Sondra asked Jennifer Donnelly:

My son wants to know why you dedicated Lost in a Book to "every girl who wants to write her own story"? He wants to know why you didn't want to include boys who want to write their own story? He is hoping you dedicate your next book to all people who want to write stories.

Jennifer Donnelly Thanks for your question. It’s a good one. The character of Belle, an 18th century girl with few options other than marriage, was very much on my mind as I wrote Lost in a Book. A probable purpose of the original Beauty and the Beast tale – to prepare teenage girls for arranged marriages to men they may or may not have even known – was also weighing on me. I felt very heavy-hearted about the generations of girls and women who came before me who did not have the opportunity to write their own stories – and I also felt very aware that while a great deal has changed since the 1700s, there is still work to be done here in the US and around the world to end discrimination against women and girls. For those reasons, the book was dedicated to girls wishing to write their own stories.

That said, I hear your son and I understand his point. Please tell him that my next book, Stepsister, has this dedication: To everyone who’s ever felt that they’re not enough.

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