Terrorism in Teen Lit

For my Huffington Post blog, I decided to interview Neesha Meminger about her representation of terrorism in teen lit.  At long last, the post is up and I’d love if you stopped by and left a comment so the HuffPo folks know these topics matter to readers of YA lit.  Unfortunately, due to the word limit, this third question didn’t make the final cut but here’s what Neesha had to say about how can girls can make history:

I think the focus has to be less on how to make history within in its current model, and more along the lines of “what can I do to affect history?” or “How can I change the trajectory of this narrative?” To me, if you’re trying to *make* history, you’re looking for recognition. But if you want to *change* history, you are interested in having an impact on the world around you. In *that* sense, girls can have tremendous effect on our story as it is being written. They can look to female role models like the ones I mentioned above — women who, despite the odds and the trauma they’ve endured, maintain hope and vision and work to nurture and empower other women and girls. Girls can also actively seek out role models or mentors. If there are no women to mentor you as a young woman, then look to women of color authors who’ve written about strong, empowered women and girls, and use these as guides. Because we have been written out of history, we must do our own research. But once a young woman sets foot on that path, there is no turning back. She begins to discover how wonderful, wild, and beautiful she really is and fights to preserve that… and wields it with power.