Khristina Chess's Blog, page 3
February 21, 2021
IMPORTANT YA BOOKS FEATURING CHARACTERS DEALING WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE
With COVID, existing problems with alcohol and prescription drug abuse have only multiplied. Yet despite the tragic toll of the opioid crisis on young people, few YA novels exist that actually feature characters dealing with substance abuse and recovery.
Why?
Reading books about heroine and pain pill abuse can help save lives by illuminating what the symptoms and behaviors of narcotics abuse looks like. Through the dramatic power of story, someone may recognize that something is wrong in their own life or in the lives of one of their friends or loved ones.
Reading stories through the character’s viewpoint may also grant an additional level of compassion for someone wrestling with addiction. In the best scenario, holding up a fictional mirror leads someone to seek help.
Reading these stories gives important insight into understanding how addiction can take hold of friends, siblings, children, or other loved ones and forever change life for everyone. We need these stories.
Here are 4 important YA books featuring characters dealing with substance abuse that are worth reading.
1. Swallow the Rainbow
“Listen,” I say. “Do you hear?”
“The wind?”
“The trees are applauding.”
”No doubt these are THE BEST LINES I’VE EVER READ.” - Amazon Reviewer
The worst part about the tornado isn’t the car on Savannah Young’s roof. It’s not her missing mom or her missing cat. It’s not the news that the power might not be restored for ten days or the fact that she’s stranded with the neighbors.
She’s out of pain pills. And she doesn’t have any way to reach Toby to get more.
And when withdrawal sets in, she’s going to get very, very sick.
As residents in Savannah’s subdivision come together in the aftermath of this historic severe weather event, Savannah wrestles with her opioid addiction, her grief for surviving the car crash that killed her brother, and her guilt for being The One Who Survived—twice.
Falling in love with the boy next door has never happened under quite such stormy conditions.
"With accessible prose and authentic voice, Khristina Chess weaves together twin catastrophes with empathy and realism." —Kim Cross, author of What Stands in a Storm
2. Heroine
“When I wake up, all my friends are dead. I don’t know when they stopped breathing, or how long I slept while they dropped off one by one.” – Mindy McGinnis
Those are the opening words of Heroine, the compelling novel about the slow slide of Mickey from Catalan from her position as a star student athlete to heroin addict. It begins with a terrible car accident and pain. Determine to make it back on the field, she uses the prescription painkillers to accelerate her recovery.
But then she’s out of pills and needs more.
What’s so compelling about Heroine is Mickey’s slow slide into addiction and her denial about her situation. She justifies every step of the way. The means justifies the ends, every time.
I did not watch my friends die.
I did not leave their bodies cooling in a basement.
I am not an addict.
3. The First True Thing
“People sometimes go with their instincts. They have sympathy. They care about people. I think Martin learned something when he messed up. Like now he really knows he wants to be here. Like he actually knows why he’s here and what this Group is really for.” - Claire Needell
The First True Thing is both a mystery and a book about a teen working through the hard parts of recovery.
The mystery is that Marcelle’s friend Hannah is missing, and Marcelle was the last person to hear from her. What happened? What should she do? And if she tells the truth, the whole truth, what does that mean for her friends?
Working through this dilemma is part of her recovery because lying, hiding, hanging out with people who aren't good for her are all behaviors associated with her drinking.
Books about people in recovery can be hard to read. Addiction makes people choose the wrong thing, and Marcelle does that before she chooses the right thing. Therapy and group can seem dull or even frustrating. However, the ending of her story was satisfying to me because she grew and made the positive steps she needed to make. I felt she was on a good track by the end.
4. Opioid, Indiana
After reading Heroin by Mindy McGinnis, I wanted to find more YA novels about drug use, but this book isn't about that. Despite the title, this book really isn't about drug use at all.
Seventeen-year-old Riggle is living with his uncle and uncle's girlfriend in Indiana because both of his parents are dead. Riggle is definitely dealing with lingering grief and trauma resulting from the ways each of his parents died, and now his uncle--his only remaining relative--is also missing.
Riggle has a great voice and viewpoint. His story is short and tragic, but it ended leaving me with the feeling that something was missing. I wish the book had a different title, or I'd come to it with different expectations.
In addition to these recommendations, you can also find YA Drug & Substance Abuse Novels on Goodreads, but those lists are broad and do not necessarily focus only on viewpoint characters wrestling with addiction.
Do you have any good suggestions to add to my list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter @KhristinaChess.
Why?
Reading books about heroine and pain pill abuse can help save lives by illuminating what the symptoms and behaviors of narcotics abuse looks like. Through the dramatic power of story, someone may recognize that something is wrong in their own life or in the lives of one of their friends or loved ones.
Reading stories through the character’s viewpoint may also grant an additional level of compassion for someone wrestling with addiction. In the best scenario, holding up a fictional mirror leads someone to seek help.
Reading these stories gives important insight into understanding how addiction can take hold of friends, siblings, children, or other loved ones and forever change life for everyone. We need these stories.
Here are 4 important YA books featuring characters dealing with substance abuse that are worth reading.
1. Swallow the Rainbow
“Listen,” I say. “Do you hear?”
“The wind?”
“The trees are applauding.”
”No doubt these are THE BEST LINES I’VE EVER READ.” - Amazon Reviewer
The worst part about the tornado isn’t the car on Savannah Young’s roof. It’s not her missing mom or her missing cat. It’s not the news that the power might not be restored for ten days or the fact that she’s stranded with the neighbors.
She’s out of pain pills. And she doesn’t have any way to reach Toby to get more.
And when withdrawal sets in, she’s going to get very, very sick.
As residents in Savannah’s subdivision come together in the aftermath of this historic severe weather event, Savannah wrestles with her opioid addiction, her grief for surviving the car crash that killed her brother, and her guilt for being The One Who Survived—twice.
Falling in love with the boy next door has never happened under quite such stormy conditions.
"With accessible prose and authentic voice, Khristina Chess weaves together twin catastrophes with empathy and realism." —Kim Cross, author of What Stands in a Storm
2. Heroine
“When I wake up, all my friends are dead. I don’t know when they stopped breathing, or how long I slept while they dropped off one by one.” – Mindy McGinnis
Those are the opening words of Heroine, the compelling novel about the slow slide of Mickey from Catalan from her position as a star student athlete to heroin addict. It begins with a terrible car accident and pain. Determine to make it back on the field, she uses the prescription painkillers to accelerate her recovery.
But then she’s out of pills and needs more.
What’s so compelling about Heroine is Mickey’s slow slide into addiction and her denial about her situation. She justifies every step of the way. The means justifies the ends, every time.
I did not watch my friends die.
I did not leave their bodies cooling in a basement.
I am not an addict.
3. The First True Thing
“People sometimes go with their instincts. They have sympathy. They care about people. I think Martin learned something when he messed up. Like now he really knows he wants to be here. Like he actually knows why he’s here and what this Group is really for.” - Claire Needell
The First True Thing is both a mystery and a book about a teen working through the hard parts of recovery.
The mystery is that Marcelle’s friend Hannah is missing, and Marcelle was the last person to hear from her. What happened? What should she do? And if she tells the truth, the whole truth, what does that mean for her friends?
Working through this dilemma is part of her recovery because lying, hiding, hanging out with people who aren't good for her are all behaviors associated with her drinking.
Books about people in recovery can be hard to read. Addiction makes people choose the wrong thing, and Marcelle does that before she chooses the right thing. Therapy and group can seem dull or even frustrating. However, the ending of her story was satisfying to me because she grew and made the positive steps she needed to make. I felt she was on a good track by the end.
4. Opioid, Indiana
After reading Heroin by Mindy McGinnis, I wanted to find more YA novels about drug use, but this book isn't about that. Despite the title, this book really isn't about drug use at all.
Seventeen-year-old Riggle is living with his uncle and uncle's girlfriend in Indiana because both of his parents are dead. Riggle is definitely dealing with lingering grief and trauma resulting from the ways each of his parents died, and now his uncle--his only remaining relative--is also missing.
Riggle has a great voice and viewpoint. His story is short and tragic, but it ended leaving me with the feeling that something was missing. I wish the book had a different title, or I'd come to it with different expectations.
In addition to these recommendations, you can also find YA Drug & Substance Abuse Novels on Goodreads, but those lists are broad and do not necessarily focus only on viewpoint characters wrestling with addiction.
Do you have any good suggestions to add to my list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter @KhristinaChess.
November 18, 2020
Severe Weather in Alabama and Opioids: Unusual Inspiration for a YA Book
Severe weather is a fact of life in Alabama. The tornados come every spring and fall, and residents watch the radar, listen for alerts, and head for shelters because we know that failure to do so can mean death. If you talk to anyone who’s lived here for any length of time, they have a tornado story to tell. A “big one” that they’ve lived through. They can tell you exactly where they were when it hit and what happened in the aftermath.
For my family, the “big one” was the Super Outbreak of tornados of April 27, 2011. Severe weather was in the forecast, and we knew it would be bad. But not that bad. Tornado paths stretched for thousands of miles, and one town was hit twice in the same day. Hundreds of people died, and thousands were injured. Hundreds of thousands were left without power.
Severe weather in Alabama and the opioid epidemic seems like an unusual inspiration for a YA book. I know.
How did these two meet?
I wanted to write a book about opioid abuse because it was a subject that had both national and personal significance. Like so many, I personally knew someone struggling with addiction and recovery from narcotics abuse, and I wanted to explore this tough topic for better understanding of their journey. And in crafting a novel, I needed some additional story conflict to drive the plot, and this storm became my inspiration for the setting.
Addiction is a storm that ravages individuals. Like a tornado, it can obliterate everything and leave whole families destitute. Once I introduced these two elements, opioid abuse and the Super Outbreak of tornados, writing the story and the symbolic elements behind its themes came very naturally.
A rare book
After writing Swallow the Rainbow: A Novel, I was very surprised to find that there were so few young adult books about this topic. Finding “comps” to place the book with was a real challenge. Considering the impact of the opioid epidemic on young people, this seems odd. Overdosing is a leading cause of death.
Maybe the reason is that writing about tough topics, like tornados, means hunkering in the darkness for some time while the windows howl. There’s a lot of risk that the whole house might collapse around you. A lot of people are terrified of severe storms.
I am.
Since the April 27 Super Outbreak, I’m scared whenever we have severe weather. I want to be close to the storm shelter. I want to be prepared. I know what can come from the sky. In Savannah’s very wise words:
We lived through the most historic super outbreak of tornados ever recorded, and they are still adding up the number of tornados, costs, and people killed across multiple states. Yet more storms are guaranteed to come. Life is full of twists and turns, and disasters like this expose the very best and the very worst inside us.
Sometimes it takes almost losing everything to discover what matters most.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her at www.khristinachess.comt and on Twitter @KhristinaChess.
For my family, the “big one” was the Super Outbreak of tornados of April 27, 2011. Severe weather was in the forecast, and we knew it would be bad. But not that bad. Tornado paths stretched for thousands of miles, and one town was hit twice in the same day. Hundreds of people died, and thousands were injured. Hundreds of thousands were left without power.
Severe weather in Alabama and the opioid epidemic seems like an unusual inspiration for a YA book. I know.
How did these two meet?
I wanted to write a book about opioid abuse because it was a subject that had both national and personal significance. Like so many, I personally knew someone struggling with addiction and recovery from narcotics abuse, and I wanted to explore this tough topic for better understanding of their journey. And in crafting a novel, I needed some additional story conflict to drive the plot, and this storm became my inspiration for the setting.
Addiction is a storm that ravages individuals. Like a tornado, it can obliterate everything and leave whole families destitute. Once I introduced these two elements, opioid abuse and the Super Outbreak of tornados, writing the story and the symbolic elements behind its themes came very naturally.
A rare book
After writing Swallow the Rainbow: A Novel, I was very surprised to find that there were so few young adult books about this topic. Finding “comps” to place the book with was a real challenge. Considering the impact of the opioid epidemic on young people, this seems odd. Overdosing is a leading cause of death.
Maybe the reason is that writing about tough topics, like tornados, means hunkering in the darkness for some time while the windows howl. There’s a lot of risk that the whole house might collapse around you. A lot of people are terrified of severe storms.
I am.
Since the April 27 Super Outbreak, I’m scared whenever we have severe weather. I want to be close to the storm shelter. I want to be prepared. I know what can come from the sky. In Savannah’s very wise words:
We lived through the most historic super outbreak of tornados ever recorded, and they are still adding up the number of tornados, costs, and people killed across multiple states. Yet more storms are guaranteed to come. Life is full of twists and turns, and disasters like this expose the very best and the very worst inside us.
Sometimes it takes almost losing everything to discover what matters most.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her at www.khristinachess.comt and on Twitter @KhristinaChess.
November 13, 2020
New Release Giveaway - Check It Out!
I'm offering a GIVEAWAY for my new YA release, Swallow the Rainbow, on Goodreads right now:
Book Giveaway for Swallow the Rainbow: A Novel
20 paperback copies are available. Enter to win before December 9.
Book Giveaway for Swallow the Rainbow: A Novel
20 paperback copies are available. Enter to win before December 9.
October 23, 2020
COVID-19, the Opioid Crisis, Isolation, and Books
The months of stress and social isolation from the Coronavirus pandemic has been a "national relapse trigger" for thousands of individuals in substance abuse recovery. For those wrestling with active opioid or other narcotics addiction, finding help now can be difficult because COVID-19 means reduced hours, cancellation of programs, or closures of facilities. And there doesn’t seem to be an end to the crisis in sight.
Nearly 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2019, compared to the 200,000 American deaths to COVID-19 in the first 9 months of 2020. Both numbers are devastating statistics. And the number of deaths to drug overdoses in 2020 is projected to be sharply higher than 2019. Drug-related deaths impact people of all ages, including teens.
Swallow the Rainbow: A Novel by Khristina Chess is a new release in a small but growing list of YA books about this epidemic that is predicted to claim hundreds of thousands of lives over the next decade. Inspired by the actual storms of April 27, 2011, this novel is the story of Savannah Young, a teen soccer star who is stranded with the neighbors following an outbreak of devastating tornados. The worst part isn’t the car on her roof, the isolation from her friends, or the fact that her mom is missing.
She’s out of pain pills. And when withdrawal sets in, she’s going to get very, very sick.
Why Books?
Despite the tragic toll of the opioid crisis on young people, few YA novels exist that actually feature characters dealing with substance abuse and recovery. Why? Reading these stories gives important insight into understanding how addiction can take hold of friends, siblings, children, or other loved ones and forever change life for everyone.
Reading books about heroine and pain pill abuse can help save lives by illuminating what the symptoms and behaviors of narcotics abuse looks like. Through the dramatic power of story, someone may recognize that something is wrong in their own life or in the lives of one of their friends or loved ones. Reading stories through the character’s viewpoint may also grant an additional level of compassion for someone wrestling with addiction. In the best scenario, holding up a fictional mirror leads someone to seek help.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
www.khristinachess.com
Nearly 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2019, compared to the 200,000 American deaths to COVID-19 in the first 9 months of 2020. Both numbers are devastating statistics. And the number of deaths to drug overdoses in 2020 is projected to be sharply higher than 2019. Drug-related deaths impact people of all ages, including teens.
Swallow the Rainbow: A Novel by Khristina Chess is a new release in a small but growing list of YA books about this epidemic that is predicted to claim hundreds of thousands of lives over the next decade. Inspired by the actual storms of April 27, 2011, this novel is the story of Savannah Young, a teen soccer star who is stranded with the neighbors following an outbreak of devastating tornados. The worst part isn’t the car on her roof, the isolation from her friends, or the fact that her mom is missing.
She’s out of pain pills. And when withdrawal sets in, she’s going to get very, very sick.
Why Books?
Despite the tragic toll of the opioid crisis on young people, few YA novels exist that actually feature characters dealing with substance abuse and recovery. Why? Reading these stories gives important insight into understanding how addiction can take hold of friends, siblings, children, or other loved ones and forever change life for everyone.
Reading books about heroine and pain pill abuse can help save lives by illuminating what the symptoms and behaviors of narcotics abuse looks like. Through the dramatic power of story, someone may recognize that something is wrong in their own life or in the lives of one of their friends or loved ones. Reading stories through the character’s viewpoint may also grant an additional level of compassion for someone wrestling with addiction. In the best scenario, holding up a fictional mirror leads someone to seek help.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
www.khristinachess.com
September 13, 2020
Great Books for Fans of The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
The The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan was one of my top favorite reads of 2018. I discovered the novel after reading a Goodreads review so intriguing that I went hunting for the title during my next Barnes & Noble trip. The Astonishing Color of After was shelved under Teen Fantasy, a category where I never shop, so without seeing the great reviewer comments I might never have discovered this wonderful lovely book of grief and culture and family secrets.
Whether it’s because of the beautiful writing, the love story, the voice, the mystery, or the family culture, there’s plenty of reasons why fans connect with The Astonishing Color of After.
My list of recommendations focuses on the themes of grief and secrets.
1. Drive to June by Khristina Chess
In this heart-tugging novel, a pizza delivery boy in cowboy boots helps a girl with secrets find her way again.
Eighteen-year-old Adriana is refuses to text anymore; she's drinking her dead mother's extensive wine collection; and she doesn't drive.
With her father traveling so much and her older sister away in college, no one knows about her addiction. She drinks to forget something awful that she did; she drinks to go numb. And now she can't seem to stop. Since moving to this new school, she doesn't have close friends or teachers, so there's nothing to stop her free-fall.
Then one night, Ian spots her on the roof and makes an offer.
Don't miss this lovely story that pairs grief and secrets with the important issue of teen alcohol abuse.
2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
What does a novel about a wealthy, white, privileged family have in common with The Astonishing Color of After?
Lies. Family secrets. Grief. Love. A mystery. A beautiful and disorienting plot that leaves the reader breathless at the end.
If you haven’t picked this one up yet, do yourself a favor. It’s a fast read.
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
A quiet boy at boarding school meets a charismatic girl, then loses her.
Miles Halter goes away to boarding school, where he makes new friends, takes up drinking and smoking, breaks some rules, and meets a hot girl named Alaska Young. She’s the ringleader of the merry group’s adventures. She’s the one who can get alcohol and cigarettes.
She’s a bit wild.
Then one night while they’re all partying, she receives a phone call and takes off in her car. She never returns.
This coming-of-age YA novel includes lyrical, John-Green writing:
There comes a time when we realize that our parents cannot save themselves or save us, that everyone who wades through time eventually gets dragged out to sea by the undertow-that, in short, we are all going.” – John Green, Looking for Alaska
Like the others in this list, Looking for Alaska presents the themes of love and grief wrapped in a mystery.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Do you have any books to add to my list?
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. Drive to June, her book about alcohol abuse, was first place winner of the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
Whether it’s because of the beautiful writing, the love story, the voice, the mystery, or the family culture, there’s plenty of reasons why fans connect with The Astonishing Color of After.
My list of recommendations focuses on the themes of grief and secrets.
1. Drive to June by Khristina Chess
In this heart-tugging novel, a pizza delivery boy in cowboy boots helps a girl with secrets find her way again.
Eighteen-year-old Adriana is refuses to text anymore; she's drinking her dead mother's extensive wine collection; and she doesn't drive.
With her father traveling so much and her older sister away in college, no one knows about her addiction. She drinks to forget something awful that she did; she drinks to go numb. And now she can't seem to stop. Since moving to this new school, she doesn't have close friends or teachers, so there's nothing to stop her free-fall.
Then one night, Ian spots her on the roof and makes an offer.
Don't miss this lovely story that pairs grief and secrets with the important issue of teen alcohol abuse.
2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
What does a novel about a wealthy, white, privileged family have in common with The Astonishing Color of After?
Lies. Family secrets. Grief. Love. A mystery. A beautiful and disorienting plot that leaves the reader breathless at the end.
If you haven’t picked this one up yet, do yourself a favor. It’s a fast read.
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
A quiet boy at boarding school meets a charismatic girl, then loses her.
Miles Halter goes away to boarding school, where he makes new friends, takes up drinking and smoking, breaks some rules, and meets a hot girl named Alaska Young. She’s the ringleader of the merry group’s adventures. She’s the one who can get alcohol and cigarettes.
She’s a bit wild.
Then one night while they’re all partying, she receives a phone call and takes off in her car. She never returns.
This coming-of-age YA novel includes lyrical, John-Green writing:
There comes a time when we realize that our parents cannot save themselves or save us, that everyone who wades through time eventually gets dragged out to sea by the undertow-that, in short, we are all going.” – John Green, Looking for Alaska
Like the others in this list, Looking for Alaska presents the themes of love and grief wrapped in a mystery.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Do you have any books to add to my list?
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. Drive to June, her book about alcohol abuse, was first place winner of the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
September 8, 2019
How Grief Shattered My Creative Writing Practice
(To see this post with pictures, visit here: How Grief Shattered My Creative Writing Practice)
My beloved dog died in June. It was sudden and violent, and in the aftermath, I passed through the initial stages of grief in rapid succession: denial, anger, and bargaining. Some acceptance came with the results of the necropsy report and subsequent lab results. The pneumonia that had swiftly filled her lungs was an antibacterial-resistant strain of staph that also choked her liver, kidneys, and spleen. Nothing could have saved her.
Still, heavy feelings of guilt and despair overwhelmed me. Those final seconds when she looked in my eyes, struggling for breath, terrified, and I was helpless to save her, helpless to do anything at all. The horror of that moment is imprinted on my heart forever.
Writer’s Block
The one thing in my life that’s always worked is writing. It’s my sanctuary and escape. It’s the well that never goes dry.
Until this.
I try to write. I sit at the desk at 3 AM and put some words into the file. There’s no spark. No life. I doubt everything. I’m not interested in writing. I worry that I will never write another book and that all my good ideas have dried up. I’m not interested in reading either. I float through space and time. I exist.
After such loss and grief of my dear friend, having the words also abandon me feels like a brutal betrayal. Writing is supposed to nourish me back to health. I am without comfort. Mute. Joyless.
It’s a myth that suffering makes writers into better artists. Suffering is just suffering.
One article on the subject suggests that when you have creative blocks from grief, you should try other outlets. Since I’m a YA novelist, maybe I should do a few of the crafty things I used to enjoy:
· Scrapbooking
· Making collages
· Painting
· Poetry
I do not have an appetite for these things either.
Ice cream. That’s what I have an appetite for. And 1000 piece puzzles.
Grief Will Pass
The depression that comes with grief feels both the same and different from garden-variety depression. In my head I know that this apathy is related to sadness. Sometimes strong emotions and crying are involved. I keep waiting for it to end so my life can return to normal.
People say grief passes with time. You get another dog, and that chases this terrible sadness away. But getting another dog means truly saying goodbye to sweet Terra and making space for someone new, and that process is more painful than any physical pain. It means accepting that I’ll never, ever, ever see, pet, brush, smell, hear, or feel this girl again.
I loved her so much more than my writer words can express.
She was a 100-pound wanna-be lap dog, a cuddly teddy bear.
She loved long walks in the pasture with me and belly rubs.
She protected the yard from dangerous groundhogs and raccoons.
She played fetch to humor me because she liked spending time together, but Akitas really don’t like fetch.
She converted me from a cat-person to a cat-and-dog person.
She made me laugh with her silliness and sweetness.
She loved me and forgave me for being an imperfect human who sometimes worked too late for much petting.
I loved and forgave her for being an imperfect dog who sometimes ate shoes and Amazon boxes.
I know she’s no longer suffering.
I know I will always miss her and love her and never forget her, for the rest of my life.
A new dog cannot fill the humongous hole that Terra leaves behind. She was a unique and larger-than-life individual.
But perhaps two can help to heal my shattered heart. We are adopting a young bonded pair of brothers at the end of the month from a rescue organization. We’ve met them, and they are full of energy and love, needing lots of attention and care and a home. We need each other, I think.
Perhaps as the leaves begin to turn with fall, my grief will change colors, and my words will return.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
My beloved dog died in June. It was sudden and violent, and in the aftermath, I passed through the initial stages of grief in rapid succession: denial, anger, and bargaining. Some acceptance came with the results of the necropsy report and subsequent lab results. The pneumonia that had swiftly filled her lungs was an antibacterial-resistant strain of staph that also choked her liver, kidneys, and spleen. Nothing could have saved her.
Still, heavy feelings of guilt and despair overwhelmed me. Those final seconds when she looked in my eyes, struggling for breath, terrified, and I was helpless to save her, helpless to do anything at all. The horror of that moment is imprinted on my heart forever.
Writer’s Block
The one thing in my life that’s always worked is writing. It’s my sanctuary and escape. It’s the well that never goes dry.
Until this.
I try to write. I sit at the desk at 3 AM and put some words into the file. There’s no spark. No life. I doubt everything. I’m not interested in writing. I worry that I will never write another book and that all my good ideas have dried up. I’m not interested in reading either. I float through space and time. I exist.
After such loss and grief of my dear friend, having the words also abandon me feels like a brutal betrayal. Writing is supposed to nourish me back to health. I am without comfort. Mute. Joyless.
It’s a myth that suffering makes writers into better artists. Suffering is just suffering.
One article on the subject suggests that when you have creative blocks from grief, you should try other outlets. Since I’m a YA novelist, maybe I should do a few of the crafty things I used to enjoy:
· Scrapbooking
· Making collages
· Painting
· Poetry
I do not have an appetite for these things either.
Ice cream. That’s what I have an appetite for. And 1000 piece puzzles.
Grief Will Pass
The depression that comes with grief feels both the same and different from garden-variety depression. In my head I know that this apathy is related to sadness. Sometimes strong emotions and crying are involved. I keep waiting for it to end so my life can return to normal.
People say grief passes with time. You get another dog, and that chases this terrible sadness away. But getting another dog means truly saying goodbye to sweet Terra and making space for someone new, and that process is more painful than any physical pain. It means accepting that I’ll never, ever, ever see, pet, brush, smell, hear, or feel this girl again.
I loved her so much more than my writer words can express.
She was a 100-pound wanna-be lap dog, a cuddly teddy bear.
She loved long walks in the pasture with me and belly rubs.
She protected the yard from dangerous groundhogs and raccoons.
She played fetch to humor me because she liked spending time together, but Akitas really don’t like fetch.
She converted me from a cat-person to a cat-and-dog person.
She made me laugh with her silliness and sweetness.
She loved me and forgave me for being an imperfect human who sometimes worked too late for much petting.
I loved and forgave her for being an imperfect dog who sometimes ate shoes and Amazon boxes.
I know she’s no longer suffering.
I know I will always miss her and love her and never forget her, for the rest of my life.
A new dog cannot fill the humongous hole that Terra leaves behind. She was a unique and larger-than-life individual.
But perhaps two can help to heal my shattered heart. We are adopting a young bonded pair of brothers at the end of the month from a rescue organization. We’ve met them, and they are full of energy and love, needing lots of attention and care and a home. We need each other, I think.
Perhaps as the leaves begin to turn with fall, my grief will change colors, and my words will return.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
July 15, 2019
What Do These 3 Popular YA Authors Have in Common?
Have you ever wondered why some page-turning novels keep you up at night, while others fall flat? These 3 popular YA authors employ the same writing craft techniques in their books that guarantee a great read.
(To see this post with pictures and related links, visit here: What Do These 3 Popular YA Authors Have in Common?
1. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
To begin at the beginning, this popular YA author demonstrates the first master storytelling secret: the hook. In the opening sentence—and certainly in the brief first paragraph—Pan captures the reader’s full attention:
My mother is a bird. This isn’t like some William Faulkner stream-of-consciousness metaphorical crap. My mother. Is literally. A bird.
Who can stop reading after that? She has your attention. She has a story tell. Something interesting is about to happen with this narrator.
In fact, I devoured Emily X.R. Pan’s lovely, heartbreaking, poetic, mysterious, and wonderful debut novel in less than 5 days—a fast pace for me.
The very best, most intriguing and engaging novels are the ones whose first thirty words introduce some kind of change that will become the catalyst for the rest of the story. It can be very simple. It can start in the middle of action. In fact, what often grabs you in a great first line is the disorientation: what’s happening? As readers, we are observers of some action that may have already happened, and we’re in catch-up mode. Who’s talking? In the case of Pan’s book, why does this character think her mother is a bird?
The story’s engine starts. We turn the page to satisfy our curiosity, and in a very good novel like The Astonishing Color of After, even more interesting questions unfold.
Want to read some more great hooks by popular YA authors? Here are some lists:
link: 20 YA Novels That Will Hook You From the First Line
link: 15 of the Best Opening Lines in YA
link: 38 Best First Lines in Novels (YA Edition)
2. Missing by Kelly Armstrong
The hook in Missing is also compelling:
Reeve’s End is the kind of town every kid can’t wait to escape. Each summer, a dozen kids leave and at least a quarter never come back. I don’t blame them—I’ll do the same in another year. We thought it was just something that happened in towns like ours. We were wrong.
This novel employs a second storytelling secret: the ticking clock.
In missing-person cases, police only have so much time to find victims before their chance of returning home safe diminishes. In the case of Winter Crane’s sister, the timeline for how long she might have been missing is already unclear. As the mystery quickly unfolds, the urgency to find out what might have happened to her—and other missing kids—is tied to an invisible clock like a heartbeat. It creates suspense and raises the stakes. The tension increases with each turn of the page because we believe the situation is life-or-death. The hero spends a lot of time literally running from one place to another, trying to beat the clock.
Combined, the hook and the ticking clock make a one-two punch for great storytelling. In my novel The Future Unborn, here is the hook on page one:
I knew there’d be a ubiquitous plethora of tests to take my senior year—tests with vocabulary words like ubiquitous and plethora. But I never expected to need to take a pregnancy test, too.
The heading of this opening chapter is Week 2, which sets the ticking clock and identifies the structure for the entire novel, which is 10 weeks long.
In Hollow Beauty, the ticking clock is in the hook itself:
When I placed my order, I had no idea it would be my last medium curly fry and regular Coke for the next two months. If I’d known, I would have asked for a large.
What happens in the next two months? The prom. The narrator just needs to lose weight for it.
In my first novel, Straight A's, the clock is the end of the nine-week grading period. The main character is overwhelmed with anxiety and academic pressure to be valedictorian of her class, and if she gets a B in calcuus at the end of the grading period, she’s making plans to commit suicide.
3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas and her debut novel became a bestselling success because of this next secret: conflict. In The Hate U Give, this popular YA author demonstrates how to layer inner and outer conflicts to create a dramatic story that readers cannot put down.
It starts with the hook:
I shouldn’t have come to this party.
I’m not even sure I belong at this party. That’s not on some bougie shit, either. There are just some places where it’s not enough to be me. Either version of me.
And there it is: the inner and outer conflicts. This narrator lives in two worlds, and those worlds soon clash when sixteen-year-old Starr Carter witnesses the fatal police shooting of a childhood friend. What makes this conflict harder for Starr is that she attends a suburban prep school far from the neighborhood where she lives and where the shooting happened, and the action she takes will shatter the careful balancing act she’s been maintaining between these separate versions of herself.
What makes this novel special and why it resonates with so many readers are the complex conflicts that each character faces. You will think about Starr for months after closing the cover on this novel because the multiple layers of conflict will continue to spin at the back of your mind. The questions and issues are important, and the answers aren’t easy. She is sympathetic in her struggles to find the best path.
Want to read some more popular YA authors with complex conflicts? Here are some lists:
link: 25 Morally Complicated YA Novels That Show How Complex Young Adult Lit Really Is
link: 10 Young Adult Books That Tackle Racism
link: 7 Morally Complex Works of YA Fiction You Shouldn’t Miss
If you are ready to learn more, you can download free samples of any of my books from this website.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA authors about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
(To see this post with pictures and related links, visit here: What Do These 3 Popular YA Authors Have in Common?
1. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
To begin at the beginning, this popular YA author demonstrates the first master storytelling secret: the hook. In the opening sentence—and certainly in the brief first paragraph—Pan captures the reader’s full attention:
My mother is a bird. This isn’t like some William Faulkner stream-of-consciousness metaphorical crap. My mother. Is literally. A bird.
Who can stop reading after that? She has your attention. She has a story tell. Something interesting is about to happen with this narrator.
In fact, I devoured Emily X.R. Pan’s lovely, heartbreaking, poetic, mysterious, and wonderful debut novel in less than 5 days—a fast pace for me.
The very best, most intriguing and engaging novels are the ones whose first thirty words introduce some kind of change that will become the catalyst for the rest of the story. It can be very simple. It can start in the middle of action. In fact, what often grabs you in a great first line is the disorientation: what’s happening? As readers, we are observers of some action that may have already happened, and we’re in catch-up mode. Who’s talking? In the case of Pan’s book, why does this character think her mother is a bird?
The story’s engine starts. We turn the page to satisfy our curiosity, and in a very good novel like The Astonishing Color of After, even more interesting questions unfold.
Want to read some more great hooks by popular YA authors? Here are some lists:
link: 20 YA Novels That Will Hook You From the First Line
link: 15 of the Best Opening Lines in YA
link: 38 Best First Lines in Novels (YA Edition)
2. Missing by Kelly Armstrong
The hook in Missing is also compelling:
Reeve’s End is the kind of town every kid can’t wait to escape. Each summer, a dozen kids leave and at least a quarter never come back. I don’t blame them—I’ll do the same in another year. We thought it was just something that happened in towns like ours. We were wrong.
This novel employs a second storytelling secret: the ticking clock.
In missing-person cases, police only have so much time to find victims before their chance of returning home safe diminishes. In the case of Winter Crane’s sister, the timeline for how long she might have been missing is already unclear. As the mystery quickly unfolds, the urgency to find out what might have happened to her—and other missing kids—is tied to an invisible clock like a heartbeat. It creates suspense and raises the stakes. The tension increases with each turn of the page because we believe the situation is life-or-death. The hero spends a lot of time literally running from one place to another, trying to beat the clock.
Combined, the hook and the ticking clock make a one-two punch for great storytelling. In my novel The Future Unborn, here is the hook on page one:
I knew there’d be a ubiquitous plethora of tests to take my senior year—tests with vocabulary words like ubiquitous and plethora. But I never expected to need to take a pregnancy test, too.
The heading of this opening chapter is Week 2, which sets the ticking clock and identifies the structure for the entire novel, which is 10 weeks long.
In Hollow Beauty, the ticking clock is in the hook itself:
When I placed my order, I had no idea it would be my last medium curly fry and regular Coke for the next two months. If I’d known, I would have asked for a large.
What happens in the next two months? The prom. The narrator just needs to lose weight for it.
In my first novel, Straight A's, the clock is the end of the nine-week grading period. The main character is overwhelmed with anxiety and academic pressure to be valedictorian of her class, and if she gets a B in calcuus at the end of the grading period, she’s making plans to commit suicide.
3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas and her debut novel became a bestselling success because of this next secret: conflict. In The Hate U Give, this popular YA author demonstrates how to layer inner and outer conflicts to create a dramatic story that readers cannot put down.
It starts with the hook:
I shouldn’t have come to this party.
I’m not even sure I belong at this party. That’s not on some bougie shit, either. There are just some places where it’s not enough to be me. Either version of me.
And there it is: the inner and outer conflicts. This narrator lives in two worlds, and those worlds soon clash when sixteen-year-old Starr Carter witnesses the fatal police shooting of a childhood friend. What makes this conflict harder for Starr is that she attends a suburban prep school far from the neighborhood where she lives and where the shooting happened, and the action she takes will shatter the careful balancing act she’s been maintaining between these separate versions of herself.
What makes this novel special and why it resonates with so many readers are the complex conflicts that each character faces. You will think about Starr for months after closing the cover on this novel because the multiple layers of conflict will continue to spin at the back of your mind. The questions and issues are important, and the answers aren’t easy. She is sympathetic in her struggles to find the best path.
Want to read some more popular YA authors with complex conflicts? Here are some lists:
link: 25 Morally Complicated YA Novels That Show How Complex Young Adult Lit Really Is
link: 10 Young Adult Books That Tackle Racism
link: 7 Morally Complex Works of YA Fiction You Shouldn’t Miss
If you are ready to learn more, you can download free samples of any of my books from this website.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA authors about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
May 27, 2019
4 Young Adult Books about Teenage Pregnancy to Terrify Your Mother
Mothers wince at the 30-second pitch of my novel, The Future Unborn, at book events. No one wants their daughter, niece, granddaughter, younger sister, or any other impressionable teen girl reading young adult books about teenage pregnancy because that stuff might be contagious.
“Their father would kill me if I brought home a book about that,” one woman said to me.
Why? Reading young adult books about teenage pregnancy is a great way to educate teens while also entertaining them. According to one article on the shocking facts and statistics surrounding teen pregnancy, improper communication between teens and their parents is one of the contributing factors to unplanned pregnancy.
Yet parents remain stubbornly squeamish about books about teenage pregnancy. A novel with a pregnant teenager offers loads of controversy, and someone somewhere is going to be upset. It can’t be helped. Is she going to keep the baby or give it up for adoption? Is she going to choose abortion? Is she going to drop out of school? What sort of conflicts play into these storylines? How does she deal with them?
Here are 4 writers who’ve tackled this taboo topic for YA readers.
1. After by Amy Efaw
In After by Amy Efaw, the main character leaves her infant to die in the trash. Controversial? You bet! The powerful book follows the arrest and conviction of Devon Davenport, and as the story unfolds we begin to understand how a young mother could abandon her newborn and even deny her own pregnancy. Devon’s transformation from the beginning to the end of the book is heartfelt and moving.
2. The Future Unborn by Khristina Chess
Like the main character in After, the protagonist in The Future Unborn is a “good girl” whose one misstep leads to an unplanned pregnancy. Her immediate first choice in dealing with the situation is abortion, but several obstacles stand in the way, including lack of money and bad timing.
However, when a close family member loses a child, Kansas sees how she could fix everything by giving this baby up for adoption instead. The question is whether or not she’s willing to postpone her dreams for the future to carry this unplanned pregnancy to term—and will she really be able to give the baby away in the end?
3. Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles
In Jumping Off Swings, the author explores how unplanned pregnancy impacts the lives of multiple characters, not only the girl. Ellie is pregnant to one boy, but there is a triangle of friendships and relationships that lead to multiple people knowing about the situation.
As she wrestles with the decision about what to do, the father of the child also struggles with his emotions. Their parents also know what has happened. This book is different from both After and The Future Unborn, where “good girls” try to keep their pregnancies cloaked in secret. In Jumping Off Swings, the unplanned pregnancy reverberates through many relationships and affects everyone in different ways.
4. Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont
In Every Little Thing in the World, Sydney is sent to camp with her best friend as punishment, and by the way, she’s pregnant and hasn’t told her mom. She spends her time in the wilderness forming new friendships and trying to decide what to do.
In many ways, this novel is more a coming-of-age story than a pregnancy book. Yes, the protagonist wrestles with this very crucial dilemma through the storyline, but her relationships with her best friend, her mother, and others in the story are equally important. Resolving those issues are key to how she ultimately decides to handle her situation.
Summary
Reading about choice in young adult books about teenage pregnancy can scare parents who may already have established their own firm beliefs and want their children to share them. Depicting abortion in fiction—or even using the word—can be taboo, but literature can allow space for conversations about topics in a non-threatening forum because the characters and stories are fiction:
• What is the difference between choice and control? In what ways does Kansas have choices and control? In what ways does she not?
• How prevalent is teen pregnancy in the world today? Do you believe this is a common issue? Can it happen to anyone? Why or why not?
• Do you agree with Kansas when she says, “The whole problem with relationships is that they cause you to make compromises in your choices.”? Why or why not?
Have you read these or other young adult books about teenage pregnancy worth sharing? I’d love to hear from you.
-----------
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. The Future Unborn, her book about teen pregnancy, was a runner-up in the 2017 RONE Awards and a finalist in the 5th Annual Beverly Hills Book Awards. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
“Their father would kill me if I brought home a book about that,” one woman said to me.
Why? Reading young adult books about teenage pregnancy is a great way to educate teens while also entertaining them. According to one article on the shocking facts and statistics surrounding teen pregnancy, improper communication between teens and their parents is one of the contributing factors to unplanned pregnancy.
Yet parents remain stubbornly squeamish about books about teenage pregnancy. A novel with a pregnant teenager offers loads of controversy, and someone somewhere is going to be upset. It can’t be helped. Is she going to keep the baby or give it up for adoption? Is she going to choose abortion? Is she going to drop out of school? What sort of conflicts play into these storylines? How does she deal with them?
Here are 4 writers who’ve tackled this taboo topic for YA readers.
1. After by Amy Efaw
In After by Amy Efaw, the main character leaves her infant to die in the trash. Controversial? You bet! The powerful book follows the arrest and conviction of Devon Davenport, and as the story unfolds we begin to understand how a young mother could abandon her newborn and even deny her own pregnancy. Devon’s transformation from the beginning to the end of the book is heartfelt and moving.
2. The Future Unborn by Khristina Chess
Like the main character in After, the protagonist in The Future Unborn is a “good girl” whose one misstep leads to an unplanned pregnancy. Her immediate first choice in dealing with the situation is abortion, but several obstacles stand in the way, including lack of money and bad timing.
However, when a close family member loses a child, Kansas sees how she could fix everything by giving this baby up for adoption instead. The question is whether or not she’s willing to postpone her dreams for the future to carry this unplanned pregnancy to term—and will she really be able to give the baby away in the end?
3. Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles
In Jumping Off Swings, the author explores how unplanned pregnancy impacts the lives of multiple characters, not only the girl. Ellie is pregnant to one boy, but there is a triangle of friendships and relationships that lead to multiple people knowing about the situation.
As she wrestles with the decision about what to do, the father of the child also struggles with his emotions. Their parents also know what has happened. This book is different from both After and The Future Unborn, where “good girls” try to keep their pregnancies cloaked in secret. In Jumping Off Swings, the unplanned pregnancy reverberates through many relationships and affects everyone in different ways.
4. Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont
In Every Little Thing in the World, Sydney is sent to camp with her best friend as punishment, and by the way, she’s pregnant and hasn’t told her mom. She spends her time in the wilderness forming new friendships and trying to decide what to do.
In many ways, this novel is more a coming-of-age story than a pregnancy book. Yes, the protagonist wrestles with this very crucial dilemma through the storyline, but her relationships with her best friend, her mother, and others in the story are equally important. Resolving those issues are key to how she ultimately decides to handle her situation.
Summary
Reading about choice in young adult books about teenage pregnancy can scare parents who may already have established their own firm beliefs and want their children to share them. Depicting abortion in fiction—or even using the word—can be taboo, but literature can allow space for conversations about topics in a non-threatening forum because the characters and stories are fiction:
• What is the difference between choice and control? In what ways does Kansas have choices and control? In what ways does she not?
• How prevalent is teen pregnancy in the world today? Do you believe this is a common issue? Can it happen to anyone? Why or why not?
• Do you agree with Kansas when she says, “The whole problem with relationships is that they cause you to make compromises in your choices.”? Why or why not?
Have you read these or other young adult books about teenage pregnancy worth sharing? I’d love to hear from you.
-----------
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. The Future Unborn, her book about teen pregnancy, was a runner-up in the 2017 RONE Awards and a finalist in the 5th Annual Beverly Hills Book Awards. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
April 26, 2019
What Your Books Reveal about You
Do your bookshelves contain the roadmap of the journey of your life? Do the titles tell a story of where have you been and where are you going? You may be surprised by what your books reveal about you.
(To see this post with pictures and related links, visit here: What Your Books Reveal about You)
The Books You Keep
Bookworms will show you pictures of their books the way other people show off their children. “Look at these!” we post on Instagram and Twitter. “I couldn’t resist. Aren’t they lovely?” These words are accompanied by images of new shelving arrangements, bookstore visits, and stacks of new books arranged on tables beside cups of tea.
The problem with books is that you must make hard choices—the kind of choices people don’t have to make with their children. Books keep coming in. There’s too many.
Despite fervent rearranging and squeezing, there’s not enough room. Some must go—either to boxes and storage or… Purge.
What do you keep? What do you let go? And why?
The Books You Purge
Obviously, I purged all of my college textbooks immediately. In fact, I dropped off my calculus textbook at the bookstore on my way back to the dorm following my final exam.
I kept my poetry chapbooks and fiction anthologies for decades, until last year’s purge when I ran out of room and had to make deep cuts.
The last college novel to survive is Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. It’s one of those unexpected titles that has lingered with me and haunted me, much like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984.
Now you know something more about me.
The Books You Miss
Speaking of the books you purged, what titles slipped through your fingers that you miss? Have you ever re-purchased a book because once you gave it away, you realized you loved it too much?
Or maybe you’ve bought it a second time because you forgot you have it.
As a girl, I owned every horse book ever written: The Black Stallion, The Island Stallion, The Black Stallion and the Girl, and all the other derivatives, as well as Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian, and Black Beauty. Those books transported me to worlds where I ran with wild horses.
Unfortunately I lost everything in the great purge that was my parents’ divorce and my subsequent exit to college. It was time to give up childhood. Hello Aldus Huxley and Brave New World.
The Places You Keep Books
Where do you keep your books?
In our house, literary fiction resides in the living room. Young adult is located in the hallway. My office includes horror, self-help, religion, and writing reference. None of my books are boxed or stored away. Either they reside on shelves, or they’re purged.
I tried using a Kindle for awhile, but I like seeing the books in a physical space. Holding them and smelling them is part of the relationship. I always keep one close on the bedside table for reading at night. Two or three are scattered across the surface of my writing desk at any given time.
The Times You Found Books
Some say that the books you read are related to your personality. I don’t know about you, but my reading tastes have seen different phases. When I discovered Jodi Piccoult, I bought and read everything she’d published to date. During the Oprah’s Book Club phase, I read every selection faithfully—and often continued to read subsequent titles by those authors.
I had an Anne Rice phase after Interview with the Vampire, and I still remember the co-worker who introduced me to Patricia Highsmith and The Talented Mr. Ripley. And I’ve had a love affair with Stephen King books since the early 1980s.
Many books on the shelves came at life-changing pivot points in my life. I’m immensely grateful to so many authors for their work and the impact it had on my own journey. A few of the top ones include:
• Julia Cameron
• C.S. Lewis
• Ayn Rand
When I look at their books now and think about the time when I was reading them, I am transported to another decade and my younger self for a second. I remember rainy afternoons reading them on my screened porch. I remember long conversations with my friend over dinner and writing poetry. I am transported to another time and place, to another self.
What do your books reveal about you? What were you reading in your teens versus your twenties? What are you reading today? Have your reading tastes changed dramatically?
The Books That Change a Life
I’ve offered several authors and titles without naming my favorite books. As I write this blog, I’ve realized that that this simple question can be deeply personal and revealing. What I read says a lot about who I am.
Do I list the self-help books that have been transformative? What about the books about my faith? I’m a writer, so perhaps I should talk about the great books on writing that line my shelves. There have been so many books along the journey of my life that it’s hard stop with a handful of titles that are my very most favorite of all time, but here goes:
• The Stand by Stephen King – I began reading King as a young teen, and this one was quite an accomplishment to plow through—a thick book. Unlike the other somewhat-silly monsters books, The Stand tapped into real fears that people might cause an accident of catastrophic proportions. Reading Stephen King made me want to be a writer. I’ve read this book many times.
• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott – There is so much grace and kindness in her books. I ate this one up during a time in my life when I was discovering and developing my own faith, before I really understood what those words meant.
• Drinking: A Love Story by Carline Knapp – Her tragic death to lung cancer in her early forties really shook me. She was a smart young professional, like me, and she died. I read all of her books, but this memoir was especially poignant.
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer – This was the first YA novel I read as an adult, and I was pleasantly surprised that it changed all my misconceptions about the genre as “children’s” literature. After reading it, I picked up several other titles and ultimately stopped writing literary fiction and began writing YA novels instead.
What about you? Are you surprised by what your books reveal about you? Are there some unexpected books that touched your life and why? I’d love to hear from you.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. She owns all Stephen King’s books in hardcover. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
(To see this post with pictures and related links, visit here: What Your Books Reveal about You)
The Books You Keep
Bookworms will show you pictures of their books the way other people show off their children. “Look at these!” we post on Instagram and Twitter. “I couldn’t resist. Aren’t they lovely?” These words are accompanied by images of new shelving arrangements, bookstore visits, and stacks of new books arranged on tables beside cups of tea.
The problem with books is that you must make hard choices—the kind of choices people don’t have to make with their children. Books keep coming in. There’s too many.
Despite fervent rearranging and squeezing, there’s not enough room. Some must go—either to boxes and storage or… Purge.
What do you keep? What do you let go? And why?
The Books You Purge
Obviously, I purged all of my college textbooks immediately. In fact, I dropped off my calculus textbook at the bookstore on my way back to the dorm following my final exam.
I kept my poetry chapbooks and fiction anthologies for decades, until last year’s purge when I ran out of room and had to make deep cuts.
The last college novel to survive is Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. It’s one of those unexpected titles that has lingered with me and haunted me, much like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984.
Now you know something more about me.
The Books You Miss
Speaking of the books you purged, what titles slipped through your fingers that you miss? Have you ever re-purchased a book because once you gave it away, you realized you loved it too much?
Or maybe you’ve bought it a second time because you forgot you have it.
As a girl, I owned every horse book ever written: The Black Stallion, The Island Stallion, The Black Stallion and the Girl, and all the other derivatives, as well as Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian, and Black Beauty. Those books transported me to worlds where I ran with wild horses.
Unfortunately I lost everything in the great purge that was my parents’ divorce and my subsequent exit to college. It was time to give up childhood. Hello Aldus Huxley and Brave New World.
The Places You Keep Books
Where do you keep your books?
In our house, literary fiction resides in the living room. Young adult is located in the hallway. My office includes horror, self-help, religion, and writing reference. None of my books are boxed or stored away. Either they reside on shelves, or they’re purged.
I tried using a Kindle for awhile, but I like seeing the books in a physical space. Holding them and smelling them is part of the relationship. I always keep one close on the bedside table for reading at night. Two or three are scattered across the surface of my writing desk at any given time.
The Times You Found Books
Some say that the books you read are related to your personality. I don’t know about you, but my reading tastes have seen different phases. When I discovered Jodi Piccoult, I bought and read everything she’d published to date. During the Oprah’s Book Club phase, I read every selection faithfully—and often continued to read subsequent titles by those authors.
I had an Anne Rice phase after Interview with the Vampire, and I still remember the co-worker who introduced me to Patricia Highsmith and The Talented Mr. Ripley. And I’ve had a love affair with Stephen King books since the early 1980s.
Many books on the shelves came at life-changing pivot points in my life. I’m immensely grateful to so many authors for their work and the impact it had on my own journey. A few of the top ones include:
• Julia Cameron
• C.S. Lewis
• Ayn Rand
When I look at their books now and think about the time when I was reading them, I am transported to another decade and my younger self for a second. I remember rainy afternoons reading them on my screened porch. I remember long conversations with my friend over dinner and writing poetry. I am transported to another time and place, to another self.
What do your books reveal about you? What were you reading in your teens versus your twenties? What are you reading today? Have your reading tastes changed dramatically?
The Books That Change a Life
I’ve offered several authors and titles without naming my favorite books. As I write this blog, I’ve realized that that this simple question can be deeply personal and revealing. What I read says a lot about who I am.
Do I list the self-help books that have been transformative? What about the books about my faith? I’m a writer, so perhaps I should talk about the great books on writing that line my shelves. There have been so many books along the journey of my life that it’s hard stop with a handful of titles that are my very most favorite of all time, but here goes:
• The Stand by Stephen King – I began reading King as a young teen, and this one was quite an accomplishment to plow through—a thick book. Unlike the other somewhat-silly monsters books, The Stand tapped into real fears that people might cause an accident of catastrophic proportions. Reading Stephen King made me want to be a writer. I’ve read this book many times.
• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott – There is so much grace and kindness in her books. I ate this one up during a time in my life when I was discovering and developing my own faith, before I really understood what those words meant.
• Drinking: A Love Story by Carline Knapp – Her tragic death to lung cancer in her early forties really shook me. She was a smart young professional, like me, and she died. I read all of her books, but this memoir was especially poignant.
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer – This was the first YA novel I read as an adult, and I was pleasantly surprised that it changed all my misconceptions about the genre as “children’s” literature. After reading it, I picked up several other titles and ultimately stopped writing literary fiction and began writing YA novels instead.
What about you? Are you surprised by what your books reveal about you? Are there some unexpected books that touched your life and why? I’d love to hear from you.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. She owns all Stephen King’s books in hardcover. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
March 2, 2019
Discover 11 Secret Steps to Becoming a World-Class Bookworm
Are bookworms secret superheroes? I don’t know about that, but most superheros are super-smart, brainyacs. I bet Wonder Woman loves to curl up with a cozy mystery when she’s not off fighting crime. And Bruce Wayne seems like a Clive Cussler guy. Or could you imagine a book club meeting with the Avengers discussing something like Farenheit 451 or Atlas Shrugged?
So how does an ordinary mortal become a world-class bookworm and join this elite group?
It’s easy!
(To see the post with pictures and related links, visit here: Discover 11 Secret Steps to Becoming a World-Class Bookworm)
1. Visit your local library and get a library card
Seriously. You’re going to be reading a lot of books, and with that kind of volume, you need to begin with the library—at least until you can handle the pace and budget. Plus, the library is amazing. Have you been there in awhile? They offer lots of services in addition to the books, and they’re great people. Look them up.
2. Browse the shelves and determine your favorite genre
This step can be overwhelming. You have so many choices. In YA fiction alone, there are subgenres of fantasy, romance, historical, thriller/horror, sci-fi/distopian, crime/mystery, and contemporary. What do you like? What interests you? If you don’t know where to start, sample a few pages and see what resonates with you the best. Maybe you’ll discover that you like something new that you’d never heard of before.
Maybe you like Steampunk—or Mannerpunk.
3. Pick your favorite medium: Print or Electronic
Most libraries offer both formats on books, so if you want to check out a digital copy of your selected title, go ahead. However, if you want the “look” of a world-class bookworm, you will need the physical asset to carry around with you. No one ever gives much credit to the guy waving his phone around and claiming to be reading Les Miserables on it—even if it’s true. When he’s lugging that weight around with him, you know he’s truly committed to the thing.
4. Check out lots of books
This one should be obvious, but don’t leave the library without actually checking out some books. This step requires you to fill out the paperwork for a library card if you don’t have one.
5. Find some reading buddies
Your local library probably has some book clubs in the genre you enjoy. Join one of them and find friends who want to read and talk about books too. Book clubs are a great way to explore new authors and titles and enjoy good conversation—and also practice your skills as a budding world-class bookworm.
Most of the members of the book clubs will be veterans, so you can pick up tips by asking questions and listening to them. Don’t be intimidated if everyone seems super funny and intelligent except you. You have lots to say, and you will gain confidence.
Many cities also have Meetups for book clubs if that appeals more to you. These book clubs gather in informal settings like coffee shops instead of libraries, but the agenda is the same:
1. Meet the group
2. Talk about the book
3. Read the next book
4. Repeat
Book clubs may also include food and, depending on the age of the book club members, adult beverages.
6. Get a Goodreads account
You’re an introvert. I understand. Many world-class bookworms are. That’s why they prefer to escape into the world of books for hours at a time.
If meeting and talking to actual human beings sounds completely overwhelming at first, you can start with social media. Sign up for Goodreads and start by making friends there. You can join Groups and Buddy Reads, track the books you read, share titles with others, and set a reading challenge for the year.
Goodreads is an excellent tool for keeping up with all the books you’re reading, which is important because a world-class bookworm reads hundreds of books and tends to forget whether or not they’ve read a given book before. A tool like Goodreads comes in handy for answering questions like A) Yes, I read that book and B) No, I didn’t like it.
7. Create your own reading nook
A craftsman needs a place to work, and you are no different. Reading books requires a quiet space. You won’t do your best if you’re in the middle of the family room surrounded by other people, barking dogs, a blaring television, and electronic devices.
Retreat.
Find a room where you can be alone for awhile and be comfortable. A fluffy throw blanket and pillows might entice you to go there often, or maybe it’s a well-worn chair and a window that overlooks a nice yard. (But not a yard that’s too distracting.) You want a space with good lighting because you’ll be reading. If you need reading glasses, leave a pair there so you don’t have to go searching for them.
8. Read every single day
You brush your teeth every day, don’t you?
A world-class bookworm reads every day. It’s a habit. For bookworms, not reading would be like not brushing their teeth. A foul smell would hover around their head, and they would have a slight slur to their speech.
If you’re just starting out, you might pace yourself to short sprints: a half hour at lunch and a half hour before bed. As you build your reading muscle, you might add another half hour in the morning and also read during spare time throughout the day. Alternatively, you might set page counts as your reading goals: 20-30 pages every day, for example.
Here are a few tips about reading to help make reading a compulsion. Some of them might seem like no-brainers, but new readers can get hung up on them:
• Give yourself permission to abandon a book that’s not engaging you. Are you thirty, forty, or fifty pages in, and every time you think about reading, you want to clip your toenails instead? There are too many books in the world. If this one isn’t working for you, break up. Shelve it. “Sorry, it’s really you, Mr. Book. You have to go.” Yes, even if it’s an author you love.
• If you choose books in a series, you might read more books faster. This rule assumes that they are good books, of course, but if they are, you are guaranteed good reading material for awhile.
• Find an author you like who has also written several books. Then you have a lot to read. If you like their style and type of book, you will have a lot of good reading material.
• Listen to audio books too. They count as reading, and that means you can cover books while you’re exercising or traveling.
The most important thing is to read. This step cannot be skipped.
The next two steps are advanced.
9. Visit a bookstore and buy lots of books
Once you know what you like and enjoy reading, you may want to own physical books—especially the titles that you want to re-read. (Re-reading is a trait of world-class bookworms.)
Warning: Bookstores are dangerous vortexes.
You may consider visiting a bookstore with cash only to limit yourself to a budget or visit thrift book stores to maximize your purchasing power.
Side Note: eReaders are equally dangerous because it’s too easy to click the Buy Now option in the middle of the night when you are half-asleep. Buy ebooks only when you are fully awake to minimize credit card shock.
10. Carry a book with you everywhere
Once you begin acquiring and carrying your own physical books, your transformation into a world-class bookworm is complete. Your bookmarks are tattered, and ideally, ironic or not even bookmarks at all—but random bits of paper.
11. Wear glasses
A world-class bookworm wears reading glasses even if no prescription is required—at least in public. It’s part of the “look.”
That’s it. If you follow these steps, you’ll find yourself among the distinguished group of individuals who call ourselves bookworms.
Like many superheroes, we live in plain sight among mere mortals.
Are you ready to join us?
Start today by exploring some new authors of contemporary YA.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. She aspires to be a world-class bookworm. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
So how does an ordinary mortal become a world-class bookworm and join this elite group?
It’s easy!
(To see the post with pictures and related links, visit here: Discover 11 Secret Steps to Becoming a World-Class Bookworm)
1. Visit your local library and get a library card
Seriously. You’re going to be reading a lot of books, and with that kind of volume, you need to begin with the library—at least until you can handle the pace and budget. Plus, the library is amazing. Have you been there in awhile? They offer lots of services in addition to the books, and they’re great people. Look them up.
2. Browse the shelves and determine your favorite genre
This step can be overwhelming. You have so many choices. In YA fiction alone, there are subgenres of fantasy, romance, historical, thriller/horror, sci-fi/distopian, crime/mystery, and contemporary. What do you like? What interests you? If you don’t know where to start, sample a few pages and see what resonates with you the best. Maybe you’ll discover that you like something new that you’d never heard of before.
Maybe you like Steampunk—or Mannerpunk.
3. Pick your favorite medium: Print or Electronic
Most libraries offer both formats on books, so if you want to check out a digital copy of your selected title, go ahead. However, if you want the “look” of a world-class bookworm, you will need the physical asset to carry around with you. No one ever gives much credit to the guy waving his phone around and claiming to be reading Les Miserables on it—even if it’s true. When he’s lugging that weight around with him, you know he’s truly committed to the thing.
4. Check out lots of books
This one should be obvious, but don’t leave the library without actually checking out some books. This step requires you to fill out the paperwork for a library card if you don’t have one.
5. Find some reading buddies
Your local library probably has some book clubs in the genre you enjoy. Join one of them and find friends who want to read and talk about books too. Book clubs are a great way to explore new authors and titles and enjoy good conversation—and also practice your skills as a budding world-class bookworm.
Most of the members of the book clubs will be veterans, so you can pick up tips by asking questions and listening to them. Don’t be intimidated if everyone seems super funny and intelligent except you. You have lots to say, and you will gain confidence.
Many cities also have Meetups for book clubs if that appeals more to you. These book clubs gather in informal settings like coffee shops instead of libraries, but the agenda is the same:
1. Meet the group
2. Talk about the book
3. Read the next book
4. Repeat
Book clubs may also include food and, depending on the age of the book club members, adult beverages.
6. Get a Goodreads account
You’re an introvert. I understand. Many world-class bookworms are. That’s why they prefer to escape into the world of books for hours at a time.
If meeting and talking to actual human beings sounds completely overwhelming at first, you can start with social media. Sign up for Goodreads and start by making friends there. You can join Groups and Buddy Reads, track the books you read, share titles with others, and set a reading challenge for the year.
Goodreads is an excellent tool for keeping up with all the books you’re reading, which is important because a world-class bookworm reads hundreds of books and tends to forget whether or not they’ve read a given book before. A tool like Goodreads comes in handy for answering questions like A) Yes, I read that book and B) No, I didn’t like it.
7. Create your own reading nook
A craftsman needs a place to work, and you are no different. Reading books requires a quiet space. You won’t do your best if you’re in the middle of the family room surrounded by other people, barking dogs, a blaring television, and electronic devices.
Retreat.
Find a room where you can be alone for awhile and be comfortable. A fluffy throw blanket and pillows might entice you to go there often, or maybe it’s a well-worn chair and a window that overlooks a nice yard. (But not a yard that’s too distracting.) You want a space with good lighting because you’ll be reading. If you need reading glasses, leave a pair there so you don’t have to go searching for them.
8. Read every single day
You brush your teeth every day, don’t you?
A world-class bookworm reads every day. It’s a habit. For bookworms, not reading would be like not brushing their teeth. A foul smell would hover around their head, and they would have a slight slur to their speech.
If you’re just starting out, you might pace yourself to short sprints: a half hour at lunch and a half hour before bed. As you build your reading muscle, you might add another half hour in the morning and also read during spare time throughout the day. Alternatively, you might set page counts as your reading goals: 20-30 pages every day, for example.
Here are a few tips about reading to help make reading a compulsion. Some of them might seem like no-brainers, but new readers can get hung up on them:
• Give yourself permission to abandon a book that’s not engaging you. Are you thirty, forty, or fifty pages in, and every time you think about reading, you want to clip your toenails instead? There are too many books in the world. If this one isn’t working for you, break up. Shelve it. “Sorry, it’s really you, Mr. Book. You have to go.” Yes, even if it’s an author you love.
• If you choose books in a series, you might read more books faster. This rule assumes that they are good books, of course, but if they are, you are guaranteed good reading material for awhile.
• Find an author you like who has also written several books. Then you have a lot to read. If you like their style and type of book, you will have a lot of good reading material.
• Listen to audio books too. They count as reading, and that means you can cover books while you’re exercising or traveling.
The most important thing is to read. This step cannot be skipped.
The next two steps are advanced.
9. Visit a bookstore and buy lots of books
Once you know what you like and enjoy reading, you may want to own physical books—especially the titles that you want to re-read. (Re-reading is a trait of world-class bookworms.)
Warning: Bookstores are dangerous vortexes.
You may consider visiting a bookstore with cash only to limit yourself to a budget or visit thrift book stores to maximize your purchasing power.
Side Note: eReaders are equally dangerous because it’s too easy to click the Buy Now option in the middle of the night when you are half-asleep. Buy ebooks only when you are fully awake to minimize credit card shock.
10. Carry a book with you everywhere
Once you begin acquiring and carrying your own physical books, your transformation into a world-class bookworm is complete. Your bookmarks are tattered, and ideally, ironic or not even bookmarks at all—but random bits of paper.
11. Wear glasses
A world-class bookworm wears reading glasses even if no prescription is required—at least in public. It’s part of the “look.”
That’s it. If you follow these steps, you’ll find yourself among the distinguished group of individuals who call ourselves bookworms.
Like many superheroes, we live in plain sight among mere mortals.
Are you ready to join us?
Start today by exploring some new authors of contemporary YA.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. She aspires to be a world-class bookworm. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
