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Trish Doller is the critically-acclaimed author of Something Like Normal. Something Like Normal was chosen for the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list in 2013, as well named as an NPR Top 100 Teen Books finalist and 2012 Goodreads Choice nominee. Trish's second novel, Where the Stars Still Shine, was longlisted for the 2014 Australian Silver Inky Awards and was a Winter 2013-14 Indie Next List pick. Printz Award-winning author Melina Marchetta calls Where the Stars Still Shine"heartbreaking and powerful". Her third novel, The Devil You Know, will be released June 2, 2015 and she is currently writing her first novel for adults. Trish lives in Florida with her two dogs, two mostly-grown children, and a pirate. For more information visit Trish at: trishdoller.com.

Why do you read young adult fiction?
There are so many elements of YA Lit that appeal to me, but the strongest is the voice -- that raw, honest, and vulnerable voice of an adolescent wading through an experience, or series of experiences, after which their world will never be the same. It's the sound of the characters that draw me to the work, the way they unpack their emotions on the page. My favorite YA books are hinged by a strong narrative voice, typically a first person point of view. Of course the story and setting matter a great deal as well, the structure and subplots and sidekicks, but it always comes back to a strong authentic voice. 

What YA book are you reading now? 
I'm currently reading an ARC of the YA novel Fig (forthcoming April 2015) by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz; she's a Simon & Schuster author, too, and the story is one I haven't heard yet in the YA world, so I'm planning to blurb the book. In terms of other YA books sharing the nightstand with Fig, the new issue of One Teen Story and E. Lockhart's We Were Liars are currently in the stack.

When and where do you read?
If truth be told, I'm mostly reading board books to my son these days, so we read on the floor, on the couch, and in the cozy chair in his bedroom. He's ten months old, and reading has become one of his favorite activities. But when I can find the time to read for myself, it is often on the back deck, curled up on the couch, at my desk in my office before beginning my writing for the day, or in bed. I also read in airports, in parking lots, in coffee shops, in classrooms before my students arrive, at dog parks, standing up in the kitchen, and in doctor's office waiting rooms. I try to sneak it in when ever and where ever I can! And I can't fall asleep without reading for at least half an hour. It's my way of unwinding and closing up shop for the day.

What draws you to a book? 
I rely heavily on word of mouth and recommendations from friends and other authors. When I was on book tour for Fingerprints of You, I collected books based off the suggestions of booksellers, and never left an event empty handed. 

Do you ever reread books? 
I absolutely do. One of the most wonderful things about reading is seeing a book in a new way depending on what you're bringing to the page at that time. For me, a book changes each time I read it, so I often return to my stack of favorites for inspiration, particularly when I'm struggling with something in my own work. 

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Why do you read young adult fiction?    
Anita Silvey (a children's literature historian and former publisher at Houghton Mifflin) once told me that most of the writers she knew were writing for the age at which they got "stuck" somehow. This is probably not true of everyone, but I think it is true of me. In many ways, I'm still trying to understand all the ways in which I changed, all the ways in which my world changed, as a teenager. Reading and writing young adult fiction gives me access to stories that are like mine and also very different from mine.

Also, I find that the writing in YA novels is cleaner, clearer, more honest -- I can appreciate the artistry of adult novels, but I often feel that the writing overwhelms the story. This rarely happens in YA.


What YA books are you reading now?    
I'm between projects at the moment, which I have used as an excuse to read a few books that have been stacked on my nightstand all summer: Code Name Verity (Elizabeth Wein), My Book of Life by Angel (Martine Leavitt), We Were Liars (E. Lockhart), and Man Made Boy (Jon Skovron). Next up: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, because I talked my book club into reading a YA title for our next meeting!

When and where do you read?    
I have to read a few pages of something before I fall asleep, so I do that in bed every night, but the rest of my reading time is catch-as-catch-can these days. With young kids, I don't get the long, luxurious stretches of reading time that I used to have. But I always have a book with me, and I read during ballet classes, in the car before preschool pick-up, etc. My daughter is reading on her own now (she's six), so sometimes I can get her to sit next to me on the porch and read our own books side by side. I love that.


What draws you to a book?    
Something unexpected -- a plot or character or setting I haven't seen before. It goes back to my days as an editor: if something doesn't grab me in the first few pages, I probably won't keep going.

Do you ever reread books?
I do, although not as much as I used to, because my reading time is more limited. As a kid, I read the same books many times, sometimes ten or more. My copy of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach has tally marks in it, tracking my dozen or so re-reads. As a young adult, I read Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn every year, and then John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany and Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. I loved Alexandra Fuller's memoir Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight so much that as soon as I finished it, I flipped it over and started at the beginning again.

Which YA books have had the most impact on your writing?    
Lately I've been drawn to and inspired by books that weren't published as YA but have young characters and what feels like a YA sensibility: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson, The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls, The Radleys by Matt Haig. I read for whatever I'm struggling with in my own work, too -- right now I'm interested in well-developed settings in books like The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and Sonya Hartnett's Thursday's Child.

When and where do you read? 
I read in bed every single night for about an hour. It is my most peaceful and blessed time. I also read in airports, on long drives, in doctor’s offices, really any time that I am captive in a small space. It is my number one favorite thing to do.

What draws you to a book? 
Reviews and awards do play an important role for me initially because I am always interested in what we are collectively calling strong work. I also love to get recommendations from friends who know my tastes or who might like to challenge me. I do love cover art, but the only time it factors in for me is if it’s intolerably sexist or silly – and then I just won’t open it on principle. What holds me in a book, though, is voice and how well the characters are drawn.

Do you ever reread books? 
I definitely re-read a book if I’m going to use it in a lecture or speech, just to make sure that I remember the book as it really is. The first reading is pure enjoyment; the second reading is a study of how the author succeeded.

There are only a few books that I re-read purely for pleasure, I’m sad to say. There just isn’t enough time to get to all the wonderful books that are being written. That said, Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livesey (not a YA) is a book I have re-read for style and tension and for the depth of the character. 

Which YA books have had the most impact on your writing?    
There has been no single book. There have been hundreds of books, and not just YA. My biggest influences have been the modern day Latino masters:  Márquez, Alvarez, Cisneros, etc.

In terms of YA specifically, I’d say that reading broadly has given me a sense of the landscape of the YA world. It has given me a clearer sense of what I like to do and what I might have to offer to young people in my own work.