Hi everyone! Today, we have a tour stop for Sourcebooks' My Life After Now book tour. The book is by Jessica Verdi. Check out a special guest post from the author below :)
Topic:
Though MY LIFE AFTER NOW covers serious issues, there is always an underlying feeling of hope, lightness, and even humor. In this post, Jessica comments on how she takes an extremely serious subject and gives it an upbeat/positive perspective.
My writer friends always tell me they can spot a “Jess book” a mile away.
[Jess Book (jes-boo k) noun: A young adult novel that approaches a super serious subject in a light, hopeful way.]
My Life After Now is the epitome of a Jess book. Because it’s about HIV/AIDS, it is of course extremely serious and sad at times, and some would say even envelope-pushing, as HIV—particularly HIV contracted from unprotected sex—isn’t a topic that has been covered very much (or at all) in YA thus far.
But here’s the thing: the book is not just about HIV. It’s about a character. A character who has a very full life. And I felt strongly that if I was going to write a story about this issue, I had to do my character justice—she couldn’t just be a walking statistic.
My main character, Lucy, is very involved in theater. So one of the main settings of the book is her high school drama club—and all that entails. A Diva with a capital D, a Broadway chorus boy turned director, and the gorgeous male lead who all the girls—and some of the boys—lust after. Lucy also has some amazing friends—from hopeless romantic Courtney to sassy, boy-crazy Max. And then Lucy meets Roxie—a girl who’s so damn upbeat all the time that you’d never guess how tough her life has really been.
Additionally, I tried to infuse even the most serious of scenes with bits of lightness and humor, to balance out the intensity of the moment and explore what a teenage girlmight actually be thinking in these sorts of situations. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Lucy is in line, waiting for her HIV results. The woman in line ahead of her asks Lucy to watch her two little kids while she goes in to get her own results, and suddenly Lucy, who has never babysat before, finds herself having to rein in two very lively, curious young children while she’s waiting for what may be the biggest news of her life.
Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy Lucy’s story!
Check out what the book is about! :)
Title: My Life After Now
Author: Jessica Verdi
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected Publication: April 2, 2013
Lucy just had the worst week ever. Seriously, mega bad. And suddenly, it\'s all too muchshe wants out. Out of her house, out of her head, out of her life. She wants to be a whole new Lucy. So she does something the old Lucy would never dream of. And now her life will never be the same. Now, how will she be able to have a boyfriend? What will she tell her friends? How will she face her family? Now her life is completely different...every moment is a gift. Because now she might not have many moments left.
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