adolescence
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Our Own Bodies: A Conversation with JoAnna Novak
JoAnna Novak discusses her novel, I Must Have You, eating disorders, and writing characters that challenge our expectations of how women should behave.
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TORCH: Over the Borderline
I’m writing about the border through the eyes of children because the border is a problem of the imagination.
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The Butt Song
Last night as my husband got ready to go out [my daughter] grabbed his coat and said, “Call 1-900-Mix-A-Lot and kick those nasty thoughts.”
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On Searching for Honesty in Writing: An Interview with Blake Nelson
Blake Nelson discusses his new book, Boy, letting his characters find their own fates, and possibly, maybe, being just the right amount of famous.
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He’s All Goat
I stared up at him, at his new muscular legs, his blossoming body, his trunks, his glory, in awe. I waited as long as I could, pretending to turn the two options over in my head, before saying, “Suicide.”
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Libraries Are the Real Punk Rock
Maybe I was only in the eighth grade, but I was ready to stand up to anyone who tried to threaten the ideal of intellectual freedom.
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I Choose My Pearls: On Feminism, Fashion, and Disneyland
Women don’t need laws to repress their fashion, comfort, identity, or preference. Our society’s deft ability to shame does all the heavy lifting.
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Voices on Addiction: Shame Is a Treble Hook
Shame is a treble hook that tells me that 1) I not only fail but am a failure, that 2) I not only damage people but I am damaged, and that 3) I not only lie but I am a…
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My End of the World at Rajneeshpuram
I used to play a game with myself: who should die first, me or daddy? When I was very little, I could never come up with a good answer.
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Saying What Shouldn’t Be Said: A Conversation with Julie Buntin
Julie Buntin discusses her debut novel, Marlena, why writing about teenage girls is the most serious thing in the world, and finding truths in fiction.
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How The Keepers Reframes Confession as a Feminist Act
Critics have noted how The Keepers is similar to other prestige documentaries but with a significant difference—its focus on the victims and their stories.
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TORCH: My American Playground
I left the car by the roadside and ran up the slope, in tears now, reaching the picnic tables and swings and, as bright and vivid as in my dreams, my purple-shaped climbing frame, exactly as I remembered it.