HYPERTEXT Interviews Laurie Lawlor & Stephanie Kuehnert

By Diamond Dees

While censors and book-banners continue to suffer from arrested development, young adult fiction keeps evolving.  After all, young adult fiction tackles the same themes as so-called ‘adult’ fiction — questions of sexuality, depression, love, peer pressure, illness, divorce, violence, drug/alcohol abuse, bullying — while keeping a young audience in mind.  A number of beloved books, including Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein are just a few of the most frequently banned young adult books.

So, is there such a thing as a young adult book that is too dark or too mature? HYPERTEXT talks to writers Laurie Lawlor and Stephanie Kuehnert about the intricacies of writing young adult fiction.

DD: Is censorship still hard to deal with when writing young adult fiction?  Judy Blume broke some barriers.  Does censorship still exist? (more…)

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