Laid Up With the Flu

You may have noticed that after a brisk start to blogging in the new year, I haven’t posted in a while. That’s because I came down with the flu a little more than a week ago, despite having received all my vaccinations in the fall. I’m not sure which strain I came down with. Having that tidbit of knowledge isn’t worth the big medical bill I would have to pay, so I’m in the dark and so is our public health system. Being out of commission for a week means a whole lot of work didn’t get done, and I’m still in catch-up mode. Still, I want to assure you, dear readers, that I’m working on a new post having to do with social credit systems like the one in China today that our own Project 2025 seeks to emulate.

I have managed to get some reading done, which is a good thing despite my illness. At the beginning of April I will be on a panel for the Texas Library Association organized by middle grade author Kerry O’Malley Cerra. The topic is youth activism, and her latest novel, Make a Little Wave, is the story of a 13-year-old Savannah, a newcomer to her Florida beachside community, who spearheads a campaign to protect endangered sharks. She does this in spite of the fact that she’s afraid of sharks and tends to avoid putting her head under water because she is deaf and wears cochlear implants. (It’s possible to swim with cochlear implants but requires special equipment and advance preparation to avoid ruining expensive electronics.) Her campaign targets an upscale restaurant owned by the family of a popular boy in her class who seems to like her until she initiates a series of direct actions with accelerating stakes, and as the whole situation spins out of control, some unexpected things happen. Make a Little Wave is filled with humor, surprises, and awe as Sav gains an even greater appreciation for the creatures she has vowed to protect.

Make a Little Wave has just won a major state award in Florida, and I’m glad to see stories of activism getting some love. I haven’t decided which of my books to focus on in Texas, Torch or Eyes Open. I’m leaning toward Torch as this point because of its portrayal of three teenage boys who risk everything to speak out for democracy and freedom. As I was going over our list of recently published books that we’ve recommended, I noticed a dearth in the YA space of books with boy protagonists who are activists for social or environmental justice. In Torch, I explore what motivates Pavol, Śtepán, and Tomáš to take a stand and the challenges of being there for each other when the regime is set up to pull them apart and force them to turn on each other. Books like these — and we do need more of them — provide an alternative to the current reality of teenage boys as low-hanging fruit for violent far-right extremists.