Some very exciting news from some of our favorite authors this morning — they’re teaming up to spotlight contemporary, realistic YA fiction!
Okay, sure, we all love the supernatural (I’m a huge fan, personally) — but there’s still something really satisfying about reading a realistic, contemporary piece of young adult lit. It’s the feelings I get when I read books like Flash Burnout … Will Grayson, Will Grayson … and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. So I’m especially excited about this news!
Here is the press release with more info:
AUTHORS TEAM UP TO SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY REALISTIC FICTION FOR TEENS
“The Contemps” are Keeping it Real with Outreach, Resources and New Releases
Twenty-one authors have banded together to put real life in the spotlight and to keep readers up-to-date on the latest in contemporary young adult fiction.
“There are so many wonderful authors writing contemporary realistic fiction,” said Contemps co-founder Lisa Schroeder. “As much as we love other genres, the marketplace can feel dominated by paranormal, fantasy and dystopian novels. We want to celebrate the unique way that contemporary stories help teens feel they’re not alone in this real world.”
“The Contemps” officially launched on August 17 with a mission to help teens, booksellers, librarians and publishers connect with books that feature real-life settings, characters and situations. Group members range from debuts to veterans with several titles on the shelves, and all have new releases coming out between September 2010 and August 2011. They hope to not just build buzz for members’ books, but to create excitement and appreciation for the contemporary realistic genre in general.
The members are: Brent Crawford, Hannah Harrington, April Henry, Kirsten Hubbard, Denise Jaden, Kody Keplinger, Jo Knowles, Lindsey Leavitt, Sarah Darer Littman, Michael Northrop, Sarah Ockler, Micol Ostow, Lisa Schroeder, Elizabeth Scott, Mindi Scott, Emily Wing Smith, Courtney Summers, Kristen Tracy, Melissa Walker, Sara Bennett Wealer, and Daisy Whitney.
A number of activities are planned in the coming year, including giveaways, sharing experiences from their own teenage years, spotlighting other contemporary realistic authors, and multi-author events. The group’s home base is www.thecontemps.com, where members will be blogging several times a week on a variety of topics. Online outreach will also extend to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
“We’re reaching out to a variety of audiences,” said co-founder Lindsey Leavitt. “We want readers, teachers and librarians to know about the wealth of awesome books out there. And we want the industry to know about the authors who create these books. There’s still a market for contemporary realistic fiction, and we plan to demonstrate that.”
For the comments: What’s your favorite piece of realistic contemporary YA fiction?
Novel Novice 
OMG, I am ALL OVER this! I volunteer to cover this group from now on! I’ve said before that I love my vampires as much as the next person but there is SO MUCH fantastic realistic fiction out there that’s going relatively unnoticed. Major KUDOS to The Contemps!!!
I know! I’m so excited! I’m going to add their badge to our sidebar later today! 🙂