My ALAN Conference Experience #alan13

Several months ago, Professor Joan Kaywell from the University of South Florida posed a question to me: "What are you going to do to promote your book?" I rambled on about blog posts and library signings, but Joan didn't think that was good enough. She dreamed up a panel for the ALAN Conference called Past and Present: Southern Voices of YA Literature, and away I went to Boston.

The view outside my hotel room window.

Joan moderated a panel that included Alan Gratz, The League of Seven, Tor/Starscape, Myra McEntire, Hourglass (series), Egmont, Beth Revis, Shades of Earth: An Across the Universe Novel, Penguin Young Readers Group, and me, with my book, The Ballad of Jessie Pearl, namelos.

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Each panel member was asked, "What makes your book Southern?" Of course the obvious answer is setting, but our answers were as diverse as our books. Alan Gratz's book is set in an alternate 1870's America that is predominantly Native American. Alan explained how that allowed him to include diverse characters without having to deal with the shame of slavery. Myra McEntire set a contemporary scifi story in a small Southern town. The setting was important to Myra because she spent years being ashamed of being from Appalachia, but she's learned to be proud of where she's from. Beth Revis used the sense of isolation she observed in her students in Cleveland County, NC, to write her scifi story that takes place on a spaceship. And for me, The Ballad of Jessie Pearl represents everything I love about the South: the food, traditions, dialect, and a sense of being an integral part of an extended family. Our presentation highlights just how all-encompassing Southern literature has become. 

My first ALAN Conference was a wonderful experience. All of the educators I spoke with are passionate about Young Adult literature. I even had a rockstar moment, when English teacher Beth Scanlon told me The Ballad of Jessie Pearl made her cry. Nothing could be more gratifying for an author than that.

Past & Present Southern Voices of YA Literature

In November, I will be on a panel at the ALAN Conference called, "Past and Present Southern Voices of YA Literature." Other panel members are Alan Gratz, Beth Revis, and Myra McEntire. The panel will be moderated by Professor Joan Kaywell from the University of South Florida.

Dr. Kaywell says that the first Southern author of YA Literature is Sue Ellen Bridgers. As part of my conference prep, I just read Sue Ellen's book ALL TOGETHER NOW, published by Knopf in 1979. I enjoyed this book very much. Its many honors include: The Christopher Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, National Book Award Finalist, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and an ALA Notable Book.

Reading ALL TOGETHER NOW caused me to reflect on how YA Literature has changed. The book is written in third person, and the grownups don't take a backseat. Twelve-year-old Casey Flanagan goes to stay with her grandparents for the summer because her dad is a pilot in the Korean War. There is a subplot that deals with the romance and wedding of a fifty-year-old couple. Ms. Bridgers even writes a chapter devoted to their ill-fated honeymoon with nary a teenager in sight.

I really came to care about all of the characters in the book, the grownups, as well as Casey herself. My one conundrum is classifying this novel as YA. I can't think of a recently published YA book in which the grownups play more than a nominal part. After reading ALL TOGETHER NOW, I'm not sure that's a good thing. Maybe we're underestimating teens by not providing a more realistic portrayal of family life. What do you think?