#five in five

In this week’s 5 in 5, we’re chatting with Chelsea Pitcher (chelseapitcher) ! Pitcher is the author of The Last Changeling and the feminist The S-Word. Can you describe yourself in five words? Fantastical, analytical, loving, raging revolutionary. What are your five favorite moments in The Last Changeling? The S-Word? The Last Changeling:

The first chapter, where the dark faerie princess trades places with a human.

The part where the mortal boy lets the faerie princess sleep over at his house (thinking she’s a human runaway) and in the morning, his mom comes knocking at his door…

The story within the story, which reveals the history of Faerie, and how faeries came to exist.

The battle scene.

The kiss!

The S-Word:

The chapter where I got to explore what I call the slut/rapist dichotomy (the way society bends over backward to believe someone is a “slut,” with very little evidence, and conversely bends over backward to believe someone isn’t a rapist, even with plenty of evidence).

The moment when Jesse and Angie, two people who’ve never really let anyone in, start to confide in each other.

The part where Angie totally flips out at a party, but it’s all an act, and the reader knows, but the characters don’t.

The moment when the Big Secret is revealed.

……. The kiss!

Where are your five favorite fairy tales or myths? I love fairy tale retellings that explore a previously unexamined point of view. So The Mists of Avalon and Wicked are at the top of my list. Also Francesca Lia Block’s “Charm” (in The Rose and the Beast), which is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty where two girls fall in love. Beyond that, I pretty much love "The Little Mermaid" in all its incarnations. And my fifth choice is something I’m still looking for: a fairy tale where the girl doesn’t have to give up everything for love. What are five things you'd like to see more of in YA?

Intersectionality! Characters who are (for example) bi AND PoC, trans AND Pagan, disabled AND queer.  

Queer teens in monogamous relationships, OR whose storylines don’t really revolve around love. Queer people so often get labeled (by others) based on the relationships they’re in, but you can be a bi girl with a girlfriend or a boyfriend, you can be poly and single, you can be pansexual in a lifelong relationship. (Obviously, YA doesn’t generally cover lifelong things, but I want to see more of the others.) I want to see the spectrum!

Mysteries with lots of suspects and a shocking twist (or three). I LOVE twists.

Humor, both light and dark. It can be like Wintergirls, using humor to navigate very serious, difficult situations, or like Beauty Queens, which does have some serious aspects, but is more light and fun throughout.

Books that blend sci-fi and fantasy (like His Dark Materials blended magic with quantum physics).

In this week’s 5 in 5, we’re chatting with Christi J. Grey! Grey is the author of the upcoming YA fantasy Grey, whose cover we debuted on YA Interrobang!

Describe yourself in five words. Jesus follower, theatrical, geek, Anglophile.

What are your favorite moments in Grey?

Any scene between Sebastian and his brother Hugo in the tattoo shop.

Josephine and Sebastian rehearsing for the school play.

The moment in the dark alley.

Sneaking into the Fairgrounds at night.

The ending.

What are five of your favorite non-book characters?

The Doctor from BBC’s amazing television program Doctor Who.

Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Kurt Wagner from the Marvel’s X-Men comics.

Doyle from Josh Whedon’s television program Angel.

Agent Melinda May from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

What are five things you’d like to see more of in YA?

More broad snapshots of teenage life. (There’s more to high school students than is sometimes portrayed in books, television, and movies)

More wholesome characters. (Sometimes YA tries to be so edgy and over the line that some characters no longer feel genuine.)

More well written ensemble casts.

More fantasy. I know there are thousands, but I’m always looking for the next cool thing.

More decent, older role models.

What are five YA books you’d recommend to friends and fans?

The Giver by Lois Lowry. (It was the first dystopian novel I ever read, and I still enjoy it)

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. (Great ensemble cast work)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano (An interesting dystopian take on a story)

Gone by Lisa McMann (There was just something that pulled me in to this story)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (a tough read, but really thought provoking)

In this week's 5 in 5, we're chatting with Amy Lukavics! Lukavics is the debut author of the upcoming Daughters Unto Devils.

Can you describe yourself in five words? Someone who enjoys simple pleasures.

What are your five favorite moments in Daughters Unto Devils? The moments involving secrecy, hysteria, isolation, creepy imagery, and death. Where are five things you didn't expect to happen when you started writing Daughters Unto Devils?

That writing certain parts of it would make my skin crawl.

That it would be the project that caused me to fall head-over-heels in love with writing horror.

That it would undergo more revisions than any of my previous novels had.

That it would eventually sell.

That an editor I followed/interacted with/liked on Twitter would be the one who bought the book.

What are five things you'd like to see more of in YA?

Deeply wicked female villains.

Complicated sibling relationships.

Horror that pushes boundaries and expands the genre.

Toxic/dangerous friendships.

Disturbing main characters.

What are five YA books you'd recommend to friends and fans?

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

In this week’s 5 in 5, we’re chatting with Mackenzi Lee! Lee is the author of This Monstrous Thing, which comes out this September

Can you describe yourself in five words?

Punctual

Dedicated

Fangirl

Neurotic

Enthusiastic

What are your five favorite moments in This Monstrous Thing?

The first line

The ice skating scene

The Young Frankenstein reference I managed to sneak in

Chapter 17 (spoilers!)

All the times I got to write about mechanical things. Because the only thing I love more than mechanical things is writing about them.

Where are your five favorite things about Frankenstein, which clearly played a hand in inspiring This Monstrous Thing?

Oh, I always want to talk about Frankenstein. Though it's murderously hard to pick only five things.

The story of how the book came to be written by Mary Shelley when she was nineteen years old, and that she wrote it as a science creation myth, and basically started the genre of science fiction with this book. I tell the story of teenage genius Mary Shelley and her brilliant book that changed the world to anyone who underestimates the power of teenage girls.  

I love that the novel explores the idea of what makes a person monstrous, and what makes us human.

The moral ambiguity! Every character has a lot of good and a lot of bad inside of them. I never know who to root for. Kind of everyone and kind of no one.  

This line: “Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity and ruin.” Probably I will get this tattooed across my face someday.

EVERYTHING. I love Frankenstein so much.

What are five things you'd like to see more of in YA?

Sibling stories

Cyborgs

Novels with LGBTQ main characters that aren’t contemporary realism

Historical fiction that isn’t set in England (but also just MOAR HISTORICAL FICTION)

Airships

What are five YA books you'd recommend to friends and fans?

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Jackaby by William Ritter

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Bloody Jack by LA Meyer

(also Frankenstein, but technically that isn’t YA)

In this week’s 5 in 5, we’re chatting with Robin Talley (robintalley) ! Talley is the author of Lies We Tell Ourselves and the upcoming What We Left Behind.

Can you describe yourself in five words? Plotter, dreamer, writer, reader, procrastinator.

What are your five favorite moments in Lies We Tell Ourselves and your upcoming What We Left Behind?

For Lies We Tell Ourselves:

Sarah sings at a major school concert

Sarah makes an important realization about her relationship with God

Linda writes the most important editorial of her life

Ruth and Sarah try on lipstick before a big date

Sarah and Linda hide in an alley and [spoiler]

For What We Left Behind:

Gretchen and Toni’s eyes meet for the first time

Toni is welcomed into a new chosen family at college

Gretchen finds her new best friend in a cloud of smoke outside her dorm

Toni tries using a binder for the first time and LOVES it

Gretchen and Toni team up to tell Toni’s sister that Toni’s trans

Where are five places you would visit, if you could?

Hawaii, because I desperately need warmth after this winter

Italy, because yummy pasta, pizza, wine, etc.

Barcelona, because I really liked the movie

Belize, because it looked cool on House Hunters International

Hogwarts, because obviously

What are five things you'd like to see more of in YA?

Intersectionality

Queer girl lead characters (especially bi & trans characters)

Non-U.S. settings and non-U.S.-based characters

Romances that are fun and positive but not intended to be lifelong

Voices that sound like kids you’ve actually met

What are five YA books you'd recommend to friends and fans?

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

Orleans by Sherri Smith

Far From You by Tess Sharpe

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson