A Dream Come True

Jan 27, 2012 by Brigitte B. Zabak

!!! - Photo by BrigitteZ

You might not know this about me, but I am kind of in love with YA literature. I read like mad as a child, as a teen, and the love of reading followed well into my adulthood. I often re-read the books I loved as a kid; reading them again gives me comfort. However, over the last several years, I find myself devouring books by contemporary YA authors that I wished had been around when I was in my teens.

I know debate exists about the literary legitimacy of YA lit, but I’m pretty sure that same debate could exist for just about any genre of literature. The fact of the matter is, I love a good story and sometimes I still feel like a confused, clumsy 16-year-old anyway.

One of the YA authors I admire most is John Green. Some of you may know his writing, others of you may be familiar with his name because of the work John and his brother, Hank have done via their YouTube channel,  Vlogbrothers. I admire John for a number of reasons:

1) He is, quite simply, a fantastic writer. I genuinely enjoy his writing style, his humor, and his ability to ponder issues that are actually important to not only teens, but us big kids, too.

2) I love that by being who he is naturally, which happens to be a fabulous, nerdy guy who writes great books, he has empowered thousands of other people to be okay with who they are.

3) He actively tries to make the world a better place.

And, I recently got the chance to meet him! (Insert loud fan-girl yips here.)

John’s latest book, “The Fault in Our Stars” prompted a book tour across the country that includes his brother and lots of nerdastic shenanigans. Thanks to a  independent book store in town, the Tour de Nerdfighting was stopping in Houston and I just had to go. I shrugged off the voice in the back of my brain that said, “You’re too old to hang out in a high school auditorium on a Friday night with people 20 years younger than you!” and went anyway.

And, I’m really, really glad I did. I haven’t been to many readings, but the ones I have been to are pretty much what you expect them to be. You sit in uncomfy chairs, the author reads, maybe he/she is charming, maybe not-so-much, they answer questions and, if you aren’t half asleep already, you wait in line to have a book signed. It was kind of breathtaking to see firsthand the impact John has on his readers. I always hope my words will one day have even half the impact on people the way they seem to have for him. I think that would be pretty fantastic.

The most incredible point of the evening was hearing him respond to a pre-written question I asked regarding writers who don’t start writing until they’re older; I asked if there was hope for us.  His answer in a nutshell: YES. He talked about some older guy who lives in Louisiana and didn’t start writing until he was 67 and wrote his first novel with paper and pen.  Then, I sat around and waited for a couple of hours to have him sign a copy of TFiOS, and thanked him for his response.

It’s an unbelievable boost to be able to interact with a writer you admire and hear him say, “Don’t give up.”  They may not have been the most original words ever spoken, but they were heartfelt and what I needed to hear.

So, don’t give up my fellow Girlyfighters. It may not be as exciting  to hear coming from me, but I promise you I mean it.

Have you ever met someone whose work inspires you? We’d love to hear about it!

Related Posts

Tags

Share This