Three YA Authors on Remixing the Classics

Bethany C. Morrow is the author of Mem: A Novel and the forthcoming social horror Cherish Farrah, and her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Bustle, Buzzfeed, and other media. She is also editor/contributor to the young adult anthology Take The Mic and author of the young adult novels A Song Below Water, A Chorus Rises, and her latest work, So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix (Feiwel & Friends). Set in the Freedpeople’s Colony of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, as the Civil War rages on, the book follows the four young Black March sisters as they grow into their independence. A haven for the recently emancipated, Roanoke Island is blossoming, and it is where the March family has finally been able to put down roots. Here, the sisters will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new horizons – but they will face it all together. Booklist noted that “Morrow’s ability to take the lingering stain of slavery on American history and use it as a catalyst for unbreakable love and resilience is flawless. That she has remixed a canonical text to do so only further illuminates the need to critically question who holds the pen in telling our nation’s story.”

C.B. Lee is a writer of young adult and middle-grade fiction. Her works include the Sidekick Squad series, Ben 10 graphic novels, and Out Now: Queer We Go Again. Lee’s work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Tor’s Best of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and the American Library Association’s Rainbow List. In A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix (Feiwel and Friends), it is 1826 and the legendary Dragon Fleet, scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Xiang has grown up hearing about its ruthless leader, a woman known only as the Head of the Dragon; it’s just another story to which she feels no real connection, much like that of father’s, who died at sea before she was born. According to legend, the Head of the Dragon had one last treasure, the plunder of a thousand ports. For decades, it has only been a myth, a fool’s journey. But it turns out that Xiang’s pendant, the only thing her father left behind, holds a hidden tiny map scroll inside – and the revelation that her father sailed with the Dragon and tucked away this secret changes everything. Malinda Lo, bestselling author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, said “rooted in the legend of Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih, C.B. Lee’s A Clash of Steel is richly imagined and thrilling to the end.”

Chloe Gong is The New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and its sequel, Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights) (Margaret K. McElderry Books). Set in 1927 as Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution, Our Violent Ends finds Roma and Juliette trapped in a web of secrets and violence. But when a monstrous new danger emerges in the city, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation to end this threat once and for all. They must put aside their differences to combat both monsters and politics, but their biggest challenge might be protecting their hearts – from each other.

Keshia Abraham, founder and president of The Abraham Consulting Agency, is an African diaspora scholar and J.E.D.I (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) educator committed to facilitating personal and organizational development through intercultural growth. She is a bridge-builder who believes in the transformative power of international education and the long-term impact it has, hence her unwavering commitment to global learning, especially at HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities).