Things I’ll Never Say (28 page)

E
RICA
L. K
AUFMAN
lives in Providence, Rhode Island, in an old, tilted red house with her needy cat and her less-needy husband. Originally from New Hampshire, she earned her
BFA
from Emerson College in writing, literature, and publishing and her
MFA
in writing for young people from Lesley University. She says, “One of the most vivid and complicated aspects of adolescence is having to constantly decide, often based on instinct alone, which parts of our lives are safe to reveal to others. As a writer, I was particularly interested in the theme of secrets as a way to examine closely how adolescents cultivate and possess many fractured identities at once. I approached the idea of secrets as synonymous with the idea of survival. I focused on the secrets we keep that, if revealed, would dramatically alter the current place we hold in the world.”

R
ON
K
OERTGE
writes fiction for young adults and poetry for everybody. Among his books for young adults are
Coaltown Jesus
and
Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses
, and his books of poetry are
Fever
and
The Ogre's Wife.
He loves to bet on Thoroughbred racehorses, but only four days a week. “Secrets have always intrigued me,” says Ron Koertge, “but that's my only secret and now everybody knows.”

E. M. K
OKIE
is drawn to stories about characters on the cusp of life-changing moments. Often those moments involve revealing the secrets we keep from others and discovering the secrets we keep even from ourselves. Her debut novel,
Personal Effects
, involves both kinds of secrets.
Personal Effects
was chosen as an American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults selection and an Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten selection.

C
HRIS
L
YNCH
is the author of several young adult and middle-grade novels, including
Hit Count
and
Killing Time in Crystal City.
He is also the author (pseudonymously and otherwise) of several other novels. He teaches in Lesley University's
MFA
program in creative writing. Chris Lynch believes that we should all be granted a certain number of badnesses that we are allowed to keep close and take to the grave with us. “Seven,” he says. “Seven sounds about right.”

K
EKLA
M
AGOON
is the author of the young adult novels
Camo Girl, 37 Things I Love, Fire in the Streets
, and
The Rock and the River
, which won the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent. She also writes nonfiction on historical topics, including
Today the World Is Watching You: The Little Rock Nine and the Fight for School Integration
,
1957.
Raised in a biracial family in the Midwest, Kekla Magoon teaches writing, conducts school and library visits nationwide, and serves on the Writers Council for the National Writing Project. She says, “Secrets are a kind of power. There's a rush that comes from knowing something no one else knows, and when you share your secret, you give someone a means to either understand and connect with you or reject or hurt you.”

Z
OË
M
ARRIOTT
lives on the blustery east coast of England with a growing library of more than ten thousand books, which will eventually bury her alive. Her first young adult novel,
The Swan Kingdom
, was published to international critical acclaim when she was twenty-four, and she has since written four more, including the Japanese-influenced Cinderella retelling
Shadows on the Moon
, from which her short story in this anthology grew. “When I was a teenager, part of my process of growing up lay in realizing that my secrets didn't have to be weaknesses — in fact, they had the potential to make me stronger. But only if I had the courage to turn them inside out and wear them proudly.”

K
ATY
M
ORAN
lives in the Welsh Borders with her husband and children. She wrote her first novel at the age of ten and became a published author later in life, inspired by a piece of jewelry given to her as a present. The brooch was sold by an antiques dealer as a fake but turned out to be a thousand years old. For Katy Moran, it acted like a time machine, taking her back into the mysterious past of the British Isles. “What I love most about secrets is their ambivalence — keeping them or not can lead to such devastating consequences. Do our friends and family always have the right to know the truth about our actions, or sometimes is it kinder to leave people in ignorance? Can telling the truth even be actively selfish — more about salving our own consciences than about the best interests of those we love? Do we have the right to decide what is in the best interests of others? Secrets are thorny and complicated.”

J. L. P
OWERS
is the award-winning author of three young adult novels,
The Confessional, This Thing Called the Future
, and
Amina;
editor of two collections of essays,
Labor Pains and Birth Stories
and
That Mad Game: Growing Up in a Warzone;
and a picture book,
Colors of the Wind: The Story of Champion Runner and Blind Artist George Mendoza.
She has some secrets but will usually divulge them over a cup of coffee to a friendly person.

M
ARY
A
NN
R
ODMAN
is the author of two middle-grade novels,
Yankee Girl
and
Jimmy's Stars
, as well as a number of picture books. As the daughter of an
FBI
agent, she learned that people have reasons for secrets lives. She lives her own un-secret life with husband and daughter in Alpharetta, Georgia.

C
YNTHIA
L
EITICH
S
MITH
is the best-selling and award-winning author of the Feral and Tantalize series, both set in the universe featured in “Cupid's Beaux.” You can look for more of Joshua and Quincie, and get a glimpse of Jamal, in those novels. Cynthia Leitich Smith says, “Writing is the boldest way I share glimpses of my secret self. I'm never more honest, more exposed, than in my fiction for teen readers.”

E
LLEN
W
ITTLINGER
is the author of fourteen young adult and middle-grade novels, including
Hard Love
, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a Lambda Literary Award winner. Her book
This Means War!
was a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the year. She has also taught in the Simmons College
MFA
program. Ellen Wittlinger says that if you want your secrets to stay secret, don't tell her. After all, she's a writer.

It is no secret that it takes many creative people to produce an anthology, including writers, editors, designers, and the people who inspire us. My gratitude goes out to all who helped make this anthology possible. First shout-out goes to senior editor Hilary Van Dusen, who saw such possibility in the theme of secrets. She eagerly championed and connected writers so that our anthology could reach wide audiences with diverse stories. Thank you, Hilary.

Gratitude also goes out to agent Tracey Adams, who also embraced the theme of secrets and was quick to champion the writers and the collection even as she started to come up with marketing ideas for the complete book.

Assistant editor Miriam Newman's incredible knowledge of fantasy and fairy tale as well as contemporary realism ensured that each story is accurate and rich in detail. Designers also brought their talents to this work: Nathan Pyritz developed the interior designs while Pam Consolazio created the jacket design. When I learned that collage artist Wayne Brezinka would be creating the cover for this anthology, I couldn't have been more excited. His bold designs and bright colors are extraordinary.

The writers on these pages proved eager to challenge themselves with stories of secrets. Their stories allow readers to witness moments of unexpected honesty and to recognize the cost of hiding our true selves behind our secrets. Among the writers in this anthology, debut writer erica l. kaufman was inspired to write a heartbreaking story of family secrets. Erica was invited to contribute by Chris Lynch, who advised and mentored her in the MFA program at Lesley University.

The original inspiration for an anthology about secrets came from an assignment participants completed while working with colleagues from Untold Stories, a weekend workshop for survivors of abuse. The Untold Stories workshop is a project co-sponsored by Mount Mary University and another amazing survivor organization, the Voices and Faces Project. The originators of these programs help survivors use written and visual art to be heard, to tell their stories, and to create testimony to change the culture of violence. I hope that this anthology shines light on how lifting silence and revealing secrets can create positive change.

It is a gift to have met and worked with each of the contributors to this collaborative work. Thank you all for the beauty you have brought to this project.