In this Q&A series, SLJ poses five questions and a request for a book recommendation to a debut YA author. In the latest installment, Rebecca Stafford shares about Rabbit & Juliet. 

1. Congrats on your YA debut! How would you describe your book to readers?

When Rabbit loses her mom to cancer, she loses everything: her dad slides into alcoholism, her friends retreat, and her ex-boyfriend, Richard, keeps showing up everywhere she goes. At this point, her only goal is survival. But then she meets gorgeous, charismatic Juliet, and Rabbit's lonely life is upended by their intense connection and Juliet’s unpredictability. When Sarah, Rabbit's ex-best friend and Richard's current girlfriend, tells them a terrible secret about Richard and his friends, the three vow revenge. But as Juliet pushes for increasingly violent acts, Rabbit must determine her loyalties—to Juliet, to Sarah, and to herself. 
 
That’s the long version. 
 
The short version is: queer sad girl meets queer bad girl and they beat up sexual predators. 

2. What drew you to YA to tell this story?

My characters are dealing with a lot of "firsts"—first loves, first griefs, first betrayals—so YA was a natural fit. As a teenager, you’re constantly dealing with new circumstances, and you haven't yet developed a tool kit for fixing messy situations on the fly. It's a lot of trial and error, and inevitably, you’ll make exciting, funny, dangerous, unexpectedly wonderful, and even terrifying mistakes. And as much as well-intended adults want to protect teenagers from messing up or making bad choices, it’s unavoidable. It's how we learn who we are, and who we want to be. The mistakes my characters make might be a bit "bigger" than your average teen's, but I think they are relatable. 

3. What, if anything, surprised you while writing it?

There were scenes that I knew I wanted in the book from the get-go. Some were inherent in the premise, and others were intentional homages to tv and movie tropes aimed at teenagers. For example: the house party scene, the makeover scene, the scene where a character emotionally confesses their love in the rain, etc. I kept the tropes (I love a good makeover) but added my own queer spin. 

But later in the writing process, I surprised myself by writing several lighter, more playful scenes. For example, the girls in my book attend a 4th of July fair, and while they do discuss their vengeful plans, they also get their faces painted and eat delicious, greasy fair food. They get to be ordinary girls for a breath. Scenes like these provide counterpoints to the book's heavier moments, and I'm glad they found their way to me. 

4. Tell us more about the characters. Which character do you most identify with and why?

Rabbit is sarcastic, prickly, and dare I say it, unlikeable at times. She’s had so much disappointment that she can’t see any possibilities for herself. But it’s hard to be a delight when you’re going through a painful time, and trauma can make us act out in self-destructive ways. While I haven't been in her exact situation, I have leapt at the chance to escape from myself and my problems via love and risky choices. 

Juliet is essentially a collection of all my worst impulses given free rein. Juliet doesn't bite her tongue, she doesn't play it safe, and she certainly doesn't pull her punches. She’s awful and I adore her. Writing her let me experience life without fear of consequences, and I had so much fun seeing what terrible, exhilarating thing she’d do next. 
 
Sarah is the quieter of the three girls, and for a long time Rabbit doesn’t recognize her strength. She’s living in a highly religious household that she finds constraining and doesn’t know how to break free or assert herself. One of the joys of writing Sarah is her journey toward agency. 

5. What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

That being angry about the injustices and harms young women face daily is not an emotional response; it's a rational one. 

For readers who have lost a loved one, I hope it helps to see someone navigating those dark waters. Rabbit's grief won't look just like yours, but I'd be honored if parts of her journey spoke to you.

And, finally, that it's easy to lose yourself in love, but there's no one in the world so wonderful and alluring that their happiness should take precedence over your own. 

The Rec: Finally, we love YA and recommendations—what’s your favorite YA book you've read recently?

There are so many good ones! I've been reading Neal Schusterman's "Scythe" series, which is fantastic. I also really enjoyed A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, and I'll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Daniel Handler's Why We Broke Up is such a formally interesting book and I can’t stop thinking about its structure and his devotion to the idiosyncratic self.