L. Lee Butler

We invite Courtney Summers to the blog to discuss researching and writing mental illness, disability in her zombie novel, and the lack of diversity in apocalyptic narratives.

A well-researched exploration of how mental illness can interact with queer identity, especially for those just discovering themselves during a volatile time of life and those with less well understood identities.

Romanticization is a common element of mental illness narratives, including many in the YA category; what kind of message does that send?

After our rave review of Cindy Rodriguez’s debut When Reason Breaks — about two very different girls who are both dealing with depression — we were excited to invite both reviewer and author to the website this week to discuss the book further.

A girl who didn’t want to survive in the regular world is one of a few survivors of the zombie apocalypse, trapped with classmates in their school. But the warped perspective that Sloane’s depression gives to her situation is what makes this book special.

The parallel journeys of Emily and Elizabeth allow author Rodriguez to explore two different expressions of depression, and show her deep understanding of the manifold ways that depression affects people.