Ellen Wittlinger, Author of Hard-Hitting Queer YA, Has Died

On the aforesaid time quality broke astir the loss of YA writer Marcus Sedgwick, the YA assemblage mislaid yet different fable successful the field. Ellen Wittlinger, who wrote groundbreaking, hard-hitting realistic YA featuring queer characters successful an epoch wherever specified stories were exceedingly rare, died November 17, 2022.

Wittlinger’s vocation began arsenic a playwright successful the 1970s and 80s, aft she earned her MFA astatine the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Though she continued to constitute plays and beryllium progressive successful the playwriting world, she recovered a existent location with her penning skills and penning dependable successful YA.

Hard Love, published successful 1999 and her 3rd novel, was a finalist for YALSA’s first ever Printz Award. It was besides a Lambda Literary Award winner, and it earned starred reviews and captious acclaim from respective large outlets. The communicative follows a lad and a miss who link implicit zines and, done the people of their friendship, navigate parental divorce, sexuality, and what it means to find oneself.

“Maybe the astir important happening that winning the Printz Honor Award did was marque maine consciousness morganatic successful my ain eyes. Even though it was my 3rd YA novel, winning a large prize gave maine a feeling of acceptance successful the tract that I hadn’t had before. Suddenly I felt assured astir saying, “Yes, this is what I do–I constitute novels for teenagers,”” said Wittlinger in an interrogation with Cynthia Leitich Smith successful 2005.

Central to Wittlinger’s books were teen characters navigating emotionally-complex situations, and she did not shy distant from depicting the acheronian parts of the teen experience. Her stories featured characters who were conscious of class, arsenic good arsenic societal realities. Wittlinger published passim the aboriginal 2000s, during a clip erstwhile queer YA–particularly openly queer YA–was rare.

Wittlinger is possibly champion known for her publication Parrotfish, 1 of the archetypal books successful YA featuring a trans main character. Published successful 2007, the publication follows Grady arsenic helium comes retired arsenic transgender and begins to transition, contempt dense absorption from loved ones. The publication earned a Lambda Literary Award nomination. Parrotfish was a uncommon communicative giving powerfulness to trans teens successful a clip erstwhile specified stories were not being published, and 10 years aft publication, Wittlinger and her exertion updated the book to usage much close connection astir the trans experience. Though a merchandise of its 2007 publication, galore mention it arsenic the first clip they saw themselves reflected successful books written for them.

Tributes to the writer came successful implicit societal media upon learning the news.

Other books by Wittlinger see What’s In a Name, Zig Zag, Someone Else’s Shoes, Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story, Local Girl Swept Away, and more.