This is Kerri here, seizing this AMAZING opportunity to introduce one of my literary heroes, Ellen Conford. When I was a tween and teen, I devoured as much Ellen Conford as I could lay my hands on. At the library, at sidewalk sales, and in bookstores, I would look for her name and when I found new titles, I would immediately place the book in my bag. [...]

“If This Is Love, I’ll Take Spaghetti” is the title story of a collection of wise, hilarious YA short fiction all written by Ellen Conford, and published in 1983.  We think you’ll agree that it more than stands the test of time (although kale has  certainly come a long way in thirty-one years!).  You can still order an old copy just like the one Kerri had on her bedside table for years, or [...]

By Catey Miller

Joshua, Texas is officially a Ghost Town. We exceeded the legal limit for the ghost-to-people ratio last night. It’s not a big deal—it’s not like you can do much to drive a ghost out, or threaten one; no one’s doing violence to them, obviously. But in most cases [...]

By S. Alexander

“Hey, Adam. New shoes?”

The sound of Naomi’s voice cutting into the quiet of my back-yard scares the ever-loving shit out of me.

“Jesus.” I startle, grabbing onto the rusty chain of the old swing I’m sitting idle on so I don’t fall. I’ve been poking at a huge-ass blister on my heel and it feels like an intrusion on an oddly private moment between me and my foot. [...]

By Linda M.C. Nguyen

My dad was a stern believer that I shouldn’t date until I was done with school and had what he called a stable job. By job, he secretly hoped I would become a medical doctor. So imagine my dilemma when a handsome boy suddenly asked me to prom. I told my parents I was going with a group of friends instead.

Then, to make matters worse, Dad offered to drive me to prom. [...]

By Jilly Gagnon

We’d already done the hushed-voices, bedside consultation about whether it was time to pull the plugs.

We’d already suffered through the shock—in one of the endless meetings with the doctors during that last week—of learning that P., the woman we thought of [...]

By Keri Lindenmuth

Pretty Little Teacup

pretty little tea
cup

sitting on your
saucer

[...]

YARN is psyched to have this essay by veteran novelist Liz Fichera, who has something important to share with all of us about writing, diversity, revision, and finding the humanity in your characters.

[...] Something you should know: I am neither a teen nor Native. In fact, on the surface, my background differs greatly from Fred’s. Below the surface, however, I found that while developing and writing Fred, we were more alike than I realized. [...]