16 days to Jumpstart the World!
Catherine Ryan Hyde
But who counts. Right?
On the 12th of October, my new Young Adult novel, Jumpstart the World will...well, hopefully it will do what the title suggests. In a small way. Or a medium way. Or...well, I don't know what it will do out in the world. I just hope people will find it and read it.
It's a novel about a teenage girl who falls in love with an older guy before realizing he's transgender. Which means, as a sort of follow-up for my "Speak Up About Speak" blog post, it's the kind of book the Wesley Scrogginses of the word would probably love to see banned. I'm not sure how someone would go about banning it, as it's about emotion, not sex. But I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried. But I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it, heartened by the knowledge that the book community stands up and speaks loudly for the right to read.
I hope you'll take a look at the Jumpstart the World book page to learn more about it. Transgender individuals don't have too many heroes and role models in fiction, so I couldn't be happier to bring Frank into the world. Which I will, in only 16 days.
Forgot to mention that, after an extended period of no traveling, I'll be flying to Nashville for the Southern Festival of Books on the 8th-10th of October. I'll be doing a two-person panel with Ellen Wittlinger, author of Parrotfish and numerous other YA novels. The presentation is called "Accept Me," about transgender characters in YA fiction. More information is available at Humanities Tennessee online.