What happens after we survive and experience something life-changing and traumatic? Award-winning young adult author Veera Hiranandani’s new historical fiction Amil and The After addresses this question. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Veera also asked herself how can we heal as individuals and as a society? Written in part through the drawings of young Amil, the story follows the aftermath of the partition of India and Pakistan. It’s a journey like the one members of her family had made. ‘We as humans keep finding ways to divide ourselves and attack marginalized communities.’ Although her books are called ‘young adult’, adults need to read them. Veera’s novels gives us an understanding of a child’s perspective. And a boy’s longing for stability and hope during a tumultuous time.
What do they have in common? The word ‘dystopian’ comes to mind: ‘relating to or being an imagined world or society in which people lead fearful lives.
The difference: The last year and a half – real and full of fear. Matched was imagined. Ally’s message to her audience, young and old: it’s okay to not be okay.
Matched, a dystopian young adult novel has been read by a wider readership than the young adult population. The first in a series of three, it has been compared to ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Twilight’.
Gillian Anderson is starting a mental health revolution. Abby was just 15 when she succumbed to suicide. Abby is Gillian’s daughter.
The rate of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the United States who have died by suicide, has sharply risen in the past couple of years. Suicide is thought to be the second leading cause of death for Americans between 10 and 34.
Gillian’s mission now is to get rid of the stigma and shame of depression and anxiety. How did Gillian stay strong enough to make sure that Abby’s friends understood that Abby suffered from an illness? She founded My Friend Abby whose mission is to empower youth and young adults to actively create peer to peer connections. And to make sure that the stigma and shame surrounding mental illness is eliminated.
Before founding My Friend Abby, Gillian worked as Development Director for WSHU Public Radio.
