From the interview:
I wanted to write a great stepfather because I had one. Step-parents aren't traditionally the most beloved characters in teen fiction, but there are lots of them out there who have basically rescued the families they married into by providing love and support and stability...a real home. Second marriages can be very redeeming. Also, since Deanna's dad in Story of a Girl was so tough on her, and Cameron's dad in Sweethearts is an abuser, it was important to me to give props to the many good fathers and father figures in the world and not be "that writer who hates men." I love men! Yay, men!
Yay, men and yay, Sara Zarr. I loved Sweethearts (yay, Alan the stepdad!), but I want to re-read it before I write about it. Then I'll have to follow it up with my thoughts on Poison Apples, which features the more traditional* type of step-parent.
*Traditional to the kid- and YA-lit, I mean.
I must get my hands on this book...I must read it.
It'll be nice to read about a nice step-parent. They don't get treated very well in kid/YA lit. Then again, I didn't have a nice step-dad, so I totally understand why.
Posted by: liz | 05 February 2008 at 03:20 PM
The father in DWJ's The Ogre Downstairs is my all-time favorite step-parent. Or maybe the mother in "Say Yes."
Posted by: cc | 05 February 2008 at 03:24 PM
A step back some 40+ years in time... I just finished a reread of "Katherine Wentworth" and "Katherine's Marriage" by D.E. Stevenson (1964 & 1965) (now that I think of it, Stevenson's books could be included in the list of "adult books that work for teens") and it has two lovely step-parents. When Katherine remarries, she has her first husband's son and their young twins, so her new husband is a step-step-father to the older boy, and a very good one indeed.
Posted by: Margaret | 05 February 2008 at 05:44 PM
Yay for Sara, indeed. Alan is an amazing character. I even had a bit of a (truly platonic) crush on him by the end of the book.
Posted by: Kelly | 05 February 2008 at 08:25 PM