Would readers recoil from the harshness of my characters' realities? Or would they recognize how the novel invites connections between those realities and an ongoing reckoning with racialized violence and police brutality? To my relief, the novel received glowing reviews, earned multiple literary awards, and was named to "best of the year" lists by Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal. When Out of Darkness was first published, I braced for objections. Then, as now, young people struggle mightily for joy, love and dignity. The book portrays friendship, loving family, community and healthy relationships because they, too, are part of the characters' world. I sought to show the depths of harm inflicted on some in this country without sensationalizing that history. As I wrote, the teenagers' circumstances began to tighten, noose-like, around their lives and love, leading to still more tragedy. But to engage honestly with the realities of the time and of my characters' lives, I had to grapple with systemic racism, personal prejudice, sexual abuse and domestic violence. This tragic but little-known historical event serves as the backdrop for a fictional star-crossed romance between a Black teenager and a young Latina who has just arrived in the area.Īs I researched the novel, I imagined the explosion as its most devastating event.
I drew my inspiration for the novel from an actual school disaster: the 1937 New London school explosion that killed hundreds in an East Texas oil town just 20 minutes from my childhood home. As we reach the end of 2022, it has been banned in at least 29 school districts across the country.įrom the earliest stages of writing, I knew Out of Darkness would be difficult - for me, and for readers. At the beginning of 2021, Out of Darkness had been on library shelves for over five years without a single challenge or complaint. Hate mail and threats overwhelmed the inboxes where I once had received invitations for author visits and appreciative notes from readers.
Author Interviews Banned Books: Author Ashley Hope Pérez on finding humanity in the 'darkness'Īttacks unfolded, not just on my writing but also on young people's right to read it.
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