#BreakSilence: Twitter Chat March 5th at 7PM EST!

#BreakSilence:
A Twitterchat with YA Authors
 Margie Gelbwasser & Cheryl Rainfield
Monday, March 5th, 2012 at 7PM EST
Hosted by: JKSCommunications & A Book and a Latte

PRIZES:
1 signed copy of PIECES OF YOU + signedbookmarks
2 signedcopies of HUNTED (paperback Canadian version)
2ebook review copies of HUNTED

When Margie Gelbwasser wrote her first YA novel, INCONVENIENT (Flux, 2010), her dad said, “The writing is nice, but there are very few Jewish alcoholics.” A Russian woman who read it said, “Yes, to Americans it may seem like the mom is an alcoholic, but she isn’t really.” And then there were those who thanked her for telling their story. Too much of real life is kept behind closed doors, with victims thinking their plight is the norm or that this only happens to them. Margie’s second novel, PIECES OF US (Flux, March 2012), deals with cyberbullying, abuse and dating violence. She’s been told “These things may happen, but they shouldn’t be written about.” It’s the silence that causes cycles to repeat. “Too dark” for some, is another’s reality. By allowing the “too real,” victims gain strength. Confront the realistic in YA and #BreakSilence.

YA author Cheryl Rainfield is an incest and ritual abuse survivor. Her abusers frequently told her that they’d kill her if she talked, and since she’d seen them murder other children, she knew they could kill her, so became became terrified to talk. Writing was her safe way of “speaking”, her way to have a voice. Books, too, helped her survive–helped her escape the abuse she living, helped her dream and hope, and in some small ways helped her know she wasn’t alone. But she never fully found her own experiences reflected in books, and that’s why Cheryl wrote SCARS and HUNTED. She wrote the books she needed as a teen, and couldn’t find. She talked about the things others never seemed to talk about–self-harm, sexual abuse, being queer (in SCARS) and cults, torture, bullying, and homophobia (in HUNTED). Meghan Cox Gurden in the WSJ called SCARS (and many other YA books) “too dark.” But Cheryl lived “too dark.” Many teens now are living “too dark.” We need reflections of our own experiences to know that we’re not alone, and to give us some hope that things can get better. Join us and #BreakSilence.

We recommend using tweetchat.com (not required) – it’s a tool that makes it easier to follow and participate by automatically adding the hashtag (#BreakSilence) for you. We hope to see you there!