Vermont's Independent Voice
Browse News
Browse Arts + Life
Browse Food + Drink
Browse Cannabis
Browse Music
Browse On Screen
Browse Events
Browse Classifieds
Browse Personals
Published February 2, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. | Updated April 4, 2022 at 8:02 p.m.
East Montpelier author Laura Williams McCaffrey's third novel, Marked, asks the question: "How would you survive in a society so tightly controlled that only the brightest and most favored students succeed?" Protagonist Lyla Northstrom must navigate this quandary when she's busted for buying medicine for her sick mother at an underground market. As punishment, her arm is tattooed with an incriminating blue line. She's offered the chance to erase that mark and redeem herself, but only by double-crossing the people she loves. In between chapters, a graphic novel — called "the zine" — unfolds to create a story within the story.
McCaffrey says the dystopian novel started as an attempt to retell the Norwegian fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," but the plot led in a different direction. Still central to the story is the fairy tale-esque notion of coming to love "people you originally see as monstrous." Lyla's childhood companion, a young man with a scarred face, is an important figure in her quest to erase her wrongdoings.
In addition to writing books for middle schoolers and young adults, McCaffrey is a teacher at Montpelier's Pacem School, and Pine Manor College's MFA in Writing program. Her advice to aspiring authors? "Just sit down and keep writing."
McCaffrey and fellow YA author Tod Olson will present a workshop for educators and other interested readers at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier on Saturday, March 5, at 11 a.m.
This article was originally published in Seven Days' monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
More By This Author
Speaking of...
-
Fletcher Free Library Branch Coming to Burlington's New North End
Nov 19, 2021 -
Season's Readings: Author Stephen Kiernan Dispenses Book Recs
Dec 4, 2020 -
Major Jackson to Leave UVM for Vanderbilt University
Oct 23, 2020 -
Retail Therapy: How the Vermont Book Shop Survived a Pandemic — and Downtown Construction
Oct 14, 2020 -
Waterbury Literacy Nonprofit Distributes 40,000 Kids' Books During Pandemic
Sep 30, 2020 - More »
Comments
Comments are closed.
Since 2014, Seven Days has allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we’ve appreciated the suggestions and insights, the time has come to shut them down — at least temporarily.
While we champion free speech, facts are a matter of life and death during the coronavirus pandemic, and right now Seven Days is prioritizing the production of responsible journalism over moderating online debates between readers.
To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please send us a letter to the editor. Or send us a tip. We’ll check it out and report the results.
Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.
