Past on Paper - Interview With Lydia Syson, Author of 'A World Between Us'

Well, hello there.

It's been a while.

I won't go into a long and boring explanation as to why I haven't posted anything in an age, mainly because it's a bit long and boring. But the main reason there's been nothing here for the last month involved a four year old, a cup of milk and the keyboard of my old laptop (RIP old laptop). But I'm back! With a replacement laptop! And because I've been gone so long, I've got an extra special treat for you...

You may remember me introducing my new (well, it was new then) feature, Past on Paper. I'm going to be posting about YA books set in the twentieth century, for no particular reason other than I've recently loved quite a lot of this sort of historical fiction. You may also remember a review I did for A World Between Us, and that I liked it a lot. More than a lot. Not only was it a great story superbly written, but it centred around a period of history that I'm particularly interested in - the Spanish Civil War - as well as being the first overtly 'political' YA novel that I'd encountered, very much appealing to the politics nerd in me. So I thought I'd ask the author, Lydia Syson, for her thoughts on YA historical fiction, politics in YA novels and other things of great interest...

-          How would you define ‘historical’ fiction? Can it be anything up to contemporary or do you think a certain amount of time has to have passed?

I think it’s less a question of the passing of time than the passing of a particular world – which was why I felt able to include Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love in my Guardian Book Club historical top ten.  I’ve read other definitions that say 50 years must have passed (isn’t that also what turns old furniture into an antique?) or the writer can’t have been alive at the time of the setting.  I’m not terribly bothered by strict definitions.  In fact one of the reasons I particularly like writing YA fiction is its lack of concern for genre boundaries and strict definitions.  And I’m horribly aware from my own childhood experience that labels can be as a terrible turn-off.  Actually lots of my favourites were time slip books, or slightly alternative history.  Not that I would have known how to label them then.

The historical novels that I find most interesting are those actually propelled by specific events or a particular zeitgeist.  And place is as important to me as time. I get frustrated and annoyed by fiction that is merely vaguely historical and uses the past as decoration. 

-          What came first – a desire to write a YA book or a desire to write a book about the Spanish Civil War? What inspired you to marry the two together?

The first thing was having children, and sharing books with them.  Years ago my daughter suggested that I write a novel for children while I was waiting to hear from publishers about an historical biography I was hoping to write for adults.  I finally started it in the gap between delivery and publication of Doctor of Love.  This first novel was set in the eighteenth century, and I’m definitely planning to return to it one day.  The idea for writing ‘A World Between Us’ came from a later conversation with my daughter.  It seemed a perfect subject for a YA readership – world-changing events, commitment, passion, tragedy, romance, and betrayal, full of contemporary resonance.

-          Your story is centred around an event that isn’t widely known about – was this a conscious decision?

Very much so, though it was a somewhat risky one.  I was shocked to discover from my teenage daughter that most of her friends knew nothing at all about the Spanish Civil War.  I was also rather amazed to find nobody had already written the kind of book I had in mind – a novel full of the passions of the period that would arouse the interest of younger people, but offer a new perspective on the war too, something informed by the work of post-Cold War, post-Franco historians that used newly available archive resources and also addressed the question of women’s involvement in the war, and yet was completely accessible. Actually, put like that, I suppose it’s easier to understand why it hadn’t been done.  Another problem is that most children’s publishers seemed very bound to the curriculum when it comes to historical fiction, or wanted some sort of ‘history plus…’(fantasy/ghost etc) and of course I’d started writing at the height of the YA vampires and dystopia obsession. But once I’d become aware of the gap, I did feel a responsibility to fill it.  It was definitely a challenge.

-          As I teenager, I was aware that being interested in politics was a bit rare for someone of my age – what sort of feedback have you had from teenagers who have read A World Between Us in this respect?

I was a bit worried at first that young people today would find it hard to identify with that level of idealism and political commitment.  But I kept reminding myself of the fact that you’re never more open to new ideas and influences than when you are in your teens and early twenties.  Too many older people dismiss contemporary teenagers as self-obsessed social media addicts with no interest in the wider world.  I don’t think that’s true or fair.  School groups I’ve spoken to are very quick to see the parallels between the British Union of Fascists and far right groups in Britain today like the English Defence League and the British National Party.

This week I asked a large audience from a wide range of schools how they felt about the balance between romance and politics in A World Between Us. They were overwhelmingly more interested in the political aspects of the book, and said they’d like to see more politics in children’s fiction.  I was always determined not to shy away from the word communism, and was very pleased when one reader told me how much it had meant to her to find a communist character in a novel for the first time. I wanted to convey exactly why communism was so attractive to so many people all over the world in the 1930s, and why joining the Party seemed to them the only way to oppose fascism at the time.  But I think there are enough hints in the book to suggest the direction communism was taking.  

My impression is that the economic crisis and the ensuing debates about global capitalism are now reviving many teenagers’ interest in politics.  But it’s something that’s always going to fluctuate. I became a teenager in 1979, just after Thatcher was elected, and I think we were a very political generation. And of course it wasn’t rare at all for a teenager to be interested in the 1930s, when politics was on the street and in your face and much harder to avoid than it is today.

-          When writing a story around a significant historical event, how important is the balance between educating and entertaining a reader? Do you think the story has to be even more powerful in order to match the drama of the historical backdrop?

That’s a very good point.  Of course I want readers to come away having learned something – but I don’t want them ever to feel ‘educated’ or worse still, lectured.  And I certainly don’t want to tell them what to think about events.  It’s really important that the historical background is so much a part of the fabric of the novel that readers absorb information in passing, almost unconsciously.  Recognition of that fact might come later.  I suppose it’s a less a case of competing claims than making sure that the drama of the story comes naturally from the drama of the history – so that the past is never merely a backdrop.  I try to convey the atmosphere and dilemmas of a particular situation, and above all what it was like for the individuals caught up in it. 

My own starting point was that this had to be a book that anyone could read, however much or however little they already knew.  Of course I can’t help hoping that reading ‘A World Between Us’ might ignite an interest, even a passion for the subject, and make readers want to explore further – and there are lots of suggestions for that in the enhanced iBook edition and on my website – but it might be the only book on the Spanish Civil War that some people ever read. I think by the end of the book most people will have a pretty good sense of the sweep of events, what the war was all about and how it fits into twentieth century history.  It’s definitely education by stealth though – I don’t think it’s the job of historical fiction to lecture or hector.

-          How important a role do you think political themes play in YA fiction in general?

More than most publishers like to let on, perhaps.  I do think that it’s unusual for YA books on political subjects to address party politics in quite the way ‘A World Between Us’ does, but that’s partly to do with what makes a good story.  If you take a slightly broader perspective of what is ‘political’, there are ever increasing numbers of YA novels that come under that category – even The Hunger Games, arguably, if you think in terms of totalitarianism and individual freedom.  Amnesty International has a very interesting project about using fiction to teach human rights: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=11988.

I’ve recently been hugely impressed by Nick Lake’s remarkable novel In Darkness, set in Haiti.  It weaves together the story of Toussaint l’Ouverture, who led the slave revolt that briefly freed his country in the late 18^th century, with that of Shorty, a boy in Port au Prince trapped under the rubble after the 2010 earthquake. I’m also looking forward to reading William Sutcliffe’s The Wall this summer.  Politics can be more or less overt in YA fiction, but you’ll definitely find them there when you start looking.  Think, for example, of Anna Perera’s Guantanamo Boy (more topical than ever), Mal Peet’s Life: an Exploded Diagram (the Cuban Missile crisis as a background to a rural coming-of-age story) or Jenny Downham’s You Against Me, which addresses sexual (and indeed class) politics quite brilliantly. Miriam Halahmy and Sarah Crossan offer different insights into immigration, racism, and asylum. Frank Cottrell Boyce’s book The Unforgotten Coat may have been aimed at younger readers, I think it’s as must-read for everyone!  Then of course there are environmental politics – Carl Hiaasen is very good on that, as is Gill Lewis, for slightly younger readers.  

What all these books have in common is that they open readers’ eyes and help them to think about the world in a different way. This seems to me the real value of YA literature, which doesn’t suffer from genre policing in quite the same way as adult fiction. It’s exciting and rewarding as a writer because – as long as you can persuade a publisher - you really can do what you like with it.

-          Would you ever consider writing about any other time periods, or even contemporary, in the future?

Definitely.  One of the things I loved about being a radio producer was flitting about – making a programme about Bohemia one month, the history of America on screen the next. I’d hate to get stuck in just one period.  I suppose I am more wary of contemporary settings, as they can date so much more quickly.  But I’m not ruling anything out.

That Burning Summer comes out in October.  This is set in England in the summer of 1940, right underneath the Battle of Britain, on a part of the coast so close to France that you could hear the guns across the channel.  In a sense it’s about events following on from those of A World Between Us – but everything has shifted again. The main characters are a Polish fighter pilot, who has already witnessed the invasions of his own country and France, a teenage girl who shelters him, and her younger brother who is obsessed with a set of rules that the government has issued: ‘If the Invader Comes’.  This book is moody and atmospheric, and much more confined in than A World Between Us in terms of characters, time and place, but it’s full of echoes and foreshadowing, evoking past, future and the wider world.  Not party politics, but not unpolitical. 

I’m not quite ready to talk about the book I hope to write next, but I have a feeling that A World Between Us fans will be very excited by it. And I’m certainly excited by the prospect of researching and writing it, and raring to go.

-          Are there any tips you would give to anyone thinking about writing historical YA fiction?

Total immersion. Live and breathe your period.  Dream it.  Bore your friends and family about it.  Use all your senses and everything at your disposal – especially sound archives and films, if it’s recent enough.  But if it isn’t, novels and plays written at the time you’re writing about will give you a great sense of voice and vocabulary.  Though having said that, it’s really important to get the balance right.  You want it to read convincingly to the modern ear without falling into pastiche.

Well, I'd like to say an enormous thanks to Lydia for yet more brilliant words. I, for one am ridiculously excited about That Burning Summer and the as-yet-undisclosed book that I can't wait to hear more about.

So what are your thoughts on politics in YA fiction? Does it play more of an important role than you first realised? Is young adult fiction a good place for political themes? (very much so I reckon)

Let me pick your brains people...

Introducing Past on Paper...

First off, apologies. I'm sorry I haven't been around much of late. Real life getting in the way again, as it has an annoying tendency to do so on occasions. And that has a knock on effect on my reading, unfortunately. But I'd like to mark my return after a bit of a temporary reviewing hiatus by introducing you to this new sort-of feature. I was planning on cramming this all into one month, but I'm terrible a sticking to time-limits and all that so I've decided to have it as an ongoing thing that I will just add to as and when I please. Pretty much like the rest of this blog then...

So, let me explain.... at the moment I'm attempting to write a contemporary YA of sorts and that should be finished in maybe a decade or so if my current work ethic is anything to go by. But my thoughts have already turned to what I might attempt next. Up until last year, whenever I thought about 'historical' fiction, my mind conjured up all the old, old stuff, the sort of thing that involved lots of corsets. Which has never really appealed, to be honest. But a few books I read late last year/ early this year got me interested in the whole idea of twentieth century-set historical YA and I'm in the very early stages of planning a book set in the late 1960s. I might tell you all about it one day....

So here's what I'm going to do with this feature - every now and again I'll focus on a different decade of the twentieth century and see what I can dig up in terms of YA set in that era. And also with (hopefully) the odd author and blogger interview thrown in too. AND for extra treats, a potential To Be Written post with Jo. Huzzah! *bites nails*

So let me know what you think and if you want to get involved...and any recommendations for what you think I should be reading too, of course...

YA REVIEW: 'The Reece Malcolm List' - Amy Spalding (Entangled Teen, 2013)

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much. L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love. But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything? (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Recently, when I was supposed to be working, I was in fact half-listening to a radio interview I had on in the background. A film director was talking about his latest project (I can't remember who it was or the film - I did say I was half-listening), but a point he made really caught my attention - he said that in real life our relationships with our friends are never black and white and that people we like often do annoying or bad things but it doesn't stop us being friends with them because everyone is slightly muddled, but that you can't really convey this on film, because things tend to need to have a stronger message. Or something like that. I don't think I necessarily agree with his point, but this kind of describes the thing I loved most about The Reece Malcolm  List - that fact that people aren't perfect and their characters can sometimes be a bit murky and annoying but that's what friendship, and relationships are all about. It's not the main plot of the book, but it's the one that sticks in my mind the most.

I do apologise. That was a very long-winded way of starting a review.

Anyway, this was one of those books that I kept reading until about two in the morning. Which I wasn't expecting in the slightest when I first started it. On the face of it, this has very similar elements to a lot of contemporary YA - death of a parent, trying to fit in with new surroundings, fancying the pants off seemingly unattainable bloke, you know the drill. I was expecting mild diversion rather than a full-on kindle-clutching fest.

But the writing really elevated this - Devan's voice is spot on. I'm always a bit sceptical when I know the main character is a shy and awkward type because so often this veers into annoying and self-pitying territory and I end up shouting 'GROW A PAIR!' at the book. Even though I use to be a shy and awkward teen myself. But I loved Devan - just the right balance of wariness and hidden determination. I was a bit worried about how a self-styled 'fashionista' and belter of show tunes could also be a bit of a mouse, but I guess it's testament to the quality of the writing that I ended up being utterly convinced by her. And the eponymous Reece Malcolm - another triumph of a very guarded woman trying to do her best in an unusual situation.

There were a few irritations, one being the love interest. He was alright, I suppose. And I'm always a fan of the expectation of the kissing, and there was a lot of that here. But he was just a bit too needy and whiny for my liking. And this brings me onto another conundrum - I'm never sure quite how much I like an author to describe a character's appearance, because I ended up getting a bit confused with this one - he's described by someone as like Disney's Aladdin - all good, but in my imagination, I had to tone down the hair somewhat. But then someone else says he has big hair. And now I'm all confused again. And then he's unexpectedly toned, but I had him pegged as lean because a T-shirt 'hangs on him like the shirt had fulfilled its sole mission in life.' In the end, I couldn't get the image of a tall but overly-muscle bound bouffanted boy out of my head. CONFUSION. Some things are best left to imagination.

But like I said before, for me, this was all about the realistic depiction of friendship and how much it means to teenagers. Muddled relationships are the way forward! 

YA REVIEW: 'In Darkness' - Nick Lake (Bloomsbury, 2012)

In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital: thirsty, terrified and alone. 'Shorty' is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soleil: men who dole out money with one hand and death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost five years ago. And he is marked. Marked in a way that links him with Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian rebel who two-hundred years ago led the slave revolt and faced down Napoleon to force the French out of Haiti. As he grows weaker, Shorty relives the journey that took him to the hospital, a bullet wound in his arm. In his visions and memories he hopes to find the strength to survive, and perhaps then Toussaint can find a way to be free ... (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Sometimes it's the books that are the most difficult to catagorise or pigeon-hole that are the ones worth seeking out. I wouldn't describe this as either contemporary YA or historical YA, yet it contains elements of both and manages to fuse them to make something quite unique. It annoys me when people sometimes describe UKYA as 'gritty', maybe because what is perhaps intended to come across as edginess only ends up sounding forced and might as well have  LET'S TALK ABOUT ALL THE ISSUES plastered across the cover. But not only could this be described as 'gritty' (I wouldn't use that word personally), but reading it almost felt like I was picking bits of the grit from open wounds. This is a good thing, by the way. 

I'm struggling to think of a YA book I've read that's come close to this in terms of unflinching power. Emotion, yes, but it's the combination of subject matter and the unapologetic way it conveys it that's pretty damn amazing. Put it this way, anyone who thinks of young adult fiction as 'fluffy' needs to read this - it's about as fluffy as heavy-duty sandpaper.  And the prose is just so skilled - switching between the two completely different voices of Shorty and Toussaint and remaining utterly convincing with both, for example. Sometimes, when I'm reading a book, I think along the lines 'oh, that's fantastic writing, I can see what they did there' which is great, but the whole point of fantastic writing is, in my opinion, for it to completely submerge me in a book so I shouldn't even notice these things. And, for the most part, this book did just that...eventually...

Which brings me to the downside of picking up such a powerful read, and I think this probably is more a criticism of my reading habits than the book itself. I've talked about this in previous posts - my concentration when it comes to reading isn't quite what it was and it's very rare that I actually get the opportunity to sit down and lose myself in a story. I think this book requires that of the reader to fully appreciate it. I kept having to dip in and out and as a consequence, the impact was a bit lost. It was only when I was getting to the last third that it really took its hold.

Like I said before, I think he really nailed the two voices of Shorty and Toussaint perfectly, but for me, sometimes the switching back and forth slowed down the action, especially in Shorty's tale. As much as I loved the story behind Haiti's independence, it was Shorty's struggle in the aftermath of the earthquake and the recounting of the loss of his innocence that had the real emotional pull for me.

So if you're thinking about reading this one, set aside a few hours without interruption and let these words consume from the inside out. That's much more appealing than it sounds.

Oh, and tissues. Don't forget tissues. You will need them. Plenty of tears and snot. Nice.

I Need to Get Out More #3: Scottishness

*WARNING: CONTAINS HOLIDAY SNAPS*

So I was mulling over what I could write about for this feature, seeing as I haven't been to any writing or reading-related events recently. And then it dawned on me that I have been somewhere. Somewhere that involved going a bit further than a few stops on the tube (this a rare occasion these days).

Pebble tossing: it never gets old

Yes, you may have already guessed that this post is about a land north of the border. But it's not going to be just me waffling on about what we got up to on our jollies (eating fish and chips for the most part, in case you actually are interested). No, I'm going to attempt to link this into my writing a bit and and also a few things I've been thinking about recently. I don't think I've talked much about my WIP before, only because I live in fear of sounding like a right twonk if I start, but here goes....

Nice chest

My story is set in west London. I live in west London and I love living in west London, but it does have it's downsides, the main one being the cost. And most of my family live in Scotland, relatively near to a very beautiful part of Scotland. So you can imagine that thoughts have turned to the possibility of moving there. However, whenever I travel to places that I love, or that I imagine I will love, it always gets me thinking about where I consider to be home and why I consider it to be home.

In my WIP, I'm trying to explore this - trying to explore a teenager's ties with her home and why these bonds can't always be put into words and no matter how much we desire to go see the world, certain things that we can't always put our fingers on will always draw us back or maybe even prevent us from leaving in the first place.

WHEN THE SKY FAAAALLLLLLLSSSS.....

I've lived in this part of London on and off for the last ten years and we've tried moving away. As far away as possible, in fact, but we're are always drawn back. Personally, I don't consider the town where I grew up as home at all. I barely even give it a second thought and I certainly don't miss it (it's not in Scotland by the way). But I can understand the idea of a place getting under someone's skin and leaving it's mark. Hopefully I'll be able to convey this in my writing, and my recent visit to Scotland emphasised this even more - no matter how beautiful and breath-taking a place is, no matter how strong your ties are with the people who live there, home is home is home.

So London is where we shall remain....

YA REVIEW - 'Queen of the Night' - Leanne Hall (Text Publishing, 2012)

The dark is dangerous. So is the past. So are your dreams. For six months Nia—Wildgirl—has tried to forget Wolfboy, the mysterious boy she spent one night with in Shyness—the boy who said he'd call but didn't. Then Wolfboy calls. The things he tells her pull her back to the suburb of Shyness, where the sun doesn't rise and dreams and reality are difficult to separate. There, Doctor Gregory has seemingly disappeared, the Darkness is changing and Wolfboy's friend is in trouble. And Nia decides to become Wildgirl once more. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

When I was devouring This is Shyness a few weeks back (ok, maybe months), this song was being played on the radio quite a lot. I don't think there has ever been a better book/song coupling. Unfortunately, when I was reading Queen of the Night, I was either on a train or staying at my mum's and her taste in radio station differs slightly from mine. Ranty DJs with suspect opinions wasn't quite the soundtrack I had in mind when I started this one. But it mattered not a jot. Well, maybe a tiny little jot. I never say no to a bit of atmospheric music to accompany my getting lost in a rather brilliant book.

So, Queen of the Night. Like the first book, it's still a bit of an enigma and one that's difficult to catagorize (which we all know are the very best sort of books), but because of of my familiarity with the world, this felt just that little bit more like a conventional love story, but still very much with a Shyness slant to proceedings. So still completely unconventional in most respects.

There was a different feel to the first book - the time frame, other characters being given a bit more to do and the juggling of a few more plot strands, although the driving force of the story is given a great resolution and the build up to that resolution is excellent. Yes, I'm talking about Wildgirl and Wolfboy. I shall say no more...

But some of the other changes were less satisfactory - I would have loved to find out more Amelia, for example, see as she was so pivotal to the story. When I finish any fantastic book such as this I'm always left wanting more, but this time it was because I was certain we hadn't seen the end of these characters - this one felt a bit unfinished and I still had a whole heap of questions. However, *bit spoilery* when I took a sneaky peek on Leanne Hall's website, (which is gorgeous, by the way) I discovered that she has no immediate plans to write another Wolfboy and Wildgirl tale. NOOOOOOOOO! One particular story felt so quickly, and slightly unconvincingly, tied up that I was certain that it was just a rouse. But no, it was just very quickly tied up.

The thing I love most about both the Shyness books - if you're in a bit of a creative rut, like I've been for a few weeks, then reading these will get your brain buzzing in the best possible way. They're so brilliant and unusual  - dipping into them is like drinking a tonic of words and colours and delicious darkness.

Now I'm just going to sit here with my arms crossed waiting for that elusive third book...

YA REVIEW - 'Adorkable', Sarra Manning (Atom, 2012)

Jeane Smith's a blogger, a dreamer, a jumble sale queen, CEO of her own lifestyle brand, and has half a million followers on Twitter. Michael Lee's a star of school, stage, and playing field. A golden boy in a Jack Wills hoodie. They have nothing in common but a pair of cheating exes. So why can't they stop making out? (Synopsis from Goodreads)

When I read a book on my Kindle, I tend to highlight bits that I love as well a bits that I don't love quite so much, like a lot of other readers do, I should imagine. Of course, most of the time I don't refer to them ever again because I one of those new-old Kindles - the ones with no keypad, but no touchscreen either, so the idea of trying to make notes about said highlights is not an inviting one, not unless I want to get cramp in my thumb from repeatedly hitting the arrow button. And without notes, I have to remember exactly why I highlighted them in the place. It's a long and not particularly interesting brain undertaking and one that I won't bore you with for much longer. 

In short, I highlight stuff if I have strong feeling about the stuff.

But this didn't happen with Adorkable. But not because I didn't have strong feelings about it and its stuff. Because it just wouldn't let me stop to highlight the stuff. It had me within its grasp for an entire Sunday. And this NEVER happens to me any more. I normally read in fifteen minute bursts in the morning or evening and have come to accept that this is my reading lot from now on. It might have helped a bit that this particular Sunday was Mother's Day, so I'd decided I wasn't going to do anything at all apart from pick up my phone to order takeaway. On that day, my Kindle remained firmly wedged between my palms, no highlighting, no stopping to think about how much I loved/loathed a certain quote, just pure, relentless, reading pleasure.

I think this book should be used as an example of how to write a great love interest. I've enjoyed Sarra Manning's books in the past but never before have I completely fallen for one of her leading men quite like this mahoosive boy crush. He's not the sort of guy I would have touched with a barge pole when I was a young pup but I suppose that's the point - not a complete arsehole but not 'perfect' by any means either. Which, of course means he is PERFECT. Michael Lee, I adore you. The best thing about reading YA as an adult is when you come across something or someone that makes you desperate to relive it all again SO BADLY. And it wasn't even all that great the first time around.

And Jeane - I should have hated her. I should have thought she was a precocious and arrogant. I mean, I'm not supposed to get on board with a person considerably younger than me who earns a heck of a lot more money. But everything about her just worked. When you've got a character that manages to balance her extremes with a convincing vulnerability then you've won me over. I loved that her looks weren't 'perfect' but that she really didn't give two hoots about it. And I loved the sexy times - two confident teenagers with a bit of experience who didn't think they knew it all and still considered sex to be a big deal. Which is completely is.

I was a bit worried at one point that Jeane's rather unique situation was going to be glamorized - what seventeen year old wouldn't want to live home alone, have a massive internet following and be invited to conferences in New York? But we are also reminded that Jeane was still a teenager and that this lifestyle is bound to have consequences...And I did worry about the state of her teeth somewhat. All that Haribo consumption has to have consequences too.

A big thank you to Jo and Maggie for their utterly persuasive reviews of this book. 

Now just  trying to control the urge to type MICHAEL LEE MICHAEL LEE MICHAEL LEE MICHAEL LEE repeatedly.

And failing miserably.