Here, the women reunite to discuss their urgent work.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does everyone’s relationship to New York City fit into the book?
TIFFANY D. JACKSON: I always wanted to write about my city.
Illustration by Mojo Wang for EW
I’m so in love with New York; I’m so in love with Brooklyn.
It feels like just about anything is possible.
Getting a chance to write my story about little Southern kids coming to New York was a great opportunity.
What were the specific priorities when writing about Black teens in love?
YOON: They’re always a sassy best friend or supporting character, but not the main character.
We wanted to show the Black kids falling in love I fell in love every day in high school.
I had so many crushes.
They don’t have the right stakes.
I did a good job.
[Laughs]
STONE: I was very deliberate about my story choices.
I wanted to lean into that in writing.
[I wanted to have] a boy trying to work his way out of that.
THOMAS: I like messy dynamics YA is often associated with love triangles.
WOODFOLK: Vampires and love triangles.
THOMAS:But we don’t see Black kids and love triangles.
How did this all combine into a cohesive book?
CLAYTON: Everyone asks how we pulled this off.
We have a synergy that is really magical.
I’m excited for people to see what friendship can make.
We just wanted to bring joy into the world.
CLAYTON: you might sense how much we love, love, love Black teens and Black culture.
STONE: I’m hoping it will humanize Black kids for other people.
Racism, homophobia, sexism all of these things are about dehumanization.
I want people to take a pause.
I get to be human."
THOMAS: Humanization is a love letter.
This is a love letter.
In this book, there are several, and this book is mainstream.
It’s going to be in bookstores, where people could just bump into it.
I hope it changes things.
Where’s my mess?
We deserve the mess too.
