I was quite young. My three older brothers usually had Creature Features on, a weekly television broadcast of cult horror movies, and my mother was always reading some gothic horror novel or another, so I was right there asking them all my questions, peeking at the screen from between my fingers. Yes, these things gave me nightmares, but no, that didn’t stop me. After many years of being a horror fan, I began my writing career with a young adult novel about the Latine boogeyman entitled Five Midnights. From that point on, I was hooked. After writing in this genre for over ten years and meeting a lot of other writers and readers, I’ve come to realize that a lot of us are like this: these stories scare us too, but we also find comfort from reading, watching, or listening to tales of the macabre. I have a theory why, at least in my own case.

Like many childhoods of that time, mine had its traumas. I was the fifth of five children, with sixteen years between me and my eldest sibling, and for five of my first eight years my father was dying of ALS. As you can imagine with all that was going on for my fairly large family, I often went unnoticed, quietly sitting in the background as my brother George watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or listening in on conversations about my father’s disease that were not appropriate for my young years. After my father passed, with only two of us kids left at home, my mother turned to alcohol for comfort. Me? I started buying horror comics, reading about dolls that came alive at night and killed their owners, corpses that rose from the grave to exact revenge. I was drawn to these dark tales because they made my difficult life seem bearable, particularly those that featured kids who, like me, had no autonomy, no voice, but when faced with the most unimaginable horrors they managed to triumph in the end. Weird as it was, those stories made me believe that there was hope, because though my young life sucked, at least there weren’t zombies breaking down the front door of our home. I am clearly not alone in this response; in fact, I came to find that it is supported by studies as well.

In his paper entitled, “Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms,” behavioral scientist Coltan Scrivner, PhD states, “Horror media may provide a unique avenue for individuals to manage anxiety by offering controlled exposure to fear, opportunities for cognitive engagement, and experiences of mastery over negative emotions.” He goes on to talk about the benefits of “scary play” for juveniles, “Much of human play takes place in the cognitive playground of a fictional world. Through fictional play, people can learn what a particular situation looks like and imagine how they would react and deal with it. As with more physical types of play, cognitive play with fiction can also serve as a rehearsal for negative emotions and how to manage them.” So, horror stories give young readers an opportunity to practice their responses to trauma in a safe and fictional environment.

During a recent interview I was asked how writing horror for teens differs from writing horror for adults. My answer is always the same: hope. When you’re writing for young people, you’re writing for a vulnerable population. You have responsibility toward your readers. With adults, you don’t have to consider audience at all, you just write. And in the case of adult horror, it can be as dark, violent, or disturbing as you’d like. But with young people, I feel that even the darkest stories should end with a certain amount of hope, and, perhaps, agency for the young protagonists. But along the way, the road can be pretty dark: today’s youth can take it.

In any young adult novel, it is partially our job as writers to throw as many roadblocks at our main characters as possible, sometimes in the form of trauma or truly horrific things, because, put simply: conflict makes for a more interesting story. The more conflict, the better. No one wants to read about someone’s perfect life, because I don’t believe anyone actually has one. It would seem empty. I often think about the first time I read the Lord of the Rings. I couldn’t stand the fact that Frodo and Sam continued to encounter unspeakable evil for thousands of pages, and I gnashed my teeth for hours at a time. I was like, “Just let them throw the damn ring into the fire already!” But it kept me turning pages. No one wants to read a version where they’re magically flown to Mount Doom, Frodo doesn’t have an internal battle with evil but rather just tossed it into the lava, middle earth is saved in the first fifteen minutes, and there was much rejoicing. Rather, it is the act of overcoming that elevates a tale to one that we love and reread over and over. And it is these kinds of stories that almost always end with hope.

So, whether or not you are someone who enjoys horror, you will probably encounter a student or other young person who expresses interest in books of the scary persuasion. What I’d like to ask of you, is this: don’t assume about the child is drawn to these kinds of stories because they are receding into darkness, but rather consider that they might be trying to claw their way out of it, and books of this kind help them do just that. Because in the darkness of horror, young readers often find the light they need to face the real world.

I certainly did. And I turned out alright. (Well, more or less. 😉

Published June 17th, 2025 by HarperCollins

About the Book: Fans of You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight and Your Lonely Nights Are Over will love this thrilling YA horror about a string of disappearances and “accidental” drownings in the Hamptons, the changing relationship between two best friends, and their desperate attempt to not be the next victims of a Lovecraftian monster terrorizing the coastline.

Gabi should be thrilled to be visiting his best friend for the summer. But with its mansions, country clubs, and Ruth’s terrible new boyfriend, Frost Thurston, the Hamptons is the last place he wants to be. And then Gabi witnesses a woman being dragged under the ocean by what looks like a tentacle . . .

When no one—not the police or anyone else—seems to care, Gabi starts to wonder if maybe the beachside town’s bad vibes are more real than he thought. As the number of “accidental” deaths begins to climb, the Thurston family name keeps rising to the top. And what’s worse is that all the signs point to something lurking beneath the water—something with a hunger for blood.

Can Gabi figure out how the two are intertwined and put an end to the string of deaths . . . before becoming the water’s next victim?

About the Author: Ann Dávila Cardinal is a writer and part-time bookseller with an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her young adult horror novels include You’ve Awoken Her, Breakup from Hell, and Five Midnights and its sequel, Category Five. Ann lives with her husband in a little house with a creepy basement and is always on the lookout for parts of monstrous creatures floating in the Vermont rivers as Lovecraft wrote about. Visit her online at anndavilacardinal.com. 

Thank you, Ann, for sharing the research behind the need for horror!

Author Guest Post: “Not If But When” by Madeleine Roux, Author of A Girl Walks Into a Forest

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“Not If But When”

If you haven’t heard of Sarah Wynn-Williams, she’s the Meta whistleblower who dropped bombshell after bombshell about the harmful practices of social media titans like Facebook and Instagram. In April of this year, she detailed to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee how these sites would target vulnerable teens, sending them ads for beauty products after they deleted a selfie or made posts indicating they were sad or depressed. I’ve understood for a long time that companies are not our friends, and that social media has become unbelievably toxic, but still, these revelations filled me with a special kind of anger.

Even at our lowest, even when we’re expressing self-doubt, fear, or vulnerability, the message is obvious: if you were a little bit more beautiful, would this still be happening? Maybe you wouldn’t feel so rejected if your skin texture was gone. Don’t you think he would still be your boyfriend if you had fuller lips? You won’t delete selfies after slathering your face in blah, blah, blah… It’s exactly this kind of pressure to be beautiful, presentable, consumable—even at our lowest points—that inspired Valla’s story in A Girl Walks Into the Forest.

I shouldn’t say it’s the only inspiration, because that’s just one of hundreds. This book is the natural outcome of someone born a woman just trying to exist in culture steeped in patriarchal ideas about what it means to be feminine. Valla’s journey started when I was picked on in middle school for not shaving my legs, when I went to an anticipated dinner at a date’s house and was immediately criticized, put down, then told menacingly there was a gun in the cabinet. This book began when I shared these experiences with other women, and heard either agreement or their far worse, far more damaging memories. I don’t have the word count to list out the rest, but I’m sure you get the idea.

At the beginning of A Girl Walks Into the Forest, Valla is a girl who believes that her beauty will protect her. She is traded to a wealthy Count living in a dangerous forest; their marriage will mean prosperity for her village. The deal is very simple—Valla will be a lovely, compliant bride and the Count will lavish her people with enough supplies to survive in an unforgiving place. Things fall apart quickly for Valla, who is grievously wounded and scarred on the trip to the Count’s castle. (I’m sure Facebook would gleefully inform her that this new exfoliating scrub could make those scars fade overnight!!!) Because she is no longer perfect, the Count no longer wants her in the same way, and we watch Valla discover her strength, her power, and how her pain and struggle are connected to that of other women and girls.

I hope the message of this book is clear by the time you reach the end of it—your beauty and compliance will protect you until they don’t, and it’s not a matter of if you become a Valla but when.

Published June 10th, 2025 by Quill Books

About the Book: For as long as she can remember, Valla’s been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don’t survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla’s face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy…Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins. In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what’s she’s been robbed of: her life.

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About the Author: MADELEINE ROUX is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. She is also the author of the House of Furies series, and several titles for adults, including Salvaged and Reclaimed. She has written for Star Wars, World of Warcraft, Critical Role, and Dungeons & Dragons. Madeleine lives in Seattle, Washington with her partner and beloved pups.

Thank you, Madeleine, for this thought piece!

Author Guest Post: “A Writing Process, Possessed!” by Jessica Lewis, Author of Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love

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“A Writing Process, Possessed!”

I’m a pretty simple person: I get up around the same time every day, play the same game on my phone while I eat breakfast, chat and laugh with my grandmother before I go upstairs to work. I come back briefly for lunch, sometimes take a nap, then cook dinner and write for a bit after Grandma goes to bed. On Mondays, I meet with my writing friend to write at a local coffee shop. On Saturdays (if the weather’s nice), I’ll have a water and read outside with my stray cat buddy, Butter. Every day is roughly the same for me, for better or worse. However, that consistency in routine doesn’t extend to my writing! I’m chaotic, impulsive, indecisive, and at times, infuriating to myself. It’ll be hard to quantify, but I can try to wrestle my writing routine into something other than nonsense. Let’s try!

First, I do my best writing in the mornings. If I’m on deadline for something like line/copy edits, or marketing, I make sure I crank those out in the morning while my brain is fresh. For simpler tasks that require an analytical brain and not creative, I can usually get quite a bit done in a short amount of time. I put on some music and lose myself to the task at hand until I remember I haven’t moved for four hours! I can also be a bit obsessive here, but Grandma usually keeps me grounded. When I’m editing, life is regimented and structured.

When I’m not editing…all bets are off. If I’m drafting, or thinking up a new story idea, or even thinking about substantial developmental edits, I turn into a pure goblin. I will listen to a single song on repeat and choreograph fight scenes, often before I even have a solid plot. I’ll take lots of walks and bubble baths, just ruminating on themes and characters. During this time, I don’t sleep well. One night, I’ll stay up until four am, obsessing over some minor detail. The next night, I’ll sleep for hours, in fits and starts, feverishly writing down my scraps of dreams or dialogue I thought of in the half-light of dawn. If I’m drafting, I have a bad habit of writing until my fingers and wrists ache, sometimes up to 5,000 words in a day. But then the next few days I might not write a word and just stare at the wall.

I don’t recommend my process to anyone! It feels a bit like being possessed, if I’m honest. But as much as I bellyache about the lack of sleep, or the times when I’m stuck and listless for weeks, there’s truly no better feeling than nailing a scene or coming up with a pitch-perfect piece of dialogue. I feel this way when I’m enjoying a new game I love, or a new movie or TV series I’m obsessed with. But instead of becoming obsessed with someone else’s work, it’s mine! I’m my first fan, and I think that’s wonderful. I put all my love and passion into all my books, whether that’s romance, science fiction, horror, or fantasy. It gets all of me, and I like to think that shows in the writing.

A few more fun facts about my process:

  • I write on my phone! Not just quick notes on dialogue or character traits, but the actual first draft. It’s a habit born from my college days when I’d write on my phone on the bus to school, and that just stuck. My phone is always with me, so I think it’s convenient to jot down half a chapter while I’m waiting at a doctor’s office or hair appointment.
  • Brainstorming is a huge part of my process—I like to have almost everything planned out before I start, because once the train is rolling, it doesn’t stop until I’m done. If I have to stop and think about what comes next, the momentum is gone and my wild brain will wander off to another book.
  • Grandma helps me brainstorm, but she hates it! She doesn’t like horror at all, so she’s always complaining about my scary stories. She doesn’t like romance for teens either, so she’s constantly rolling her eyes. But she valiantly listens, and she’s given me great feedback and ideas over the years!
  • My favorite part of the process is the idea before it’s fully solidified, even if my sleep schedule suffers greatly. I specifically love choosing what dog will be in this book (there’s always a dog!) because I get to look at pictures of puppies and call it work!

That’s all from me! Like my many genres, I can’t stick to one thing; sometimes I’m consistent and diligent. Other times, I’m staring at the wall for three hours, trying to figure out how to get two characters to kiss. Or escape zombies! Just depends on the day with me! Though it’s a chaotic job, I love it. Writing is where I can truly be free, and for that I’m grateful.

Published April 29th, 2025 by HarperCollins

About the Book: Nav knows how to flirt, but she also knows love is a messy losing proposition. As proof, her best friend, Hallie, is constantly getting her heart broken. And when Hallie goes to her boring academic camp this summer, Nav won’t be there to protect her for the first time in their lives.

So when shy new girl Gia asks Nav for help getting Hallie’s attention, Nav finds a way to make it work for her. In exchange for lessons in romance, Gia, whose mom runs the camp, will help get Nav a spot there. And if her coaching works, maybe Hallie can date someone who will treat her right for a change.

Except…Gia’s not just bad at flirting, she’s terrible. She’s too anxious to even speak to Hallie, never mind date her. Training Gia quickly becomes a disaster. Worse, Gia’s every awkward joke and catastrophic fake date makes Nav like Gia a little bit more…and not in a friend way. Which puts a really, really big wrench in Nav’s plans. As Nav’s feelings change, she’ll have to decide what’s more important: sticking to her plan for the perfect summer or taking a chance on learning more about love than she ever expected.

About the Author: Jessica Lewis has a degree in English literature and animal science (the veterinarian plan did not work out). She began her publishing career in horror with Bad Witch Burning, a Bram Stoker nominee for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, and Monstrous. She also writes cute middle grade rom-coms under the pseudonym Jazz Taylor, which include Cool Cat, Meow or Never, and Starting from Scratch. Jessica is from Alabama, where she writes full-time and lives with her hilarious grandmother. You can learn more at authorjessicalewis.com.

Thank you, Jessica, for sharing your writing process!

Author Guest Post: “Embracing the Big Picture: Writing About Global Issues Through Fantasy” by Sarwat Chadda, Author of Storm Singer

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“Embracing the Big Picture: Writing About Global Issues Through Fantasy”

Let’s get this out of the way. There is no such thing as ‘fantasy’. Theres’s fiction and non-fiction, and even then I’m not totally sure about that, so much of our ‘non-fiction’, especially history, turns out to have an unhealthy dose of fiction in it even at the best of times.

            There is no fantasy, because all stories are about ‘us’.

            Us? What it is to be human, to live in the here and now, with all its joys and troubles. Fantasy is just a lens, a brilliant, multi-coloured prism that both distorts, and brings into sharp relief, what’s going on around us, giving the writer a chance to express themselves, dealing with the big issues, through a genre that can take it.

            Now having just told you that there’s no such thing as fantasy, I’m just now going to tell you I LOVE FANTASY.

            I love big, bold, noisy stories. I love wild passions spilling out of the page and right into your heart. That pen stabs the paper and it bleeds with life! That’s what I love! Bring in the terror of the dragons, bring I bold heroes, bring in terrible villains! They’re out there, on the tv screen, sprawling over the internet, yelling from the newsstands. Sure, call it fantasy because it’s FANTASTIC.

            It’s that prism that fascinates me. How can I use it to shine a light on what really matters?

            STORM SINGER is about a land where its not rained for centuries. Where the environment has collapsed. Where people scrape a living in the dusty soil while the rich and powerful greedily horde all the resources. Sound familiar?

            It’s about a tyrant who wants to control people, remove their freedoms and have the weak serve the strong, or else. Sound familiar?

            It’s about recognizing injustice, and doing something about it. Shouting out, protesting, doing what you can to change the world for the better.

            STORM SINGER is about how Nargis, a small peasant girl, learns she has power to stand up against tyranny, and learns she is not alone. That many, many others believe in her, and her passion. All it takes is one person to stand up, to inspire others to do the same.

            STORM SINGER is about heroes, and that is about as real life as you can possibly get.

            So, come join Nargis, Mistral, Arjuna, Tripti and the others. You don’t know them yet, but once you meet them you’ll recognize them for sure. They are you, and they are me. Like I said, all stories are about us. What we love, what we desire, what we fear.

            The storm’s coming, and Nargis is bringing it.

            Hold on tight.

Published April 15, 2025 by Simon & Schuster

About the Book: In a land ruled by fierce winged warriors known as garudas, twelve-year-old Nargis is just a poor, lowly human, scrapping a living in the dirt. But Nargis isn’t quite powerless, she is a spirit singer: able to coax small bits of wind, water, fire, and earth to do her bidding through song…well, sometimes.

When Nargis is exiled into the desert, she discovers Mistral, an injured garuda, the prince of her enemies! He’s on a mission to take back his throne from a terrible vulture garuda. In spite of their mutual distrust, the two have no choice but to forge an unlikely alliance.

And as Nargis and Mistral battle dangerous assassins, befriend crafty sky pirates, and sneak into the mysterious sky castle of Alamut, Nargis discovers she carries a family secret, one that could bring Monsoon’s rains back to the desert, but only if she’s willing to risk her life in the bargain…

About the Author: A life-long gamer, Sarwat decided to embrace his passion for over-the-top wild adventure stories by trading in a career in engineering for a highly unstable, brand new one as a writer. That resulted in his first novel, DEVIL’S KISS, back in 2009.

Since then he has been published in a dozen languages, writing comic books, TV shows and novels, preferring non-European settings and legends, such as the award-winning Indian mythology-inspired ASH MISTRY series, the epic high fantasy SHADOW MAGIC trilogy (as Joshua Khan) and CITY OF THE PLAGUE GOD for Rick Riordan Presents, featuring the imprint’s first Muslim hero. His most recent series is the epic eastern fantasy STORM SINGER.

While he’s travelled far and wide, including Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas, he’s most at home in London.

Feel free to drop him a line on @sarwatchadda or find him of Instagram as sarwat_chadda or visit sarwatchadda.com.

Thank you, Sarwat, for pushing us to think today!

Author Guest Post: “Inspiring Students to Write about their own Complex Identities” by Marcella Pixley, Author of Neshama

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“Inspiring Students to Write about their own Complex Identities”

In my eighth-grade classroom, I have stopped referring to the idea of “identity” in the singular and whenever possible, I have begun to speak of our “identities” in the plural to help students think about themselves as being made up of many different interconnected facets, like the tiny, sparkling edges of a diamond that gleam when you turn them to the light. In our novels in verse project, I use Neshama, my forthcoming novel in verse, as a mentor text to help students explore their own complex identities and create their own powerful poetry about what it means to be human.

I begin by giving students a list of identity markers and asking them to reflect upon which aspects of these identities are most important to them and to the people they love. We take notes in the margins and write in our journals and talk in pairs, and share around the circle and finally, when we are ready, we create a fictional character based on the identity markers that feel the most important to explore. The character they create for their own novels in verse becomes a safe way to explore some aspect of themselves that feels important.

Ability
Accent
Appearance
Beliefs
Body Image
Confidence
Creativity
Culture
Family
Friendship
Food Security
Gender
Health
Hopes
Immigration
Insecurities
Interests
Language
Memories
Mental Health
Nationality
Neighborhood
Neurodiversity
Parents
Passion
Personality
Phobias
Politics
Popularity
Race
Religion
Sexuality
Social Class
Social Style
Strength
Struggles
Trauma
Vocabulary

The next step is for students to interview their characters, allowing the writer to talk to themselves before writing. In this exercise, they learn more about who their characters are and what they need most. I use a series of questions based on Uta Hagen’s method-acting technique. These questions are designed to help actors create three-dimensional human beings on the stage, and they are perfect for writers because they allow us to begin our stories with a deep, complex, and realistic character that already reflects some aspect of the writer’s own identity. At the end of their interview, the writer is ready to bring their character to the page.

What aspects of your character’s identity are most important?
Which aspects do they struggle with?
In what ways do your different identities intersect?
What do they need to learn about themselves in order to be happy and whole?
What does your character want and what will they do to achieve their dreams?
What is getting in your character’s way?
What stops them from getting what they want?
What are your character’s weaknesses or flaws?
In what ways are they fearful or inhibited?
How do these aspects of your character’s personality get in their way?
What are your character’s strengths?
In what ways are they brave and resilient?
How will these aspects of your character’s psychology develop through the story

After the interview, the student is ready to create the first poem in their own project. In this first scene, their character will struggle with some aspect of their identity that sets them apart. I show them a poem from Neshama as an exemplar that demonstrates a scene where Anna’s identity is called into question. I tell the students that this scene does not have to take place in the very beginning of their novel. It just has to be a moment when the character is struggling with their identity and this struggle provides a catalyst for the story to deepen. Now we have a character who has a problem and the story must bring the character deeper into the conflict before they are able to heal.

Once you have created your character, and you have chosen an aspect of human identity for them to grappling with, it is time to begin writing. Please write a short scene where your character realizes that they are different from other kids in some way. Pick any one prompt from the menu below or combine prompts as an inspiration for this first scene.

  • Your character is being teased because of some aspect of their identity that makes them special.
  • Your character looks in the mirror and all they can see is what sets them apart.
  • Your character tries to hide some aspect of who they are in order to fit in.
  • Your character recalls a moment in preschool or kindergarten when they first realized they were not like the other kids.
  • Your character gets in trouble at home or at school because of who they are.
  • Your character looks out the window and describes the landscape, but everything they see is clouded by how they feel and what they have been going through.
  • Your character writes in a journal or composes letter to a grandparent or an imaginary friend telling them what they have been going through.
  • Your character looks at a photograph and recalls a time in their life where they felt different.
  • Your character looks at an object that is somehow a symbol for who they are.

 Example from Neshama: 

Parade
I spend the morning
sitting on a bench
in front
of Principal Moroni’s
office.
The kids march by,
snickering.
One boy calls me creepy
Another pretends
to be a ghost
He moans
and wiggles his fingers.

The popular girls
walk arm in arm
on their way
to the bathroom
They flip their hair
and laugh.
When Eden sees me
she stops to stare,
takes a deep breath
through her tiny nose
and makes a face
like she smells
something rotten.

Come along girls,
she says,
there’s nothing here
but trash.

We repeat this process several more times, so that students can have the experience of rising action. The character must move deeper and deeper into their struggle in order to face the world that does not respect them. I read them more poems from Neshama and ask them to push their own character to the breaking point, creating poems where the character’s identities are questioned, attacked, violated, disrespected or invalidated by the other characters in their story. In each of these poems, I use Neshama as a mentor text so that we have a common anchor for discussion. We talk about the pain that comes from writing these poems and discuss how the purpose of this painful process is to lead their character (and ultimately ourselves) to a more enlightened place where we can celebrate the very parts of ourselves that seem most different from others.

Parent Conference
As I mentioned earlier,
I am concerned about Anna,
says Ms. Garland,
sliding my journal
across the desk.
She doesn’t seem
to have any friends,
she pinched a classmate
and said a ghost did it.
She is frightening people,
Pretending to play
with children who died.
It is very disturbing.
We would like Anna to learn
to talk about topics
that don’t scare other kids.

Mom takes the journal
and hands it to me
Anna has always had
a vivid imagination,
she says in a voice
that sounds like an apology.
Her grandmother
is very special to her.
she gave Anna
this journal as a gift.
Dad scoffs,
swipes the beautiful journal
from my arms
the leather binding
tooled with vines and flowers
a garden of invisible ghosts
blossoming inside.

In the final poem, I ask my students to finally bring their character to a place where they can heal from their trauma. The purpose of this last poem is to demonstrate to ourselves and our readers that there is the possibility of redemption and it is possible to live in a world where all the parts of who we are can be celebrated, respected, and protected. This final poem is a triumphant expression of the very aspects of identity we called into question in the beginning of this project. In the end of the story, the character has learned that the parts of themselves that feel the most different are also the most beautiful. These aspects of create the most important stories. These are the stories that will help writers feel empowered to express themselves and for readers to know, maybe for the first time, that they are not alone. In this way, the writing process can be an act of defiance and celebration. As writers, we can create stories of redemption and beauty that heal this broken world that so badly needs more examples of bravery and humanity.

Morning Song
The sky opens its curtains
little by little.
We hold Bubbie’s arms,
me on one side,
Daddy on the other
Mom and Evie trailing behind
and we walk with her
easy now, slow and steady,
up the hill to the house,
where Mom, sighing
puts a kettle on the stove,
and drapes a faded quilt
around Bubbie’s shoulders.

Evie climbs into Bubbie’s lap
and closes her eyes.
Outside the window, the sky
unfurls from ink to silver,
each pine tree more defined
as the morning spreads
its pink brush
across the shivering page.

Published May 13, 2025 by Candlewick

About the Book: Neshama is a haunting story about eleven-year-old Anna Fleischman who has the ability to communicate with the spirits of her ancestors. The problem is, no one believes her. Kids at school tease her and the adults are worried about her strange behavior. Everyone, that is, except Bubbe, who has always treasured Anna’s shayna neshama, her beautiful soul. But when Anna visits Bubbe in her house by the sea, and a restless ghost steps out of the shadows to ask for help, Anna will have to learn how to take matters into her own hands before it is too late. This is a story about family secrets, forgiveness, and the courage it takes to embrace your own complex identity. 

About the Author: Marcella Pixley is the award winning author of  four acclaimed young adult novels: Freak, Without Tess, Ready To Fall, and Trowbridge Road, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection. Trowbridge Road was also long listed for the National Book Award and was a finalist in the Massachusetts Book Award and the Golden Dome Award. It was named a best book of 2020 by Shelf Awareness, Reading Group Choices and Mighty Girls. Neshama, Marcella’s upcoming ghost story in verse comes out from Candlewick Press on May 13th. It was recently named a Junior Library Guild Selection for 2025.

Thank you, Marcella, for sharing this writing exercise!