Comments for Sarah Ockler, Author

Comment on Q&A by Kiera

Kiera — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:56:51 +0000

Dear Sarah, when will Twenty Boy Summer or Fixing Delilah be available as an e-book on amazon? I absolutely loved Bittersweet and have been waiting to be able to buy your other books as well.

Comment on Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! by Heather Zundel

Heather Zundel — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:26:43 +0000

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu has an adopted girl from India as the main character and the story isn’t about it at all. It is beautifully written and shows her ethnicity on the front cover. I loved the story.

Comment on Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! by Talking About Race » Sommer Leigh

Talking About Race » Sommer Leigh — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:01:23 +0000

[...] Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! [...]

Comment on Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! by Bookish News & Publishing Tidbits 23 May 2012 | Read in a Single Sitting - Book reviews and new books

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:56:21 +0000

[...] Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! ”Our society has created and perpetuated the expectation that, with a few notable exceptions, YA books with non-white characters either tackle a social injustice head on or strip out the character’s entho/cultural/gender/etc. uniqueness altogether. The black character, then, must either struggle under the weight of “the black experience” or blend in so completely that the only black thing about him is his coffee-coloured skin (which is of course described with a frequency the white character’s “peaches and cream” coloured skin is not). The whole conundrum is compounded by the fact that plenty of cranky grownups still cling to the misguided belief that YA exists solely to teach kids lessons. The result, if the Atlantic Wire article is indicative of the larger problem, is that whenever we write a non-white (or a non-hetero, non-insert-socio-ethno-psychological-category-here) character, we’re taking it upon ourselves to write the non-whatever “experience.” Whatever else happens in the story, my gay character should have a difficult coming out story, and he should be bullied so that I can send a message that homophobia is wrong. My black characters should be subject to racism so I can preach about diversity and tolerance.” [...]

Comment on Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! by Stacy Whitman's Grimoire » “It’s Complicated” at CBC Diversity

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:23:27 +0000

[...] Sarah Ockler: Race in YA Lit: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, YA Authors [at her own blog] [...]

Comment on Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors! by jenlanebooks

jenlanebooks — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:22:54 +0000

This post ROCKED! Loved what you said about writing good stories for teens and about White people (like me) struggling to describe a Black person. My first YA just launched and my hero is Biracial. I don’t strive to teach a moral lesson from his skin color, but I do explore a theme of feeling like you don’t fit in (which resonates for just about every teen, I believe). He’s Biracial, his girlfriend’s father is in prison, his male teammate is gay, and his female teammate is overweight. They all struggle with being “fish out of water” in this swimming story. Thank you for the thought-provoking post.

Comment on Prom Dates to Die For: An Interview with Jenny Peterson by valerierlawson

valerierlawson — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:43:36 +0000

excellent interview. i didn’t go to my own prom, but i would go to a jenny prom.

Comment on Prom Dates to Die For: An Interview with Jenny Peterson by Malena Lott (@malenalott)

Malena Lott (@malenalott) — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:01:06 +0000

Great interview! I love your humor, Jenny!

Comment on Q&A by Rabayl

Rabayl — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:28:08 +0000

I love all three of your books SO much! I literally like finished each one in about a day! U was wondering if you’re going to be writing anymore books in the near future?

Comment on Q&A by sarah

sarah — Sat, 12 May 2012 18:59:39 +0000

hey jessie the song was written for the book by alex her husband.