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Light coming from book in woman&#39;s hands in gesture of giving

Madeleine L'Engle was born 40 years before I came along. She wrote her first story at five years old. At five, I was still making mud pies and playing with bugs. Author of more than sixty books, L'Engle is best known for A Wrinkle in Time, which won the Newbery Medal in 1963.I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't even read A Wrinkle in Time until I was an adult with children of my own. I must’ve grown up on Mars or the literary equivalent. Anyway, when I did read it, I was entranced.Why? Because Madeleine L'Engle blended science fiction, fantasy, and faith in a way that portrayed God as exciting. Relevant. Urgent. In A Wrinkle in Time, L’Engle made a young teen girl the main character in a story where the forces of good and evil are joined in mortal combat. And this girl, with her manifold flaws and failings, is the one who must set things right. Her choices and actions matter. SHE MATTERS! (Can you hear me shout that?)I didn’t start writing when I was five. More like thirty-five. And I didn’t start with fiction. But when I was ready to write stories, I asked God (this is true and slightly embarrassing) to help me write like Madeleine L'Engle. Because she inspires me to write stories that weave together science and fantasy and faith, to give teen characters choices and actions that matter, to portray matters of the heart and spirit as exciting, relevant, and urgent.I miss her. Don’t you? I’m thankful we still have her stories.

Do you miss Madeleine L'Engle too?

Call it a case of arrested development, but I write teen fiction because that’s what I need to read. Scratch the surface of any YA story worth its salt, and you’ve got at least one important life lesson you get to learn/relearn right along with the protagonist. We’re talking biggies, like overcoming fears, accepting reality, learning to trust others or oneself, assuming responsibility, sticking up for someone, and sorting out different kinds of love. Stuff teens have to deal with every day as part of growing up, along with studying for the math test (they’re my heroes).How do YA authors do it? I mean, the novels I’m talking about aren’t exactly self-help books. The answer: sneakily. The reader thinks they’re reading one story, but they’re actually reading two: the easy-to-see story on the surface that has the exciting plot, and the subtle one underneath where the real transformation takes place. All good YA stories involve transformation—the protagonist starts out with a want and a need (she may not know her need), and ends up transformed because her need has been met (even if her want has not). It’s that transformation that keeps me coming back for more, because it gives me hope. Hope that I can still change. Hope that the world can still change.In Call of the Desert: Crossing, Claire and her two closest friends continue the YA tradition of transformation that brings hope.

Why I’m obsessed with young adult (YA) fiction

In Call of the Desert: Crossing, twelve-year-old Claire has to muster her courage to even get close enough to meet Mrs. Green because a desert dog guards Mrs. Green’s porch (everyone knows desert dogs can be dangerous). And, of course, there’s the tendency of Mrs. Green’s villa to sometimes shimmer and turn into something else, possibly somewhere else. But Claire does get close enough, and Mrs. Green invites her in for tea and snickerdoodles.And Claire’s life changes.Because Mrs. Green’s hospitality isn’t just tea and small talk. It opens up a space where Claire feels safe enough to tell the truth. Safe enough to think about uncomfortable things. And Mrs. Green’s respectful yet matter-of-fact approach to what is clearly magical oversets Claire’s notions of what is real. And important. The encounter jumpstarts Claire’s quest to learn her true identity.Have you ever met a Mrs. Green? Someone who invited you into a space where you felt safe and not judged? Where you felt brave enough to look around inside you, because you knew that no matter what you discovered, your Mrs. Green wouldn’t flinch or turn away, but would hold you and your discovery tenderly. Where you were encouraged to find and honor the truth of who you are.I met my Mrs. Green when I was in graduate school. Unchurched, unbaptized, ignorant but hungry, I had just mustered my courage to approach an Episcopal church. And Edith Moore—my Mrs. Green—invited me in.Is there a Mrs. Green in your life? Have you ever been a Mrs. Green to someone else?