It’s Okay to Be You: A Guest Post From P.S. I Miss You Author Jen Petro-Roy
P.S. I Miss You
Hardcover $16.99
P.S. I Miss You
Hardcover $16.99
I have a problem with the term “classics,” as it applies to children’s books.
I have a problem with the term “classics,” as it applies to children’s books.
I’m not saying that I don’t like these classics, that I don’t still have battered copies of my childhood darlings. My favorite book of all time is Anne of Green Gables. I devoured The Secret Garden as a girl, and had stacks of Ramona books in my room. These books still circulate. They’re still sold. They still entertain and have lessons to teach.
But although they may be “classics,” they’re not necessarily representative. The books that I grew up with were mostly populated by white girls, and if people of color existed, they were placed in the position of “other.” The books of my childhood didn’t acknowledge the possibility that characters could be anything other than cisgender and heterosexual. They rarely confronted the fact that there are an abundance of religions in this world, and that sometimes, people choose not to believe in religion altogether.
Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables Series #1)
Paperback $7.99
Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables Series #1)
In Stock Online
Paperback $7.99
When I read books as a middle-schooler, I saw a lot of kids just like me. When my daughters first venture into the middle grade section of libraries and bookstores, I want them to see kids that look, feel, believe, love, crush, and identify in any number of ways.
When I read books as a middle-schooler, I saw a lot of kids just like me. When my daughters first venture into the middle grade section of libraries and bookstores, I want them to see kids that look, feel, believe, love, crush, and identify in any number of ways.
My debut novel, P.S. I Miss You, tells the story of twelve-year-old Evie, whose older sister Cilla leaves home to stay with her great-aunt after getting pregnant in high school—and after months of fighting with her devoutly Catholic parents. After Cilla leaves, Evie copes by writing letters. She writes about how hard seventh-grade is. She writes about drifting apart from her best friends. She writes about June, the new girl in school, the one who’s funny and silly and pretty. She writes, in letters, the thoughts she can’t say out loud—that Evie is developing a crush on June.
The Secret Garden (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
Paperback $6.95
The Secret Garden (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
By
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Introduction
Jill Muller
Paperback $6.95
P.S. I Miss You is about discovering who you are apart from the influences of your parents. It’s about questioning the beliefs you were raised with and defining your life on your own terms. It’s about realizing that it’s okay to be a girl crushing on a girl. That it’s okay to question God.
P.S. I Miss You is about discovering who you are apart from the influences of your parents. It’s about questioning the beliefs you were raised with and defining your life on your own terms. It’s about realizing that it’s okay to be a girl crushing on a girl. That it’s okay to question God.
It’s okay to be you.
Middle-grade readers need to know that it’s okay to be exactly who they are. To do this, they not only need to see themselves represented in books, they also need to see to see people who are not like them at all. They need to see everyone represented in the same accepting, “this is how the world is” way.
Classics have their place, and many new works of middle grade literature are already being celebrated as “modern classics.” But sometimes I think we need to get rid of that word altogether. The world is forever changing. It’s becoming more diverse and accepting by the moment. Some “classic” attitudes and viewpoints were harmful and damaging.
Let’s read diversely and inclusively. Let’s read for the future.
P.S. I Miss You is on B&N bookshelves now.