Resharing this highly personal essay I wrote about my HS years and the cruel girl-on-girl judgment & hate I experienced. And how it influenced my writing of JACK KEROUAC IS DEAD TO ME (out Tuesday). https://www.yabookscentral.com/blog/spotlight-on-jack-kerouac-is-dead-to-me-gae-polisner-plus-guest-post">https://www.yabookscentral.com/blog/spot...

Just writing it brought the pain & emotions back to the surface, but I think we need to talk about this. It& #39;s still going on, worse than ever, & I can& #39;t help asking how much stronger women would be if we, as girls, stood up for one another. If our friendships weren& #39;t so fragile.

When I go into schools, I talk to the girls, I see the pain in their eyes. We talk about how we don& #39;t have to be friends. We don& #39;t have to hang out. But we should try hard not to judge (so often falsely), we should lift one another, even if we don& #39;t hang out.

So many girls tell me how painful the judging is. The cruelty. I face it both physically and emotionally in HS all those years ago. You& #39;d think it might have gotten better. And in some regards, maybe it has. But in others, not so much. What I want to talk about with KEROUAC...

is the relationship between JL and Aubrey, how this moment in JL& #39;s life might have been different, if Aubrey had truly and strongly stood by her. I also want to talk about what JL could have done different. Friendships are a two-way street. ALWAYS.

If you are a HS educator who wants to use JACK KEROUAC IS DEAD TO ME, and want me to Skype/Zoom/whatever in, feel free to reach out to me. Know the book is for UPPER YA. Has intense and details sexual situations (you know, the kind HS students engage in . . . https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦋" title="Butterfly" aria-label="Emoji: Butterfly">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💞" title="Revolving hearts" aria-label="Emoji: Revolving hearts">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦋" title="Butterfly" aria-label="Emoji: Butterfly">)

Sorry for the typos in this thread. Writers HATE it when we can& #39;t edit our twitter typos. I write good, I swear. Really. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤣" title="Rolling on the floor laughing" aria-label="Emoji: Rolling on the floor laughing">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💞" title="Revolving hearts" aria-label="Emoji: Revolving hearts">