Note sull'episodio
For today's episode, YA author Erik J. Brown sits down with TW Creative Director John Vogel for Banned Books Week. Erik’s books have been banned in many school libraries around the US for LGBTQ+ themes, and just this past year the Malaysian government banned two of his books for the entire country.
The action and settings of Erik J. Brown’s books are all very different, but they all have one aspect in common: teenagers learning how to navigate romantic feelings towards a member of the same gender.
His bestseller All That’s Left in the World and its sequel The Only Light Left Burning take place in a post-apocalyptic world that’s been decimated by a Superflu, Lose You to Find Me is more of a basic rom-com, and Better the Devil is a thriller where the main characters are trying to solve the 10-year-old case of a missing child.
These books are all geared towards a young adult audience, a time period that can be very confusing for relationships in general. Finding affirmation — even within a book — surrounding feelings that might be guarded for social self-preservation could be a lifeline for kids that age.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees.