As summer comes to a close, we here at Young Adulting cannot wait for another fantastic year full of books, books, and—you guessed it—more books! Here’s what we’ve been up to since I last wrote:
The First Page Feature is a chance for emerging writers to feature the first page of their works-in-progress (ranging from Middle Grade to New Adult) in our monthly newsletter. Interested in featuring your first pages? Read our First Page Feature guidelines here, and submit here!
August’s First Page Feature is Shiren Djorgee:
Shiren Djorgee is a Ghanaian-Canadian writer going into her second year of Psychology at UBC. Her current work-in-progress is a post-apocalyptic literary novel documenting a journey across Canada through video transcripts. When she’s not writing, she’s going down YouTube rabbit holes, lamenting the current state of the world, and romancing vampires in Baldur’s Gate 3.
A Mayfly Caught in Amber
(The camera starts recording the interior of a dingy basement. Boxes are stacked high to the ceilings; rusted appliances are stacked beside them. The only thing lighting the interior is a single lightbulb attached to the ceiling, flickering with an electrical cough.
Footsteps thud against the wooden floor of the basement as a boy rounds the side of the camera. He sits on a box in between the pillars of boxes. He sighs deeply, adjusts his toque and flashes a smile at the camera.)
[Devin]: God, I’m not sure how to start this. Um…hello.
(He waves)
My name is Devin Liu, and I’m using this camera to document my final days.
I’m sure you’re wondering—you being the one discovering this camera and my dead body—why was this idiot filming himself instead of leaving?
(He rubs the back of his neck)
Well, I’m not sure either. All I know is that if I keep this all in my head, I’ll explode. If even one person sees this and connects with this movie somehow, that’s enough.
(He clears his throat)
This is my 30th day of quarantine since the ceasefire was announced. I’ve been down here longer than that, but that was when bombs were still falling like a Michael Bay movie. All I’ve been hearing nowadays are my own thoughts.
(He gives a weak smile)
My mom always said talking to yourself was a thing crazy people did. At first, I didn’t believe her. But now?
(He shakes his head.)
Never mind that. I don’t have much else to say. I’ll keep you filled in.
***
(When the camera turns on, Devin is sitting on a dusty mattress that indents with his weight. A scrappy blanket is crumpled at the edge.)
[Devin]: This is my 31st day in quarantine. Oh wait, no, my 32nd. It’s 1 AM, bear with me.
Nothing eventful has happened, so I thought I’d explain why I chose to make this movie. Why this and not a diary?
My whole life I’ve loved film. Actually, ‘love’ is an understatement. My dad always said it was half of what I think about, and maybe he was right
(He shrugs).
Before all this…war stuff, I was planning to apply to film schools in New York and California. Make it into a career, you know? Of course, with all the bombing, that’s not realistic anymore.
(He chuckles)
But I thought I’d give my dream one last hurrah. A chance to make something of myself before the inevitable.
(He grows silent for a moment, his face slackening. Then he stretches his hand behind the camera.)
That’s enough for today. Don’t want this to get too depressing.
What drew you to writing for younger audiences?
I always read when I was a kid. My whole family are readers, and I didn’t always have much to do as a kid so that was my main form of entertainment. It got to the point that in school I always read above my reading level. Books helped me to escape, and I wanted to replicate that feeling through my own stories. When I was younger, I would always try writing stories heavily based on the ones I read, but would never get past a few pages. Writer’s block was a major issue for me until I was about 16. Needless to say, I was really happy to finish a full first draft of a novel for the first time. Stories for younger audiences have a sense of wonder that a lot of stories about adults don’t and writing them helps me process out my rocky adolescence.
What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
My favourite part is honestly getting to write those scenes that I’ve been planning since I started writing the book. I lean toward being a pantser, so my outlines are super bare-bones to the point of near absurdity. I remember one point of it was literally like ‘Character A and Character B have an important conversation about something’. I didn’t know what the heck they needed to talk about, just that they needed to talk for the sake of character development! So, I fill in a lot as I go, but it’s super fun creating whole scenes on the fly based on these simple sentences. But there were a few pivotal scenes that I planned from the beginning. I had notes about these scenes in my notes app almost a year before I wrote them, so I was really anticipating writing them. It was almost like waiting for a concert you paid for months in advance. Bringing these scenes out of my head and giving them life on the page is the most gratifying experience ever, and as a result, these are probably my best scenes.
What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
It would have to be ‘write what you know’. At first, I didn’t get this advice, because I was like ‘Hell no, I want to write about cyborgs!’ It seemed limiting to me at first, because if taken literally then it would mean that most of us could only write contemporary novels, and I mainly write speculative fiction. But now I realize that the advice is more referring to adding a human element to every setting your work takes place in. For example, my WIP takes place in a post-apocalyptic near future caused by war. I am obviously not in this situation and hopefully will never be (though things aren’t looking that promising right now), so I can’t relate to that part. However, I can relate to the grief that the characters feel for their lost loved ones. I can relate to the feelings of inadequacy that they feel. I can relate to the familial bonds that the characters share. I can relate to their neurodivergent traits and how they navigate the world. Those things don’t go away just because society has collapsed. I can connect with these characters this way, and in doing so put enough of my own experiences and the experiences of my peers into them. I hope that readers can connect with the characters too, even though their circumstances may be foreign to them.
If you are interested in contacting Shiren Djorgee, please email young.adulting@ubc.ca.
YAing Updates
We’ve published some marvellous reviews since our last update. Here’s a recap:
- “A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey tackles grief, relationships, and family dynamics through the lens of a teenage girl who just lost her mother to dementia and is on a path to losing herself, too.” Elita Menezes reviews A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey
- “The emotional core of Tig lies in its exploration of identity and belonging. Tig’s journey towards healing is not linear; it’s a messy, unpredictable path marked by setbacks and small victories.” Yanya Bhatia reviews Tig by Heather Smith
- “When Alina is selected to join her class’s advanced math group, she is faced with the best and the worst of her new school. Between incessant bullying, the struggle of trying to impress a group of friends from a completely foreign culture, auditions for the school play, and an embarrassing last name, Alina has a whole lot on her plate.” Ella Richards review The Unlovable Alina Butt by Ambreen Butt-Hussain
As always, check back every Thursday and every other Tuesday for more reviews of upcoming and new releases.
Industry News
FOLD is hosting a webinar on Diversifying Books in Schools and Libraries on August 27, 2024 at 12:00 pm EST. In this session geared towards educators and librarians, staff at the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) discuss common questions surrounding the important work of diversifying bookshelves. Check out the registration page for more details!
Applications for Annick Press’ mentorship program open on September 3rd. This yearly mentorship program supports works in progress of emerging, underrepresented writers whose access to children’s publishing may have been limited. Applications for the 2024–25 mentorship will open on September 3, 2024. Keep checking this page for updated information.
Annick Press is also open for submissions of picture books, early chapter books, middle grade fiction, YA fiction, graphic novels, and non-fiction for kids of all ages. They also encourage illustrators to submit their portfolios for consideration. Check out their submission guidelines here!
As always, please do send us your news related to children’s and young adult literature at young.adulting@ubc.ca so we can feature them in future newsletters. Our newsletter is published on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. And remember to keep up with us on Twitter and Instagram!
Take care, and happy reading,
The Young Adulting Editors
YOUNG ADULTING 