Winston Smith, You’re Late For Homeroom

There had to be some mis-communication somewhere; the signup sheet for the “Literary Bheer” with Justine and Scott had only 2 names on it, and one of them was mine. Was I really going to be lucky enough to sit around with a keg of beer and two of my favorite authors all to myself? When I got there (a bit early) it sure looked like it, but there were a dozen people in the room once things got started. Ah, well.

It was still one of the liveliest panels of the weekend, and not just because of the beer.¹

We talked about being teenagers: about what felt important and what you could and couldn’t do and how fiction ties into those issues. It was an outright confessional at times, with people baring their souls about how soul-crushing the whole thing was.

Scott has a theory to explain it: high school is a real-life totalitarian dystopia. You sit in orderly rows, have to stay quiet unless you’re spoken to, a bell rings and you move like cattle to another prescribed place… Some schools even make you dress the same. I was in high school in 1984 and nobody ever made that connection, but it certainly makes sense.

So how do you connect to that as a writer? By involving the themes of adolescence, then personifying them in your characters. Everyone’s individual experience was different, but many of us dealt with the same broad issues: powerlessness, confusion, self-loathing, envy, claustrophobia. We wondered if there was something wrong with us because we didn’t feel as happy as everyone else seemed to be. Our parents and teachers telling us these were the best times of our lives and “just wait ’til you get to the real world” didn’t help, either.

Sometimes, just letting an outcast know that they’re not the only one to ever feel this way is the greatest gift you can give them.

I was a wonderful, heart-felt experience for us all. Oprah has nothing on us for emotional content.

Got a couple other book recommendations to add to the ones from the “Golden Age of YA” panel, too:

HOLES – Louis Sachar IRONSIDE – Holly Black (third in a series that starts with TITHE)

Next up, give me Shredded Mini-Wheats or give me death! 30% more fiber than your regular panel.

1. There was only a pitcher for the lot of us [↩]