YA A to Z: Siobhan Vivian

I read and reviewed Siobhan Vivian’s Same Difference for Booklist the year it was released. I was struck – I still am – by the book’s slow, deliberate unfolding of the story mirroring the unfolding and growth of the main character. I was surprised by the character, just as she was surprised by what she was growing into.

Siobhan Vivian has never shied away from these types of characters: young women who know themselves, and stretch to know themselves better. What I find really wonderful about this is that these are not easy characters to write. It’s easy to find teen characters who learn and grow – it’s kind of a thing in YA lit – but finding teen characters who are conscious of their growth, interested in stretching beyond the boxes that they have been placed in by their age, their gender, their social groups, or their society, and realistically self possessed as they do so. I love that her characters feel so real because they, like all of us, are complicated. They have dark sides, they want things they’re not supposed to want, they think things that “nice girls” don’t talk about, but they’re people we cheer for because this realness makes us know them.

Vivian is a New York native, an editor and teacher in addition to her novel writing. She can be found online, and is active on Twitter, but fun fact: there’s no Wikipedia page about her yet. So someone get on that, ok?

Novels:

• A Little Friendly Advice
• Same Difference
• Not That Kind of Girl
• The List
• Burn For Burn (with Jenny Han)
• Fire With Fire (with Jenny Han)
• Ashes To Ashes (with Jenny Han)

Join the conversation!  Share a post about your favorite author OR tweet us your favorite author with the tag #YAAtoZ. While we’re sharing our favorite authors, we would love to hear about yours. We all might find some new authors we haven’t heard of before. And the more authors we share, the more comprehensive and diverse the list becomes. On Twitter, we’re @TLT16, @boothheather, @robinreads, and @citesomething.

#YAAtoZ Schedule: Week 1 4: A ; 5: B ; 6: C ; 7: D  Week 2 10: E ; 11: F ; 12: G, H, I ; 13: J, K ; 14: L  Week 3 17: M ; 18: N, O ; 19: P, Q ; 20: R, S ; 21: T  Week 4 24: U ; 25: V, W ; 26: X ; 27: Y ; 28: Z

Filed under: Siobhan Vivian, Uncategorized, YA A to Z