Silvera: It was both challenging and easy. Paste: Did that make it more difficult or easier to write? But because he still carries a lot of emotional resonance and some echoes of what I went through, I was able to stay close to him during all the rough stuff.

I quickly realized his story wasn’t reaching the complexities his own journey called for, so I rerouted his narrative to forge his own path. Silvera: In the original draft, Aaron Soto was a mock-up version of me. Paste: How much of Adam Silvera is there in the character of Aaron? Is any of More Happy That Not influenced from your life?

So I wanted to explore that through Aaron and intensify my own conditions to see what it would take to drive someone away from their heart’s natural desires and become straight instead of gay. Paste: What drove you to tell Aaron’s story?Īdam Silvera: The book was conceived when I was thinking about how sexuality falls all over the place in the nurture versus nature discussions, which never made sense to me because I wouldn’t have chosen to be a gay teenager in the Bronx if given the choice. Paste sat down with Silvera to chat a bit about the origin of More Happy Than Not, the books that have influenced him and his next novel. The book has pulled in starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and School Library Journal, making it one of the 2015’s most highly anticipated releases. The story of a poor, inner-city kid struggling with his sexual identity, complicated friendships and a broken family is easily one of the most heart-wrenching you’ll read this year. But Aaron doesn’t just want to forget bits from his past, the way other people do. And thanks to the new technology developed by the Leteo Institute, he can undergo a memory-relief procedure that’ll wipe away all that hurt and confusion. Titled More Happy Than Not, the book tells the story of Aaron Soto, a teen growing up in the Bronx who wants to forget. One of YA’s biggest supporters joined the ranks of the authors he’s bolstered for years when his novel hit shelves today. He’s a regular over at Shelf Awareness, where he writes about Young Adult books, and for quite a while, he could be spotted in New York City’s legendary indie bookstore, Books of Wonder.Īs Silvera is a supportive part of the literary community, numerous individuals in publishing, from authors to editors to reviewers, let out a spontaneous cheer when they heard his debut novel would be published by Soho Press’ Teen imprint. If you’re in the book world, chances are you’ve heard of Adam Silvera.

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