I'm pretty good Twitter, so I do a lot of promotion on there. What is some advice you can share with up-and-coming authors about advertising their book?ĭon't force anything - promote in ways you're good at or enjoy. I also wish schools didn't chase accolades like 'offering the most AP classes' and 'highest SAT scores.' The pressure of those goals directly affects the students.Ħ. I know funding is an issue, but I wish there were way better ratios of guidance counselors to students. What are some ways schools can better assist the mental health of their students? I think many people with any type of marginalization probably feel pressure to excel in areas they can 'control.'ĥ. Do you think that queer teenagers are hit harder with perfectionism? We both got to chill out and have happy moments.Ĥ. The time with Amir wasn't only a pressure release for him, but it was also a pressure release for me. I felt the anxiety right along with Ariel every time he spiraled.

You Asked for Perfect is a really stressful book. What is something you loved writing about the relationship between Ariel and Amir? I knew the characters and their personalities very early on, but figuring out how to plot an academic anxiety spiral was definitely difficult.ģ. This was a really difficult book to write! I knew I wanted to write about a character experiencing intense academic pressure, but I had no idea how to plot it, which meant I wrote the book almost from the ground up like five times. What was your writing process like for ' You Asked For Perfect'? I believe the whole system would be a lot healthier if there was less marketing for these 'top' schools and more conversation about how there are so many colleges where you can get a good education.Ģ. I think a lot of the pressure stems from putting 'brand name' colleges on pedestals, which leads to high schools and students all jockeying for acceptance into the same small pool of colleges, forcing them to constantly one-up each other with more AP classes, more extracurriculars, etc. It's definitely not something all students experience, but there's an increasing amount of pressure on many teens to excel. Do you believe there’s an unfair pressure on teens in the modern education system to succeed? Girl Out of Water was a Junior Library Guild Selection.' (Source: 1.

Her books include Girl Out of Water, You Asked for Perfect, and It’s a Whole Spiel. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children at the New School. 'Laura Silverman is an author and editor and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Katie King Author: Laura Silverman Author Bio:

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