Our First International YA Reader & Universal Themes

This is George.

He was our first international young adult reader when this post was originally published. There may be more now but I haven’t, yet, had the opportunity to meet any others. If there are others I would love to meet or hear from you.

In 2017, George was a Grade 9 boy in Greece. He just wrote his exam for his English Proficiency and passed. He’s also my cousin’s son. He’s a basketball player, cares about school and loves his family (and in these ways is a little bit like Tony Shepherd a protagonist in our novels).

We talked about the books on my previous trip there. However, this time I decided to bring him Along Comes a Wolfe and Shepherd’s Watch .

I gave the books to him on a Sunday. A couple of days later I received an email from him.

He wrote:

I’ve read the first half of the 1st book and I find it pretty exciting !!!The characters are very interesting and the plot is very agonizing. I’m gonna finish it tomorrow…😂 and pick up the next one. I am looking forward to the next book. Mum is in the middle of the 2nd book…She loves them !!!! Good Luck with the writing !!! And have a great summer.

So, he was not only my first YA international reader but he also sent me my first official fan letter. Very, very cool.
The thing that excites me the most is that this teenager confirmed that the story is universal. A teenager from Greece and a teenager from Regina, Saskatchewan can both enjoy these books.

Fantastic!

_{*Originally published August 17th, 2017}