Adan Jerreat-Poole on Comfort Reads, Finding Identity in Fairy Tales, & One Fabulous L'Engle Quote

As readers enter Adan Jerreat-Poole's The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass (Dundurn Press), they sink into a richly rendered fantasy world at war, where witches' assassin are the most deadly of weapons. Like Eli, who knows her role and does it incredibly well. She serves the Coven who created her, hunting down and killing ghosts — never missing, never hesitating. Until a mission takes an unexpected turn, when she is left suddenly unsure about everything she's ever been taught — and especially about the people she serves. 

Jerreat-Poole takes readers on a rollicking quest for freedom with Eli and a diverse cast of characters, exploring belonging and chosen families in a deliciously spooky tale author S.M. Beiko called "Battle Angel Alita meets The Hazel Wood." 

We're thrilled to welcome Adan as part of our WAR: Writers as Readers series. They tell us about the importance of happy endings in dark times, the iconic YA quartet that first inspired them as a writer, and the amazing impact of seeing diverse, complex identities represented in books for young readers. 

The first book I remember reading on my own:

Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings by Ursula Le Guin.

When I was 6, my parents let me pick out a kitten to have as a pet. I chose an orange tabby and named him Pepper after orange peppers (I was very proud of this creative name at the time. Deal with it). He used to walk me to school and fall asleep on my lap while I was reading. I knew he was very special, so when I received my copy of this book, I was obsessed with it! It’s a story about a special orange tabby who makes friends with cats who have wings. My mom sewed capes for my siblings and I that hooked around our thumbs and swirled like wings when we danced around. Confession: my first email address was kittenwing@hotmail.com (catwing@hotmail.com was, sadly, already taken). Forever grateful, Ursula ❤  

Figure 1: The dedication in my copy of Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings

A book that made me cry:

Where to start! I can’t remember how many times I’ve burst into tears at a café or library. I’m definitely a crier. Here’s a few that I know made me bawl my eyes out: Saga (volume 7) by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, and Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver. Lately I haven’t cried while reading—but between chronic depression, the pandemic, and how much our society sucks (police violence is just one example), I just don’t have the energy for anything that doesn’t have a happy ending. I need happy endings!

The first adult book I read:

I have a hard time keeping track of the demarcations between young adult (YA) and adult books. Is The Hobbit a kid book? Is Lord of the Rings an adult book? Anyway, I went through a Tolkien phase in grade 5. I was a serious book nerd. I love Tolkien’s descriptions of nature and Eowyn was a badass—but I don’t like how the heroes are all white and the enemies are coded as people of colour.

P.S. Looking for an epic fantasy that’s more feminist than Tolkien or the other members of the old white boys’ club? Try N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy!

A book that made me laugh out loud:

Hmm, this one is tricky because I’m not really someone who laughs alone. I’m going to interpret the question broadly because the only time I remember laughing out loud alone (on a bus in Japan) was while listening to Sofie Hagen and Jodie Mitchell’s podcast Secret Dinosaur Cult. Not quite an audiobook, but close enough! I was listening with headphones and everyone on the bus stared at me!

The book I have re-read many times:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. The book starts on a rainy night, with the protagonist Meg curled up in her attic bedroom. It’s such a cozy image, I just want to curl up in it. It was one of my favourite childhood books, so I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I also have to say I might love A Wind in the Door more because the message is that everything and everyone is connected, that size is relative, and bigger does not mean more important. and we need to care about big cosmic events and what’s happening at a molecular level in our bodies. Both of these books are about love, and care. These books are comfort reads for me, so when insomnia and anxiety keep me up until 3 or 4 a.m., I’ll often re-read them.

Meg is such a great character. I have a soft spot for ordinary people saving the world. Meg isn’t a typical 'chosen one,' but an ordinary girl with glasses who does OK in school. As an awkward, shy kid with huge glasses and a bowl cut, I wanted heroes that I could relate to, and stories I could imagine myself into. As an adult, I really love the way L'Engle draws attention to Meg’s temper—not as a flaw, but as a potential strength. This theme in the book circulated on Twitter a couple of years ago around discussions of feminism and women’s anger. In September of 2018, L'Engle tweeted the quote "'Stay angry, little Meg', Mrs Whatsit whispered. 'You will need all your anger now,'" which received over 26,000 likes.

I like to imagine a sea of angry feminist readers, brandishing our worn copies of A Wrinkle of Time as we confront politicians, police officers, and other agents of systemic violence.

A book I feel like I should have read, but haven't:

Well, I have three English literature degrees, so I’ve covered a lot of the (white male) canon of British and North American novels, and the 'classics' I’ve missed I don’t really care about. I’m going to have to go with Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower—I’ve heard such amazing things about it, and I’ve been trying to read more books by Black authors. I’ve also gotten more into feminist science fiction in the last few years. This one is definitely on my list of books I want to read/buy, and I will get to it, I promise! I mean, once I finish the long list of YA books I have coming in at the library, and Sofie Hagen’s book Happy Fat which I’m waiting to come in at my local indie bookstore... so many books to read, so many Zoom meetings getting in the way!

The book I would give my seventeen year old self, if I could:

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore. First of all, I love fairytale retellings, and have always been drawn to Snow White and Rose Red. Maybe because there isn’t a Disney adaptation, or because I’m more interested in stories with magical bears instead of magical mice? I don’t know, but I do know that I would have loved this book as a teenager as much as I do now.

I have another reason for picking it—Blanca & Roja was the first book I read that had a nonbinary protagonist. Page is AFAB (assigned female at birth) and does use she/her pronouns, but states explicitly that she is a boy, not a girl, and she wears men’s clothing. In the story she also has a romance arc with one of the protagonists—Blanca, a queer woman. As an adult who’s been out as nonbinary and pansexual for a few years, reading the book with a shaved head and a button-up shirt on, I found pleasure in recognizing myself in the character. As a teenager with long, bleached blonde hair, push up bras, and a lot of confusion about my sexuality and gender, it would have been a revelation. Maybe I would have come out sooner, maybe I would have cut my hair and bought a men’s plaid shirt sooner, and had more of the everyday joy I now experience whenever I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, or when someone uses the pronoun ‘they’ for me.

I hope Blanca & Roja, and my book, The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass, are revelatory for teens today who are exploring their gender and sexuality.

A book I feel strongly influenced me as a writer and why:

Tamara Pierce’s The Song of the Lioness quartet, but especially Alanna: The First Adventure. This is another comfort read that I save for sleepless and restless nights. This book influenced me both as a writer and as a person—Alanna was one of my first experiences with the genre of 'girl dresses as a boy to do something only boys are allowed to do.' As a kid, I was a tomboy and wanted to read stories about girls like me—the kind who didn’t want to be girls, or at least, didn’t want to act like girls, didn’t want to learn embroidery and home economics. This book helped to shape my understanding of who I could be and taught me that I didn’t need to be limited by traditional gender roles. Like Alanna, my protagonist in The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass is a strong, independent woman. She is skilled and dangerous. She doesn’t need to be rescued by Mario or Link or Tuxedo Mask.

As an adult, I also really appreciate that Alanna had three different lovers over the series before marrying one, and at one point turns down a marriage proposal because it will limit her independence. Honestly, I think this positive representation of feminine sexuality and the idea that romantic relationships should be pleasurable and equal for both partners was kind of groundbreaking for the YA genre when it came out in 1983. In 2020, I still think we don’t see enough women in books showing young readers that there is no shame in having sex, being single, and dating around. I say this as someone who didn’t learn how to masturbate until they were 22 and didn’t have good sex with another person until a couple years after that. I think that’s why I start my sequel, The Boi of Feather and Steel, with a masturbation scene—but I’ll also credit Amanda Foody’s Ace of Shades for that, since I loved the scene where Enne has a sex fantasy and masturbates. Teenage girls shouldn’t be taught to be ashamed of their sexuality.

Other books that influenced my writing: Caraval by Stephanie Garber, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Changeling Sea by Patricia A. McKillip, Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede.

The best book I read in the past six months:

This is such a hard question! I’ve read so many amazing books during quarantine and social distancing. I wish I kept my Goodreads more up to date—this question would be so much easier if I could scroll back and remember exactly what I’ve read. I don’t know why I don’t use it more, because I love making lists (wait—I do know why I don’t use it more! It’s because some users post really aggressive or transphobic reviews of my book on there and reading them makes me stay in bed).

Okay, I think I’ll have to cheat and pick two:

1)  Wilder Girls by Rory Power—feminist body horror? Queer protagonists? Angry girls with rifles? A dystopian setting full of deadly and creepy plants and animals? Yes please!

2)  When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore. I adore their lyrical, poetic prose and vivid imagery, the way the fantastical elements intertwine with real world settings, and the trans representation ❤ ❤ ❤ Just stunning. (Yes, I have managed to mention them twice in this interview. I was a reader and fan long before I was a published author, and that’s still who I am at heart

The book I plan on reading next:

Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan. Anyone else obsessed with enemies/rivals to lovers? I AM OBSESSED. Also, I love blood magic :)

A possible title for my autobiography:

1. Adan and the Magic Toque (kid’s book)

2. Adventures in Flannel (travel memoir: the story of me adventuring—and playing dress-up in the kids’ section of museums—with my queer feminist pals through England, Denmark, and Japan. All pre-COVID of course!)

3. The Official DnD Player’s Handbook (Depression and Dragons) (Weapons: level 3 pen, level 1 melatonin. Cantrip spells: feel your way to the bathroom in the dark, contagious sadness, reveal hidden love triangle. Familiar: cat, appropriately named Dragon, grey and pink striped)

Figure 3: My cat Dragon, chillin' on my lap

Figure 4: Dragon loves boxes

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Adan Jerreat-Poole is a reader and writer who loves all things fantasy and feminist. They study disability and queerness in popular culture. Adan lives in Kingston, Ontario