TV: It's just another way to tell a story, right?

Oh my goodness. How many times in my life have I heard someone tell young people (or me!) to "turn off the TV and open a book?" Or, you know, something similar?

How many times have you heard that television rots your brain? And then wanted to charge at the person making this claim like a velociraptor at a cocky paleontologist?

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love books. I mean, well, duh, I write books! I have a house full of books! Books are sort of my life. But you know what else I love?

TV.

I love TV on DVD. I love that I can use my DVR to record shows that are on at the same time. I love that there are funny shows and serious shows and documentary shows and sci fi shows. I love that there are all these stories that I can watch.

So why does TV get a bad rap? Why do so many of us think of it as a "low" art form, or as a hobby for the feeble-minded? Like, okay, The Jersey Shore exists. I'll admit it. But so does The X Files. So does House. So does Scrubs.

And, yeah, books might be easy to pin as a high art, because you have to read them. But, come on, not to lay the smack down on anyone, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that GOSSIP GIRL isn't particularly literary. (And I'm putting this out there because I'm like 99.9% sure that creator Cecily von Ziegesar would agree with me. I hope.) Does this fact stop jillions of readers from being entertained by the books? No.

Books are a form of entertainment, too. Sure, sometimes books are going to be what I like to call "meat and potatoes" books. SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green's LOOKING FOR ALASKA -- you know, award-winny types. Entertaining and also enriching. Then there are what I like to call "candy bar books" -- the books we read for funsies and sometimes consider guilty pleasures. Books without many SAT words but with superfluous kissing scenes or maybe epic gun fights. Do these books change your world? Probably not. And that's cool.

So what makes books better than TV? What makes them sacred? Like, okay, there are lots of reasons that books are different, ways that without seeing the pictures on your screen you might have to use your imagination more while you're reading. But have you ever watched an episode of your favorite show and felt just so inspired? Just wowed? The same way you feel after you finish a good book?

TV and books are different ways to tell a story. But when it comes down to it, a story is a story. Why can't we love both, treat them equally, and call it a day? Why do we think certain things can go on TV but "don't belong" in books? Why are books on a pedestal, guys? I want to know.

The Texas Book Festival (PS, teens totally get it.)

So this past Saturday I went to the Texas Book Festival, an annual event, that for book fanatics and writers is like Christmas wrapped in bacon with a cherry on top. I mean, famous authors from all over, converging on my hometown like flies to honey. Flies who write and make awesome books and say cool things and inspire us.

Damn, I am just so eloquent today. DISCLAIMER: my allergies are flaring up super horribly and I may or may not have taken cold medicine. Wheeeeeee! I was going to call in sick to this blog, but, like, whoa. The idea of calling in sick to a BLOG exploded my brain and decided to tell you about Saturday instead.

Back to your regular transmission.

So anyway, I went to a bunch of panels featuring lots of authors whom I love and admire. I saw Laurie Halse Anderson who talked about all the different types of books she writes -- from issues books for teens like SPEAK to historical fiction like CHAINS and FORGE to picture book biographies. She mentioned a lot of interesting things on the topic of writing historicals -- she thinks that we try too hard as a country to bury our past, that in Germany they are still very very aware of the Nazi regime, and that was ONE generation. For several generations Americans OWNED OTHER PEOPLE, and yet we continue to ignore it, gloss over it in history books and move on. While I don't know how I feel about all the points Laurie made -- and maybe, like she said, it's just very uncomfortable for young white people to think about these things -- it definitely raised an awareness in me. And that is one thing that I love when I read about books from other points of view -- be it historical or even a contemporary book where the characters are from a different background. Reading opens doors for us to experience and share things that we might otherwise never feel or know.

Also, Laurie remembered me from the last time we met. SQUEEEEEEEE.

One of my favorite panels of the day was called "True Grit," moderated by Austin author Bethany Hegedus and featuring Sara Pennypacker, Carolyn Cohagan, and fellow Austinite Lisa Railsback. All of these authors write middle grade books about girls who tell it like it is, who are unabashedly themselves. As a reader and a writer, these are the sort of characters I cling to. All of the authors said that it wasn't so important for them to write strong girls so much as it was important to write authentic characters. And I think that's cool. I'm really excited to read Lisa's book, NOONIE'S MASTERPIECE, which I picked up at the festival. Noonie sounds a lot like me when I was a little girl -- she is sure she is a genius that no one understands yet. And, um, maybe she's a lot like me as an adult, too.

I also really enjoyed a panel with Heather Brewer, Andrea Cremer, and Kirsten Miller, moderated by Austin author Mari Mancusi. They talked all about their various paranormal themes, and one thing that really resonated throughout their talk was how the paranormal is just another reflection of our reality. I think it was Andrea who said something along the lines of how these themes allow us to explore very human feelings and realities through the lens of magic and fantasy. Heather also touched on bullying and how important it is that we stay on top of this problem. All of the authors said that they were either bullied or afraid of being bullied in school. Kirsten said her revenge is being able to rewrite history -- sometimes she bases her villains on her bullies, and portrays them in a less than flattering light.

Of course I'm still thinking about the JANIS JOPLIN: RISE UP SINGING talk that author Ann Angel gave after being introduced by Austinite P.J. Hoover. I loved how Ann talked about Janis, how real this rock star was to her as a teen, and how she thoroughly researched the singer's personal and professional life to bring her to today's readers. What got me, though, was how many adults in the audience asked her if she really expected teens to be interested in Janis, or whether or not/why she wrote about Janis' sexuality and the drugs, sex and rock & roll of the 60's in a book for teens. Um, hello? Teens know more than you think! I was in high school in the late 90's and my best friend listened to Janis and the Beatles and the Stones. And there are so many kids today who do, too. Not only that, but, like Ann said, Janis is a figure that so many teenage girls can relate to, who serves both as an idol and a cautionary tale. I think that teens are going to love this book, whether they pick it up on their own or are gifted it by someone who grew up in the 60s.

Oooh, and I finally got to meet the fabulous Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, who are so lovely and gracious and asked to take a picture with me which made me feel so special! If you haven't read their books yet, get on that!



I could write an entire post on the Zombies vs. Unicorns panel. It was a blast. I was there so so late, and it was so fun to see friends and local authors like April Lurie, Brian Yansky, and Varian Johnson shine alongside fantasy writers from out of town like Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier. Perhaps the best thing I took from this panel was Justine's argument for team zombie. Justine says that zombies could make a huge impact on green energy. All we have to do is put them on treadmills, hook them up to a generator, and dangle some meat in front of them. They'll shamble for eternity while powering our cities. Brilliant!

I'm pretty psyched to read ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNS. And I'll give props to Scott Westerfeld, Dana Reinhardt, Matt de la Peña, Meg Cabot and the whole crew, who made me laugh really, super hard.

So anyway, I had a pretty awesome time at the festival! I heard a rumor that K.A. Holt is going to tell you all about Day Two of TBF on Thursday, but she might also get eaten by a pack of wild children or, like, el chupacabra between now and then, so anything is possible!

Let's open our hearts today.

Okay, before I get all serious on you, I want to remind you to visit my other blog at the dot com for the purpose of hate-mongering all over censorship. Or rather, so you can learn how you can win some supacute Banned Books Week swag.



Anyway, it's serious time. Why? It's National Suicide Prevention week here in the US, and I want to shed a little light on the topic.

I've mentioned in other posts that I struggled with mental illness as a teen -- trufax. Here's the part where I full-on out myself: I'm a woman with bipolar disorder (in remission, as my adorable, grandfatherly general practice physician calls it) and panic disorder. And I'm totally okay with talking about it. Why? Because the stigma is still floating around out there, and that can make an already difficult illness even more tough. Especially if you're a teen.

Whenever I tell someone about my illness, I get the "I never would have known!" response. Even from people I talk to regularly who also know that I have frequent panic attacks (which I guess seem common enough, especially on TV these days) and am easily overexcited and obsessive. Sometimes that makes me feel happy, because, hey, that must mean I'm doing a good job at assimilating as a fully-functional grown up! But in the back of my mind I think, well, it's not always easy to pick us out of a line-up.

Okay, here's an idea: think of your lunch table. Picture them lined up in front of you, in your head. Think about what they like, what they talk about, what they do after school, what classes they're good at and what classes they'd love to skip. Do any of your pals have bipolar disorder? Clinical depression? Anxiety? Schizophrenia? Borderline personality disorder? An eating disorder? Addiction?

Now I'm not saying you should get all diagnose-y on them. In fact, I very much discourage playing therapist at your lunch table. But what I'm trying to say is that there is probably someone you know suffering from mental illness, and you don't have a clue. And that's okay. What I'm trying to say is that you should be there for your friends no matter what, because if someone you know *is* thinking about suicide, or is self-harming, or is having secret panic attacks in the bathroom between periods, sometimes all it takes to keep someone from doing something drastic and ambulance-ride-y is knowing they have someone they can call and talk to when they're having a truly shitty day.

When I was in high school that person was actually my sweetheart (at right, with me, at my parents' before senior prom), whom I'm still in touch with via Facebook. He had issues of his own, too, which, admittedly, made him easier to talk to. I remember one day I was such a mess that I locked myself in the bathroom, refused to come out, and was feeling particularly destructive. (Let's just say it's a good thing my parents were already thinking about remodeling). My parents knew how amazing Sweetheart was, and they called him and my grandmother (who is my best best BEST friend to this day) and they got me out of the bathroom and we talked on the porch and, well, I can't say it was all better, but I survived.

Why am I sharing this with the whole wide Internet? Because I'm hoping that it will help someone reading. I'm hoping this will save someone the scary, scary pain that comes with suicide. Of all my adult friends, I can list on one hand the ones who didn't lose a high school classmate to suicide. Is that terrifying or what?

So let's think about that this week. Let's give our friends extra hugs and let them know that they can call us in an emergency even if it's four a.m. on a school night.

And in case you're looking for something to help you relate, one of my favorite books that deals with suicide is HOLD STILL (Penguin Speak, 2010) by Nina LaCour. In HOLD STILL, the protagonist has just lost her best friend, and is struggling to find her own identity, to make new friends, to relate to teachers who know what she's going through but who are scared to reach out. I also love WINTERGIRLS (Penguin Speak, 2010) by Laurie Halse Anderson, which is way too good at illustrating the harsh reality of anorexia and bulimia, and also deals with the loss of a best friend to mental illness. Of course there is also CUT (Scholastic Push, 2002) by Patricia McCormick, which is a beautifully written novel about a girl in a mental health facility, who refuses to talk about anything, let alone her self-harm.

Recently the book HOW I MADE IT TO EIGHTEEN (Roaring Brook, 2010) was released. It's an autobiographical illustrated novel by Tracy White, about a girl who checks herself into a mental health facility to figure out how to deal with her depression, her eating issues, her substance abuse, and, ultimately, her emotionally draining relationship. Also, check out Samantha Schutz's memoir-in-verse I DON'T WANT TO BE CRAZY (Scholastic Push, 2007) about panic disorder and anxiety. I think all of these books give an intimate picture of what it's like to be a teen with mental illness. And they could be just the trick to opening new doors with friends who are also struggling.

And, please, if you'd like to, take this as an opportunity to share your story. Post it in the comments, or blog about it and send me a link. I think the more we talk about our struggles, the more we can keep the stigmas at bay, and the more lives we can save. Sharing our stories can help us share the struggle, and ultimately help us heal.

(PS, check out Samantha Schutz' blog on this topic, You Make Me Feel Less Alone. I tried to work that in more eloquenty, but failed. Woops.)

I will now leave you with an entry me and my BFF Fiona wrote in my journal in 1999. This was probably around the time I was first seeing a therapist, but I still wasn't aware of the my diagnosis or the seriousness of it, and Fiona didn't know much about my illness yet, either. We were watching a rerun of Nirvana on MTV Unplugged, and it was breaking our hearts and blowing our minds:

(Click the image to see full-size & read my teenage ramblings.)