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Dear Reader,
I am on vacation today with Seth and Bailey, my two teenage grandchildren from Wisconsin. They only get to visit for 10 days once a year, so I wanted to spend every minute with them. Author Beth Kephart has graciously offered to fill in for me today. Welcome Beth, send her an email. She answers all of her mail and she is giving away six books. Her email is after today's guest column. Thanks Beth.--Suzanne Beecher
Today's Guest Column...
I wish you could meet them. I wish you could come to know them as I have come to know them--through words and over time. When I was asked six years ago if I would consider writing novels for young adults, I didn't know precisely whom I'd be writing for. I thought of the young writers who had gathered with me in a garden to write villanelles, short stories, cartoon strips. I remembered myself as a young, word-hungry teen. But I didn't imagine just how graced I would be by the young women and, occasionally, young men who have reached out to me following the publication of my novels about teens on the brink of finding themselves, or reckoning with loss, or searching for a reason to keep living.
Younger readers are just like the rest of us. They read to understand. They read to know beyond themselves. They read with an explicit hunger for adventure, wisdom, surprise, escape. Younger readers are in the midst of deciding who they might be, what risks they might take, what is worth loving, and what can finally be forsaken. It is a profound privilege to write books that young people might read, but it is an even greater privilege to come to know them--to be the recipient of the poems they write, the photographs they take, the comments they post on my Facebook page and blog, the videos they film in their dorm rooms with friends. "I heart you," they say, and I heart them right back.
"This is where I am," young readers write to tell me. "This is where I'm going." And I follow their stories, from middle school to high school, through the college application process, and on through college. In between they send me treasures from their travels or songs they like to sing. They offer a tour of their own college campuses to my niece. They send me course descriptions or beginnings of papers. They send me, as I have said, those poems. And oh, I love their poems.
There are too many broken things in this world. The earth shatters. A tree falls. The rain refuses to come, or it comes in a drowning hurry. Young people are our bedrock; they are our future. I marvel at them, and I learn from them. I wait for their next crazy colorful "I am here," and I wonder what in the world I did to deserve it. It is a marvelous thing, I think, that here at Dear Reader, a special room has been crafted for these very special people. I'm honored and delighted to share that space with you today.
Beth Kephart
Beth would love to hear from you. She is giving away 6 of her books, and she answers all of her mail. Contact her at: [email protected]
ABOUT Beth Kephart...
Beth is an award-winning author of a dozen books, including the young adult novels Undercover, House of Dance, Nothing but Ghosts, The Heart Is Not a Size, and Dangerous Neighbors. You Are My Only, a young adult novel about a terrible kidnapping and its consequences, is due out in October 2011. Beth blogs about the reading and writing life at http://beth-kephart.blogspot.com/
Enter Beth's Six Book Giveaway! You could win a copy of one of these wonderful books: Dangerous Neighbors, The Heart Is Not a Size, Nothing but Ghosts, House, Undercover, or a galley copy of the upcoming release, You Are My Only. For a chance to win, email Beth at [email protected]
AUTHORBUZZ:
* To read more about SUNSET BRIDGE, and to enter this author's signed book and Key lime cookies giveaway, click on the link below, then click on SUNSET BRIDGE.
Emilie Richards, today's featured author, writes...
Former socialite Tracy Deloche has nothing to her name but five ramshackle beach cottages on Florida's Gulf Coast and the unlikely friendships she's formed with her tenants. Now, just as she's adjusting to her changed circumstances, she discovers she's pregnant, but the man in her life hasn't mentioned love or commitment.
To read more about SUNSET BRIDGE goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Beth, this is gorgeous. I think one reason I've taken such a liking to you (beyond your amazing work) is your commitment to young people. Thank you for making a difference in so many lives.
Posted by: Caroline Starr Rose | July 05, 2011 at 10:12 AM
I <3 your last paragraph in particular.
Posted by: Beth F | July 05, 2011 at 11:30 AM
I really adore this post...what a great tribute to young readers. Thanks for the guest post.
Posted by: Serena | July 05, 2011 at 11:45 AM
Thank you, Caroline, Beth F., and Serena—and all of you Dear Readers who have been sending me your notes. What a welcoming group of readers you all are.
Posted by: Beth Kephart | July 05, 2011 at 12:37 PM