Orchid Girls
Last week was banned books week, but I’m gonna talk about a book that has been banned before it can ever get out there. No, I’m not talking about a new writer trying to get their book published, I’m talking about Gayle Forman, bestselling author of many young adult in middle grade books having her book censored before it can even be published.
So, you may know that I talk about re-reading Forman’s Where She Went/If I Stay series every year. I also have re-read Just One Day/Just One Year half a dozen times. Forman is a talented writer, getting to the heart of her characters depth, emotional arc, and story. I think, as a writer and a reader, is the main reason why I re-read her so much—because her books are a master class at making the reader care about a character.
I was fairly surprised when I saw her announce a kickstarter for her lastest novel, Orchid Girls. Why would a bestselling writer choose to go the Kickstarter route? To test the waters?
It turns out, Forman has received many rejections for Orchid Girls. Let’s take a look at the summary:
“From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay comes a gripping dystopian novel about a young woman born and bred for the pleasure of others who breaks free of the lies the world has told her and discovers that love and loyalty may be the most potent force against the system that created her.
After a cataclysm, society rebuilt itself on a simple principle: everyone in their place, everyone with a purpose. Miri never questioned hers. Orchid Girls are beautiful. Orchid Girls are honored. Orchid Girls are chosen.
But when Miri graduates from the Cloister, she discovers what she was chosen for. Not honor, but transaction. Her mind must stay blank, her body pliant, her entire existence in service to the powerful men who hold the broken world together.
Using lessons of observation and silent communication, Miri begins to turn her training against itself, bending ceremony and performance into something her masters never anticipated — strategy, perception, resistance. She risks her safety to connect with others trapped as she is: a fellow Orchid Girl who knows the cost of obedience, and a young man who understands the world in ways Miri does not.
When she sees a chance to escape, she surprises no one more than herself when she takes it.
The Wilds should have destroyed her. Instead, they teach her everything the Cloister never could: how to trust, how to care for others, and how to let herself be cared for in return.
But escape was only the beginning. To survive what comes next, Miri must decide whether the bonds of love she was forbidden to form are powerful enough to unmake the world that made her.”
Okay, a dystopian society in which women are bred to serve men. A modern take on The Handmaid’s Tale crossed with The Hunger Games. Kind of.
Count me in!
But still, I feel like there are so many reasons why this manuscript is not going the traditional publishing route, not the least of which is the current climate of our country, the state of the publishing industry in general, and the fact that this novel may hit too close to home. I admit I won’t watch The Handmaid’s Tale because I can’t take the rage (though I’ve read the novel decades ago). But I’m ready to join the revolution for Orchid Girls.
Why? Because I trust Gayle Forman to take me on a journey. I trust this story in her hands. And it deserves to be told. And, because I’m definitely part of the resistance.
Orchid Girls will not be sold at major bookstores, just independent bookstores and through her Kickstarter campaign. There are roughly two more weeks in this campaign…who is ready to join with me?
[Please note that I actually have three sponsorships—one for my personal book, one set for our bookstore, Bookdragon, and the last one from my husband because I couldn’t figure out how to add the special bonus gift of a signed first edition of If I Stay so he got the last bonus box for me. I can’t wait!]
