“It’s such an emotional time … you feel things so strongly, whether it’s romance or sadness or uncertainty.” She embraces a shift toward challenging subjects in contemporary realism written for younger readers - “it’s tough stuff, and it should be” - and says the genre as a whole possesses the room to go deep. “More than anything,” Benway said, “I wanted to make sure that if a young person read the book they would feel impacted by it, whether they’d be able to sympathize or empathize with these characters.”įor Benway, writing in a heightened state of teenage feeling is part of the appeal of young-adult literature. I carry so much privilege.” In the novel, Grace and Maya, both white, live with their adoptive families Joaquin, who is Latino, has remained in foster care. “I’m a white woman from Orange County, Calif. Of course, by making that choice, then I felt a lot of responsibility,” she said.

The more she read, the more strongly she felt that “all three of these kids can’t be white, because I don’t know how to tell a story about adoption and not talk about race and talk about the effect it has on the foster care system…. In private adoptions, she tells me, “a white girl might be $10,000 more than an African American boy” and that children of color are placed in foster care at a higher rate, which “creates a cycle that’s impossible and expensive and disruptive.” Is it blood? Is it time? Is it shared experiences? Is it all of the above? Is it none of the above?īenway has no personal experience with adoption she spent roughly half a year on research, reading about racial identity in foster care and transracial adoption. A week later, outside of a Costco, Benway heard the first lyric to a Florence and the Machine song - “a falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes” - and the inspiration was immediate. After abandoning another concept she reluctantly told her publisher that the book would be late. The novel’s lead-up had been struggle - until it struck with a bang. “Far From the Tree” knits family ties, but it also tackles serious subject matter, including teen pregnancy and racial discrimination in foster care. As they begin to forge relationships and gain entrance into one another’s lives, secrets emerge and braid their stories further they need to find each other in order to find themselves. When middle sibling Grace puts her baby up for adoption, she goes in search of her biological family, discovering a younger sister, 15-year-old Maya, and an older brother, 17-year-old Joaquin. “Far From the Tree” probes these family themes. Her questions about family tumbled out at a clip because she’s excited by them.“Is it blood? Is it time? Is it shared experiences? Is it all of the above? Is it none of the above?” I wanted to make sure that if a young person read the book they would feel impacted by it.

Robin benway books