Justin Barisich

YA FictionYAGraphic Novels & Comics

A unique teenage superhero

Review by Justin Barisich

Set in the Chinatown neighborhoods of the fictional California city San Incendio, The Shadow Hero is the tale of a young man’s discovery of his noble and ancient powers. Hank, the 19-year-old son of two Chinese immigrants, is content to work in his father’s grocery store and lead a quiet, uncomplicated life. When his mother is saved by the local superhero, she starts scheming to make Hank into a superhero as well. Out of respect for his mother, Hank trains in martial arts, but on his first night as a superhero, he bumbles into a fight with members of the Tongs gang, the Chinese organized crime ring that controls Hank’s town. Failing to wear a mask, Hank exposes his identity and puts his whole family at risk. Luckily for him, a kind, ancient spirit has been watching over Hank for years, and it makes him a promise that changes his life.

With The Shadow Hero, National Book Award finalist Gene Luen Yang revives and reinvents the story of the Green Turtle, the first Asian-American superhero. Accompanied by Sonny Liew’s epic artistry, the story captures the familial, racial and criminal tensions of a time, place and people as old as they are new.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Set in the Chinatown neighborhoods of the fictional California city San Incendio, The Shadow Hero is the tale of a young man’s discovery of his noble and ancient powers. Hank, the 19-year-old son of two Chinese immigrants, is content to work in his father’s grocery store and lead a quiet, uncomplicated life. When his mother is saved by the local superhero, she starts scheming to make Hank into a superhero as well.
YA FictionYA

Dark realities of both legitimate and underground worlds

Review by Justin Barisich

Set on the beaches and back alleys of Los Angeles, The Prince of Venice Beach is the tale of a homeless runaway who lives an easy life off the grid—until his only means of income turns morally complex.

Seventeen-year-old Robert “Cali” Callahan ran away from an endless cycle of foster homes when he turned 14. Over the years, he has remained under the radar while learning about the people, locales and vibes of Venice Beach, as well as offering his help to anyone who needs it. So when a private investigator shows up at his regular pickup basketball game, Cali plays it cool enough to land a well-paying gig helping the PI find another runaway in the area. Cali goes on to get two more PI jobs, but he ends up falling for the subject of his third search—the mysterious, elusive Reese Abernathy. Cali wants to help Reese, but with rumors swirling about her mental instability and the true cause of her mother’s death, he faces tough decisions in the face of ethical ambiguity.

The Prince of Venice Beach reveals the savagery and humanity of life on the streets, and provides insights into homelessness that few are able to capture.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

Set on the beaches and back alleys of Los Angeles, The Prince of Venice Beach is the tale of a homeless runaway who lives an easy life off the grid—until his only means of income turns morally complex.

Seventeen-year-old Robert “Cali” Callahan ran away from an endless cycle of foster homes when he turned 14.

YA FictionYA

The summer she never expected

Review by Justin Barisich

Set on the beaches of a fictional island located off the coast of Connecticut, What I Thought Was True is the story of a young woman learning firsthand of the mystifying intricacies of love, lust, luxury and loyalty—and how each can change drastically for her friends, her family and herself.

High school junior Gwen Castle is the half-Portuguese daughter of a divorced housecleaner and an off-brand fast-food restaurant owner. She lives in a cramped house on Shell Island with nearly her entire family, all of whom work multiple jobs to help pay the bills. Gwen’s life couldn’t differ more from that of Cassidy Somers, an attractive, wealthy boy and her own personal Kryptonite. Cassidy is the picture of wealth and class—just another one of the stereotypical, WASP-y “summer people” who escape to Gwen’s island to enjoy her beaches for the warmer months. But when he takes a summer job as a lawn boy—work typically reserved for the regulars of the island—Gwen begins to think that there could be more to Cassidy than his family’s money and prestige, and that their random hookup from last year just might have something more hidden within it than simple carnal release.

Huntley Fitzpatrick worked as an editor for Harlequin publishing for many years before penning her first novel, My Life Next Door, which was a RITA Award finalist and a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults title. What I Thought Was True, her second novel, continues on the same path, tempering young love and attraction with the realities of human existence—something writers too often forget when crafting their idyllic stories of young love. It also reminds us how the facets of class and money can alter, sometimes unfairly, our perceptions of people, including ourselves.

 

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

This article was originally published in the May 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Set on the beaches of a fictional island located off the coast of Connecticut, What I Thought Was True is the story of a young woman learning firsthand of the mystifying intricacies of love, lust, luxury and loyalty—and how each can change drastically for her friends, her family and herself.

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

With a little help from my friends

Review by Justin Barisich

Near Albuquerque, New Mexico, a teenager struggles to define herself in the aftermath of her parents’ divorce, the harsh newness of high school life and the recent death of her sister.

Laurel’s childhood innocence came to a sudden end when May, her beloved older sister, was killed just when Laurel was transitioning between middle school and high school. In the wake of the tragedy, Laurel’s mom split from the family and escaped to the California coast to clear her head. Laurel’s father has remained, but the death of his oldest child weighs heavily on him. To avoid an atmosphere of constant sadness and pain, Laurel chooses to attend a high school where nobody knows her family history. She doesn’t want anybody’s pity.

As she tries to fit in, Laurel befriends the eccentric and chain-smoking Natalie and Hannah, catches the eye of the mysterious and attractive Sky, and gets taken under the wing of kindly rebellious couple Tristan and Kristen. All the while, Laurel chronicles her grief process by writing letters to her deceased idols, starting with Kurt Cobain. But eventually Laurel will have to reveal her true self to her loved ones still living, or else risk losing their companionship forever.

Debut author Ava Dellaira earned her MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and has worked under the famous Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Dellaira even mimics Chbosky’s narrative device of addressing letters to people who may never read them, allowing her protagonist to be immensely honest and open. Dellaira handles these delicate subjects with such innocent deftness that it’s easy to forget this is a work of fiction.

 

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

Near Albuquerque, New Mexico, a teenager struggles to define herself in the aftermath of her parents’ divorce, the harsh newness of high school life and the recent death of her sister.

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

Family found

Review by Justin Barisich

BookPage Top Pick in Teen Books, March 2014

Somewhere deep within the African jungles of Gabon, a young street boy searches for a family, a home and a purpose beyond simply fighting for survival. While Threatened is the account of his learning to survive in the wild, it’s also the tale of his learning to trust and accept others, even if they don’t share the same genus and species.

Luc—an AIDS-orphaned child of the slums who’s only vaguely aware of his own age—was sold to a local debt collector as an indentured servant to pay off his mother’s hospital bills for her unsuccessful care. Barely scraping by, Luc one day befriends an Arab professor and researcher from the National Geographic Society who appears at the bar where Luc works illegally for pocket change. The “Prof,” as Luc calls him, has traveled to Gabon—home of the largest concentration of chimpanzees in the world—in hopes of becoming the next Jane Goodall and bringing more national attention to the chimps’ fragile existence.

Prof uses cunning and deceit to procure Luc from the debt collector as his research assistant. Prof, Omar (his pet vervet monkey) and Luc set up camp in the middle of the rainforest and fortuitously stumble upon a small family of chimpanzees. As Luc observes the wild beasts that once haunted his nightmares, he learns firsthand of their humanity—from their ferocity as much as from their kindness and personalities—and develops better relationships with them than he ever has with people. But with hunters and far worse dangers surrounding them, Luc must constantly put his life on the line to protect this blended family he’s come to love.

Author Eliot Schrefer, whose novel Endangered was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award, combines his interest in conservation and education in Threatened—his eighth novel overall and the second in his Great Ape Quartet—to draw his readers ever nearer to the edge of this primitive, natural world. He asks us to jump with him into the unencumbered jungle to see all the beauty and mystery that only the wild can offer.

 

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

BookPage Top Pick in Teen Books, March 2014

Somewhere deep within the African jungles of Gabon, a young street boy searches for a family, a home and a purpose beyond simply fighting for survival. While Threatened is the account of his learning to survive in the wild, it’s also the tale of his learning to trust and accept others, even if they don’t share the same genus and species.

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

Life on the edge of war

Review by Justin Barisich

The Tyrant’s Daughter is the existential story of a teenage girl living on the periphery of war, where she straddles the blood-soaked country she’s always called home and the new American land of bittersweet promise where she has since been exiled.

Laila is 15 years old when her father—the iron-fisted inheritor of an unnamed Middle Eastern “kingdom”—is murdered in cold-blooded betrayal. Laila’s mother agrees to the amnesty offered by an American CIA agent in exchange for family and governmental secrets, and Laila’s family is whisked away to Washington, D.C. 

Laila is observant, analytical and introspective, regularly comparing American customs to her family’s old existence of royal restriction. She neither fully condemns nor endorses either one of her lives or the people associated with them, but rather walks the common ground between them and begins to understand them. She grapples with harsh truths of guilt, identity and freedom. Without knowing whom she can truly trust, she must tread quietly and cautiously if she hopes to avoid the destruction of her family and her country.

As a former undercover CIA agent, debut author J.C. Carleson has a firm grasp on the world of espionage and power plays. She is able to take her intimate knowledge of this secretive world, an often-avoided gray area of morality, and craft an amazingly gripping and honest tale. Carleson keeps her readers feeling as though they have just returned from traveling in a foreign land, making those faraway issues feel a little more personal—a feat few can achieve with words alone.

The Tyrant’s Daughter is the existential story of a teenage girl living on the periphery of war, where she straddles the blood-soaked country she’s always called home and the new American land of bittersweet promise where she has since been exiled.

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

The sweet magic of Venetian music

Review by Justin Barisich

The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen is the survival story of an orphaned boy who learns to rise above tragedy, poverty and urban evils using only his cleverness, his sense of justice and the mysterious powers of his magical clarinet.

In the year 1714, Nicolo’s village is stricken by a vicious outbreak of malaria, and the plague quickly claims his entire family. Alone at 14, Nicolo deserts his disease-ridden home for Venice, taking with him only one item—his enchanted, ivory clarinet. He hopes for nothing more than survival as a beggar, but he quickly learns that he can collect far more coins by playing his clarinet and relying on his cunning. Nicolo is soon dressing up in girls’ clothes, mimicking his deceased sisters’ mannerisms and trying to convince the maestro of the local girls’ orphanage orchestra—Master Antonio Vivaldi, Venice’s greatest musician—of both his musical talent and his feigned gender. He gradually learns to better wield his charmed instrument, which transforms him into a musical prodigy and the subject of much attention, praise and jealousy.

Fate takes Nicolo to the doorstep of Massimo Magnifico, a magician who can explain the supernatural ability of his clarinet. And once they talk, Nicolo’s life is never the same.

Author Nicholas Christopher’s debut YA novel envelopes the reader in a world where anything—be it tragic, beatific or mystic—can happen to anyone.

The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen is the survival story of an orphaned boy who learns to rise above tragedy, poverty and urban evils using only his cleverness, his sense of justice and the mysterious powers of his magical clarinet.

In the year 1714, Nicolo’s…

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

Class differences dissolve on a distant planet

Review by Justin Barisich

Set in an undated future where mankind is capable of traveling through hyperspace and terraforming far-off planets, These Broken Stars is the shared survival story of the richest girl in the galaxy inextricably meshed with a lowborn boy “made good” by military commendations.

When the LaRoux Industries intergalactic flagship, the extravagant Icarus, is ripped from hyperspace travel and torn to pieces, teenagers Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen are lucky to be alive after their escape pod crash-lands on the surface of an unknown planet. Lilac, the daughter of the most powerful man in the galaxy and heiress to the LaRoux Industries empire, is confident that her father will locate them soon. A ship holding 50,000 people can’t just disappear unnoticed. Tarver, already a major in the military after two years of fighting rebellions on colonized planet outposts, is less than hopeful. He prefers to rely on his wits and field training, and, as a result, all the delicate social pretenses that once existed between Lilac and Tarver shatter in the name of survival.

As the assumed sole survivors, Lilac and Tarver trek across the seemingly vacant wilderness for over a month, hoping to find some way to call for help and searching for basic supplies. They’re holding up well until they begin to hear whispers on the wind. Pressing onward to either find or forget the voices, they unveil more of their truest selves and gradually discover why this strange planet was left abandoned and hidden.

These Broken Stars, the first in a trilogy, brilliantly unfolds by sharing alternating perspectives on the same ever-advancing story, all the while stressing the importance of subtext in everything the characters say and do. Co-authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner take the reader on a well-paced intergalactic adventure that reminds us that we’re still human—with all our weaknesses and awkward moments—continually dancing the intricate dance of society, even in hyperspace.

Set in an undated future where mankind is capable of traveling through hyperspace and terraforming far-off planets, These Broken Stars is the shared survival story of the richest girl in the galaxy inextricably meshed with a lowborn boy “made good” by military commendations.

When the LaRoux…

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

Living freely at world’s end

Review by Justin Barisich

In Tumble & Fall, under the looming, inevitable threat of a world-shattering asteroid on course to collide with Earth, the lives of three teenagers unfold in their last week of existence. Like a well-written soapy drama, the novel cuts back and forth between each teen and explores their relationships with families, friends and newfound love interests. Bipolar Sienna is readjusting to life outside the mental institution, grieving Zan is learning to live without the recently deceased love of her life, and abandoned Caden struggles to carry on with his alcoholic mother and without his absent father.

Because the end of the world is a matter of how soon rather than if, Sienna, Zan and Caden feel compelled to take risks that were previously unfathomable. When their last-ditch efforts to find love and discover themselves take unexpected turns, their truest selves begin to surface. Disparate coping mechanisms for past and oncoming tragedies define them as well, but each eventually wonders, “What will [I] be like, in those final minutes, should it come to that? Calm, like the rabbit, or a total, inconsolable mess?”

Employing plot devices and narrative tools similar to those made famous by blockbuster movies such as Armageddon and Crash, author Alexandra Coutts, a former playwright and script reader, crafts an episodic saga of tangentially related characters whose lives have been intertwined all along. She sets Tumble & Fall in her native Massachusetts with the central locale on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, one of the last remaining safe havens as the end nears, and includes a visit to Boston, which has been transformed from bustling city to ghost town in a matter of days.

Tumble & Fall, Coutts’ third novel for young adults, is a well-paced and well-planned end-of-days tale that left me eager to read more about the lives and emotional reactions of characters who very easily could be my own neighbors.

In Tumble & Fall, under the looming, inevitable threat of a world-shattering asteroid on course to collide with Earth, the lives of three teenagers unfold in their last week of existence. Like a well-written soapy drama, the novel cuts back and forth between each teen…

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

On the brink of revolution

Review by Justin Barisich

In a world where all humans are born with two souls in every body, hybrids are the citizens who refuse to lose or sacrifice their second souls. Once We Were, the second book in Kat Zhang’s Hybrid Chronicles, takes us deeper into the hidden realm of the hybrids.

In What’s Left of Me, hybrid Addie/Eva struggled to share their body and join the revolution for hybrid freedom. Now, after being rescued from the Nornand Clinic, where doctors attempted to "cure" them of their hybridity, Addie/Eva find protection with an underground hybrid movement run by cautious, scheming Peter. In the safety of their new underground existence, Addie/Eva discover and hone “going under”—voluntarily and temporarily separating their consciousnesses for up to a few hours. This new skill allows them a little precious time “away” from each other, to feel more like actual individuals, and to focus on developing their respective relationships with fellow Nornand escapee(s) Devon/Ryan.

The secret lovers later befriend a smaller, younger faction of the underground movement, and they all quietly become more and more rebellious as they tire of Peter’s endless plans and precautions. But their collective rebel spirit, born of camaraderie and retribution, turns violent, and Addie/Eva are left wondering: Should they stand by and watch as a hateful world has its way with them, or will they be agents of change within it, helping themselves and their fellow hybrids along the way?

Young author Kat Zhang blends elements of fantasy, sci-fi and historical fiction to compose a riveting, semi-dystopian narrative, both inside Addie/Eva’s head and beyond. Through a bevy of new hybrid characters, each with two distinct and dynamic personalities, Once We Were expands the imaginative world Zhang first introduced in What’s Left of Me. Zhang has only begun to tap the potential of this alternative world and its history, and with Once We Were, she has once again ensnared the reader’s interest to discover what will happen next to each of these characters.

In a world where all humans are born with two souls in every body, hybrids are the citizens who refuse to lose or sacrifice their second souls. Once We Were, the second book in Kat Zhang’s Hybrid Chronicles, takes us deeper into the hidden realm…

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

Living beyond high school drama

Review by Justin Barisich

After shattering his leg in a car accident the summer before his senior year of high school, former varsity tennis star Ezra Faulkner is forced to take a step back from living on the ledge of a life rife with drunken parties, shallow girls and his own excessive popularity. Abandoned by his supposed friends and teammates while recuperating, Ezra reverts to his former, unpopular self while trying to rekindle both old desires and forgotten friendships. When the unorthodoxly beautiful and witty Cassidy Thorpe transfers to Ezra’s sheltered high school, she opens up a whole new world of possibility for Ezra, one filled with genuine conversations, the debate team, really bad puns and the lunch table of misfit kids.

As his dream girl, Cassidy becomes the catalyst for all of Ezra’s positive life changes, but in his idolizing, Ezra begins to neglect her humanity, ignore her cryptically tragic past and obscure her forewarned shortcomings. The wiser and more melodramatic Cassidy gradually morphs into a cautionary example of the dream girl archetype, one that shows the full extent of her power as a force for both good and bad, and Ezra starts to realize that maybe the only validation he needs is from himself.

In her first young adult novel penned under her own name (she wrote the middle grade Knightley Academy series under her pseudonym, Violet Haberdasher), actress and videoblogger Robyn Schneider collects her distilled wisdom on finding and being true to oneself, even when that discovery stems from loss. Though The Beginning of Everything centers around Ezra, Schneider shares that “it’s a totally embellished and wildly unfaithful adaptation of eight years of my life condensed into eight months of someone else’s.”

The Beginning of Everything gets off to a slow start, but as Ezra’s narration builds pace, it begins skipping around chronologically and careening through a year of high school drama. Even with all that build-up, the story comes to an end similar to Ezra’s car crash—abruptly and with only slight resolution. Nevertheless, readers will find The Beginning of Everything to be a clever and comical exploration into high school life on both sides of the popularity divide.

After shattering his leg in a car accident the summer before his senior year of high school, former varsity tennis star Ezra Faulkner is forced to take a step back from living on the ledge of a life rife with drunken parties, shallow girls and…

Children's & YAYA FictionYA

Summer loving sparks a search for answers

Review by Justin Barisich

In his newest young adult novel, Bennett Madison tries his hand at emotionally wrestling with a nebulous pack of beautiful, land-bound mermaids. The plot of September Girls progresses slowly—mimicking the passing of the summer in which it takes place—gradually revealing the legend of the cursed mermaids stranded on an obscure beach off the Atlantic coast. Seventeen-year-old Sam finds himself falling for one of these mysterious girls, and his attraction pulls him deeper into their secrets until the book’s sudden ending.

As someone who once described himself as “an open and enthusiastic gay,” Madison’s characterization of virginal, heterosexual Sam is relatable, though somewhat stereotypical. While it may be true that most teenaged boys can’t get sex off their brains, it doesn’t always make for the most interesting of overriding character traits. Nonetheless, the depictions of young flirtation and sexual frustration are right on point and may be the truest imitations of it I’ve read yet, regardless of sexual orientation.

Toying with the extremes of realistic fiction, Madison employs the old adage of “perspective is reality” to unearth the meaning of love, loss and masculinity in a land that may not even really exist, and by the closing chapter, leaves us trying to find the humanity in the mythical. To this end, the narrative device of switching back and forth between the voice of Sam and the ancient, echoed voice of the mermaid collective was intriguing. However, if those two main voices had varied a bit more, used vulgarities more artfully and with less frequency, and had fleshed out further the mythology of the mermaids, this dual perspective could have been even more engrossing for the reader.

In his newest young adult novel, Bennett Madison tries his hand at emotionally wrestling with a nebulous pack of beautiful, land-bound mermaids. The plot of September Girls progresses slowly—mimicking the passing of the summer in which it takes place—gradually revealing the legend of the cursed…

YA FictionYA

Victoria Aveyard

Interview by Justin Barisich

Picking up immediately where Red Queen left off, Victoria Aveyard’s Glass Sword throws us right back into the blood-feuding world of Norta, with the Reds and Silvers teetering upon the edge of civil war. With the help of Captain Farley and her Scarlet Guard militia, “little lightning girl” Mare Barrow and the fire-brandishing former prince Cal make a near-death escape from the Silver capital’s Bowl of Bones arena and the manipulative King Maven’s clutches. But they don’t get much rest or respite. The secret list of “newbloods” that Mare holds is the key to tipping the scales of war in their favor, and she must do everything in her power to track them down and save them—before Maven slaughters them all.

As we jet across the world Mare thought she knew so well, we discover a host of newblood characters and their unbelievable new powers that are “neither Red nor Silver, yet stronger than both.” And with each new person she saves, Mare can’t help but remember what she’s sacrificing to save them, and how that weight—and the darkness inside her—is slowly tearing her apart.

We caught up with Aveyard to ask about the success of the Red Queen series, Mare’s struggle to maintain her humanity and the possibility of seeing it all on the silver screen.

You’ve mentioned before that you first drafted Red Queen in the lean year immediately following your graduation from the University of Southern California. What was that year like—both in terms of writing and in making ends meet otherwise? How did it differ from the time you’d spent writing Glass Sword, knowing you’d already signed a deal with HarperTeen?
That was definitely one of the scariest times in my life, and I really hope I never have to repeat it. Of course, moving back home to write a novel turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life, so it’s working out so far. I spent the six months after the move (July to January) writing the first draft of Red Queen. At least, some days I wrote, and some days (OK, weeks), I was totally stuck. I definitely had a moment where I realized I am either going to give up on this book and throw away everything I worked for, or I’m at least going to finish the goddamn thing. Having my dad and my best friend read along while I wrote was actually a great choice. They bugged me for more of the story when I got slow, and helped motivate me to get to the end. After I finished the draft, my parents were still supportive but obviously wanted me to get a job, so I ended up driving kids home from my mom’s middle school for cash during the spring semester. I got both the calls that RQ had been sold to Harper and then the option picked up at Universal when I was returning from carpool.

It’s an odd time to compare to the time spent writing Glass Sword, and now Book 3, especially because RQ was written with no expectation, but also with my back completely against the wall. It’s a bit like a fox and a rabbit: The fox is just running for his dinner, but the rabbit is running for his life. But now I have the added benefit of security, not to mention the knowledge that I’m living and breathing my dream life. It’s a good motivator, but I do have to put the blinders on sometimes. Both times had their separate difficulties, I guess.

Your vivid writing in both books has such a wonderfully cinematic scope. How did your screenwriting background come into play here, and how do you think it distinguishes your story from those of other writers also working in this genre?
I’ve always been a visual storyteller, from my Barbies to my screenplays. Movies were my first love (since I couldn’t exactly read at 2 years old), so the moving image is always in my head when I write, whether the project is a book or a script. Of course, I have the added benefit of a pretty phenomenal screenwriting education from USC. Four years of workshopping has helped me internalize storytelling, so it’s a bit easier to feel where to go. Personally, I work from the classic three act, eight sequence structure, which really helps me craft. I also think the most important skill I picked up in college is the ability to take criticism. Film is a really collaborative industry, so you have to be able to not only take criticism well, but know the difference between good and bad criticism, and also maintain distance enough to critique yourself properly. It makes things a lot easier when an edit letter comes around. It’s not personal, it’s help. It’s a damn cheat sheet on how to make your story better!

From what I’ve found online, you haven’t spoken much about the movie adaptation of your series, either because nothing is concrete yet or the studios are requiring you to remain hush-hush. Nonetheless, rumors have been swirling about a powerhouse lead production team, including actress Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games), producer Pouya Shahbazian (Divergent film), screenwriter Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad) and studio executive Sara Scott (Universal Pictures). How much does this possibility alone excite you about what else your words may bring to life?
First of all, I am so cautiously excited about this project. I say cautious because I am naturally superstitious and I won’t believe RQ is being adapted until I physically see the credits roll after I watch the film in its entirety. I’m especially pleased that real efforts are being made to include women in key creative positions. It’s no secret Hollywood has a serious problem with gender equality, and I’m honestly so proud that we’re pushing back against it. I’m intrigued to see where things go, and that’s pretty much all I can say on that matter.

For your central character, you’ve crafted the complex and strong female protagonist Mare Barrow. And as we get to know her better, we increasingly see her internal struggle to become herself—whomever that may be—as opposed to what this world is trying to turn her into. In your opinion, what is it about Mare that enables her to maintain her humanity, and what makes her something more?
Mare’s humanity is firmly rooted in her family and the few people she loves. If they didn’t exist, I guarantee she would become a raging monster warlord. And I think that’s true of a lot of people. We are our best selves not for our own sake, but the sake of the people we hold most dear. And what gives Mare her little bit extra? I think her survival instinct and selfish streak definitely helps. It’s a joy to write those pieces where she knows she’s not making the “right” choice but she does it anyway because it makes her feel better or it saves her skin.

Blood relations—and all their awesome and dark implications—reappear throughout as the central theme of the story. How do these echo America’s own (and perhaps the world’s) history with these same and similar race and class divisions? Why were these important to address in your work?
I think it's impossible for anyone who is mildly aware in this day and age to write anything that isn't shadowed by America’s past/present. Personally, I came of age in the post-9/11 world. I moved from a very sheltered town in New England to a vibrant, diverse university in Los Angeles. I’m currently watching Donald Trump lead national polls for president. It’s very strange to live in a nation that is so diverse, and yet so clearly delineated in most communities.

And I’m very much a student of history. That, more than anything, plays into what I write. Red Queen is defined by its divisions, as America, the so-called Great Melting Pot, is and has been since the Virginia Company landed in Jamestown and met the soon-to-be-massacred Powhatan tribe. The blood divisions in Red Queen draw obviously from American divisions of class, race, religion, orientation—but obviously are most paralleled by the horror and genocide that was American slavery, as well as modern-day prejudices against non-heteronormative people and prejudices against Muslims. (Book 3 is drawing a lot from the current conflict with ISIS.)

"The blood divisions in Red Queen draw obviously from American divisions of class, race, religion, orientation—but obviously are most paralleled by the horror and genocide that was American slavery, as well as modern-day prejudices against non-heteronormative people and prejudices against Muslims."

Your series is a beautiful blend of the sci-fi, fantasy and dystopian genres. How did all of these come into play when you were crafting the books’ other main theme—the brewing civil war, and the comingling of trust, betrayal and espionage?
I’m a kitchen-sink writer. I write what I like, and I like lots of stuff, hence lots of stuff goes into the mix. Something that really inspired the fantasy/dystopian mix are all the theories about Middle Earth being pre-modern Earth (subsequently making us a Tolkien dystopia) or that Westeros is a society reforming thousands of years after nuclear apocalypse. That’s rad. So I spun into that a bit myself. As far as sci-fi goes, if I were to identify the technology time period that mirrors Red Queen’s best, I’d probably say 1950s/’60s America. Video cameras exist, planes exist, but not personal computers, etc. And the trust and betrayal stuff just comes from normal human instinct. 

In your Twitter bio, you describe yourself as a “map person,” and as we journey with Mare throughout Glass Sword, we get more and more glimpses of this world beyond Norta, which she never knew existed before. How did you come up with all these lands, and just how big is this world they’re all a part of?
Norta is based on the Northeastern United States. It goes from Washington, D.C., up to Maine and the St. Lawrence River in the north. The world they’re part of is the remnants of North America. There are many other countries currently occupying the continent.

Both of your books introduce us to new casts of characters, each with phenomenal superhuman abilities more amazing than the next. How did you dream up with all the Silvers’ and the newbloods’ powers?
While writing Red Queen, I did a big excel sheet of different superhuman abilities I either found or came up with. Many of them I held back to be used later in “superior” supers. I definitely spent a lot of time on Wikipedia and TV Tropes wrapping my brain around exactly how many variations of superpowers there are.

Of all the new characters we meet in Glass Sword, I think Nanny is my favorite. Who was/were the inspiration(s) that helped to form this loving, joking, shape-shifting character?
Obviously Mystique comes to mind, since they can both change their physical appearance. Although Nanny is not so skilled, and isn’t a nimble warrior. I also love sassy old ladies and feature them whenever I can.

There are countless tales and takes on mutants, further-evolved peoples and superhumans out there. Where does yours fit in the mix, and how does it differ?
I definitely owe most of the credit to X-Men. I guess my spin is putting the superhumans on top instead of the bottom?

What’s next?
Book 3 is currently being written, soon to be followed by Book 4 in the Red Queen series. Those are my first priorities. Afterward, I’m going to the next world I want to jump into!

 

Author photo credit Stephanie Girard.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

Picking up immediately where Red Queen left off, Victoria Aveyard’s Glass Sword throws us right back into the blood-feuding world of Norta, with the Reds and Silvers teetering upon the edge of civil war. We caught up with Aveyard to ask about the success of the Red Queen series, Mare’s struggle to maintain her humanity and the possibility of seeing it all on the silver screen.

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