Interview and Giveaway with THE SMARTEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD!

So my wife is a pretty smart cookie. We were sitting around talking about female characters in novels for teens the other night.  (Gretchen is an Associate Editor splitting her time between Atheneum and McElderry. She's also a super rad blogger with her first book on sewing coming out in 2012)  Gretchen made the observation that sometimes writers think they're writing a "strong female character" when all they're really doing is writing a "girl who punches people."

Such a great observation and also a great reminder that it was way past time that I invited Gretchen over to the League for a little interview.

While she's here she's also going to provide a giveaway! Just comment on this post for a chance to win an ARC of Blood Red Road, the highly anticipated post-apocalyptic novel by Moira Young coming out this June.


So what's the difference between a strong female character and a girl who punches people?
Hi everyone! Thanks for having me.

The problem for me is the way a female character's violent actions can be read as "kickass" and therefore feminist. It's a pretty reductive way of thinking. Since The Hunger Games trilogy gained popularity, I've seen a lot of writers attempting a Katniss-like character but only really succeeding in writing a cookie cutter with all the trappings of a "tough girl": weapons, impulsive violence, etc.  (Oh, and big boots! They always wear boots.) I feel like we've reached a plateau where strong female characters fit into this bad girl template, but it's time to take it a step further. I think the most feminist YA book I've ever read was The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Frankie is tough, but her strength comes from her intellect. Ironically, I think she's one of the angriest characters I've read.

On the other hand, some of my favorite female characters are known to throw a punch every now and then. There's a reason we love girls who hit things, especially as women. If you're brought up to be a "good girl," I think it's a sort of superhero fantasy; a vicarious acting-out. The real issue is when writers use impulsive violence as a shorthand for a strong girl character.


Why do you find the "girl who punches things" such  a troubling archetype?

Besides being a simplified glorification of violence, what disturbs me most is how sexualized it is. It's a pretty typical straight male fantasy, as far as I can tell. (Think Lara Croft or Sucker Punch for some pop culture examples.) I was recently at a cover shoot with a beautiful model. We'd toyed around with the idea of her holding a crossbow on the cover (though we later ditched that direction) and you should have seen the reaction from the men in the studio when this gorgeous model started posing with the crossbow. It was kind of icky, actually.

I think we have to be really careful with strong girl characters to make sure they're not simply a product of male fantasy, but an organic extension of the anger and raw emotion one can feel as a teenage girl.


How'd you get involved in Children's books? What do you think it is that draws you to them as opposed to adult lit?

I started my publishing career at Harcourt about 7 years ago after working as a manager in a bookstore. Seeing the YA boom as a bookseller made me positive that I wanted to work in children's. I think it's awesome to edit this relatively young category that's always growing and figuring itself out.


Any books coming up that you're particularly excited about?

I'm extremely excited about Blood Red Road by Moira Young coming out this June. It's a very raw, bleak, post-apocalyptic novel about a girl who is both incredibly violent and a well-developed character. (So I guess you can have both!) There's also The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer Holm, releasing in April. It's her sequel to the fantastic Our Only May Amelia, about a plucky heroine growing up as the only girl  in a Washington State settlement in 1900. 

For fall, I'm psyched for The Pledge by Kimberly Derting, which is set in a dystopian society where only women can rule, interestingly. This is further off, but I'm in the thick of working on a fantastic debut novel for 2012 called Smashed by Lisa Luedeke, which deals with alcoholism and sexual assault in a really dark, moving way.


Ok. You knew it was coming. Here's the obligatory "what kind of things are you looking for right now?" question. Out with it.


Dark and fast-paced YA. Sweet, classic middle-grade. That pretty much sums it up!




Thanks babe! Great interview!


To enter for a chance to win Moira Young's Blood Red Road just leave us a comment. I'll announce the winner right here next Wednesday.

Jeff Hirsch

The Eleventh Plague

Coming from Scholastic, September 1, 2011

Find me at jeff-hirsch.com and @jeff_hirsch