Relationships with parents are often tricky, and learning how to grow up beyond your childhood years—or the expectations of your parents—is a challenge every young person must face. In Tom Birdseye’s There Is No Map For This, 17 year-old Ren lives with his brother to escape his mom and her husband, and is learning what it means to “man up.” Kern Carter’s anticipated And Then There Was Us follows 14 year-old Coi navigating the memories of her abusive mother. Anthony Nerada blends pop punk romance and destroying labels in Skater Boy, about a queer teen writing his own story. Together, these three authors move beyond stigma about difficult relationships with parents to offer grounded, wise perspectives on moving from teen years to adulthood. Grades 8–12. Moderated by France Perras.
Themes: Young adult, family, abuse, grief, mental health, coming-of-age, romance, LGBTQ2SIA+
Curriculum Connections: English Language Arts 8-9, Creative Writing 10-12, Physical and Health Education 8-10
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TOM BIRDSEYE is the author of nineteen books for young readers,including fiction, picture books and nonfiction. His books have won or been a finalist for state children’s choice awards forty-three times and been recognized by the International Reading Association, the National Council of Social Studies, the Oregon Library Association and the Oregon Reading Association. Tom is faculty emeritus in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. He lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
KERN CARTER is a full-time freelance writer and author who has written and self-published two novels — Thoughts of a Fractured Soul (novella) and Beauty Scars. His YA novel Boys and Girls Screaming released in April 2022, published by DCB, an imprint of Cormorant Books. Kern is also a ghostwriter with credits in Forbes, the New York Times, Global Citizen, Elle Magazine and Fatherly.com, and has ghostwritten several books. When he’s not penning novels or ghostwriting, Kern is curating stories through CRY, his online publication that creates space for artists to navigate through the emotions of their creative journey. He lives in downtown Toronto with his daughter.
ANTHONY NERADA became a writer after his fifth-grade teacher told him it was his destiny. Since then, he’s read too many books (if there is such a thing) and explored worlds far outside the reaches of his own. Anthony holds a BA in psychology and two diplomas (one in public relations, the other in publishing), which allow him to write the day away while simultaneously psychoanalyzing his friends. Anthony lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples. His debut novel, Skater Boy, was named a Kids' Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association.
FRANCE PERRAS is a bilingual actress (stage, screen, voice-overs, moderating, live announcing) who has been working in Vancouver and across Canada, for the past many years.
She often works with Théâtre la Seizième, the only professional French theatre company in BC.
You can find out more at: www.franceperras.com or by following her @thefranceperras on Instagram.
