Young Adult Author Tiffany D. Jackson Reinvents Genre Tropes

Contributed photo

Prolific young adult author Tiffany Jackson will be making a stop at Penn State Behrend during their annual Gender Conference in April. The theme of the conference is Art and Activism and Jackson will speak on connecting storytelling with social consciousness.

THURSDAY, APR. 11

As a parent of two small children, I am amazed by the expanding world of high-quality literature for young people. Gone are the days where bookish students had Madeleine L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, and little else to choose from. If you venture into Pressed or Werner Books these days, you'll find a customized array of stories and perspectives for kids of all ages. And Young Adult (YA) author Tiffany D. Jackson exemplifies this literary transformation.

Known for her inventive approach to genre, Jackson has been releasing a novel on an almost yearly basis since 2017. Her first book Allegedly tells a gritty story about child care, foster care, abuse, and mental illness. Her second, Monday's Not Coming, uses tropes from the mystery genre to explore the often-neglected real-life cases of missing Black girls — who have disappeared with alarming regularity in recent years. Jackson's next two books, 2019's Let Me Hear a Rhyme and 2020's Grown, examine the music industry — with the latter taking loose inspiration from the allegations surrounding R&B star R. Kelly.

More recently, Jackson has turned to the horror genre to tell stories about mental illness, gentrification, racism, and cultural history. 2021's White Smoke is technically a haunted house narrative, but she uses this template to explore social themes like racial subjugation, economic disenfranchisement, and gentrification. Her most recent book, 2022's The Weight of Blood, is a loose re-imagining of Stephen King's Carrie, involving a mixed-race protagonist whose bigoted father forces her to "pass" for a white girl in small-town Georgia.

This New York Times bestselling author is the keynote speaker for Penn State Behrend's annual Gender Conference, which will take place during the second week of April. This year's theme is "Art and Activism," so expect Jackson to touch on how she uses story-telling to expand social consciousness. We live in a world where teenagers can struggle to find stories that speak to their experiences. With her focus on social media, parent/child conflicts, generational trauma, and mental illness, Jackson provides them with narratives that speak to their fears and ambitions.

Keynote speech: Thursday, Apr. 11 at 7 p.m. // Penn State Behrend, Reed Union Building #117, 4701 College Dr. // Free and Open to the Public // More information is available here: pennstatebehrendgenderconference.wordpress.com