NYT Times best-selling author talks new book

One of the most celebrated voices in young adult literature, a National Book Award winner, New York Times bestselling author, and former Young People's Poet Laureate. Elizabeth Acevedo is in Southern California on tour for her new book, one that she just won a very prestigious literary award for. And the winner of the 2026 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers Literature is Anger is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo. that book yes amazing anger is only a shadow won her the prestigious Kirkus Prize it tackles family freedom and mental health it also debuted at number five on the New York Times bestseller list for young adults hardcover and here to talk more about it and her journey is Elizabeth Acevedo welcome welcome welcome nice to have you with us i'm so happy to be here with you thank you talk about that moment when you heard your book had won what was that like i was a bit stunned I mean, I was nominated for that award before the book was even out in the world. And so a part of me was like, this can't be real. And they announced my name and my husband is sitting next to me. And I know he felt me like just freeze up. And he's like, go. I had to walk on stage. Talk about this book, though, because it's heavy. It has a lot. Yes. This is the story of Lil. Lil is a 17-year-old Dominican Salvadoran young woman who is incarcerated. And she's let out with an ankle monitor. And she's attempting to be a new Lil to kind of move in the world differently, but those choices are constantly being confronted by her gut instincts and that her definition of being a good person and doing the right thing differs greatly from the people around her and what society tells her. Why was Lil incarcerated to begin with? Lil stole her mother's food truck and maybe took a gummy and then maybe crashed into a lamppost. She's very impulsive. Yes, okay. What inspired you to write this story? I used to work in an adjudicated youth center And I worked with young people who were there from for all different reasons from 9 to 19, and I think just having an intimate understanding of the kinds of things that they went through and having a sibling with schizophrenia and wanting to think through How we show up for family members who are walking a different path than maybe we would want them to, sure you explore so many themes you just touched on it right there based on your background not only personally but professionally as well so mental health and incarceration how difficult is it though to explore a lot of these why why did you really want to put these out there and explore these issues I think when my brother first got ill there were a lot of questions that my family and I had and we didn't know where to turn and a book like Anger Is Only a Shadow I hope will help young people see the kind of resources that exist but the many different ways that we can still love each other when we're having these difficult moments and so giving a novel that folks can hold and maybe say I'm not so alone in this experience you're talking about grieving someone who's still alive in a sense right right what is that like oh I think it's so hard yeah for any of us who've had our elders who have Alzheimer's or dementia you know what it is to slowly lose someone as they lose their memories and only it's a one-sided kind of relationship at some point only I remember and and when folks have something like bipolar schizophrenia if they're not taking meds sometimes their relationship to memory has also changed and so I remember but it doesn't mean that necessarily this other person does so our relationship uh fractures in some ways so I think that that living grief can be really difficult and you know the book Anger is Only a Shadow really helped me maybe confront some of those feelings and forgive myself and forgive my sibling and not only that when you mention that especially for young adults in that kind of age range when you grieve someone that's still here it could be even so relatable like a breakup right or a friendship that has changed and evolved and and the memory of what was and it's not no longer that way anymore you know those are really tough tough emotions to go through i completely agree i think that grief is something we don't always think that young people experience And yet there's so many situations that come up for them. And, you know, even in the novel, Lil's friendship groups changed. The people she got arrested with, everyone's telling her you can't hang out with those kids anymore. And for her, it is a kind of mourning to say, well, I don't want to let them go. And moving forward requires her to kind of let go of some things that she isn't ready to. And so, absolutely, I think young people confront it all the time. Well, Elizabeth, you're on this tour promoting this book. You're a mom of two young boys. thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here um truly an inspiration and we want to let people know that elizabeth will be talking about her book tonight this is at laguna hills community center it begins at 6 30 the event is free and anger is only a shadow pick up a copy it is available now best of luck to you thank you it's a beautiful cover thank you and a friend of yours wanted to say hi. Let's see if we have a picture. Wait, I think we showed it. Did we? Yeah. Bob DeCascio. There you go. Bobby D. That's 12-year-old me. Oh my gosh. Wow. How great is that? Oh my gosh. Bob looks 12. I know. Bob looks 12. That is so funny. Look at you now. Look at you now.