Ask the Author: Gordon Jack

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I am a student currently writing my EPQ on realistic fiction and young adult novels. I was wondering what is your opinion on whether realistic fiction and young adult novels sometimes romanticise topics such as mental health, terminal illness and addiction? As you are a highly skilled author, I would love to hear your ideas on the topic. Thank you for your time!

Gordon Jack Hi Ariel - I think this is a really interesting question. As a high school librarian, I read a lot of young adult fiction and most authors take these issues very seriously. We're seeing a lot of stories like this now, I think, because of the times we're living in. I also think publishers are responding to what's selling. After John Green's The Fault in Our Stars became such a critical and commercial success, it seemed the marketplace was flooded with terminal illness stories. Now I'm reading a lot of stories dealing with a variety of mental health issues. Some books are better at depicting the realities of this than others. Neal Shusterman's Challenger Deep, for example, is an amazing YA novel that doesn't romanticize the topic at all. When authors use mental illness as a plot device to create romantic tragedy, however, I feel they can oversimplify serious, complicated conditions and not help readers develop a clearer understanding of how they impact people's lives.

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