Writer, editor, and podcaster Jennifer Baker’s debut YA novel, Forgive Me Not, imagines a near-future America in which the juvenile criminal justice system has been “reformed” to allow young people to undergo grueling Trials instead of incarceration. It’s an incisive and powerful story about carceral justice, as well as a moving coming-of-age and family story. In our conversation we talked about writing about serious topics for younger readers, how she approached writing her characters, and why it was important for her to focus on systems rather than individual innocence or guilt. Then for the second segment we talked about finding inspiration in other art forms.

(Recorded April 3, 2024.)

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Show Notes:

• Jennifer Baker
• Purchase Forgive Me Not: Kew & Willow Books (Kew Gardens, NY) | The Book Catapult (San Diego, CA) | Bookshop.org
• Minorities in Publishing podcast
• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Chain-Gang All-Stars
• Kalief Browder
• Lionel Tate
• Squid Game
• Annie Proulx - “Brokeback Mountain” (short story)
• Brokeback Mountain (film)
• Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• Nicholas Nichols
• Titus Kaphar
• Kelsey Norris - House Gone Quiet

Transcript Episode Credits

• Editing/Mixing: Mike Sakasegawa
• Music: Podington Bear
• Transcription: Shea Aguinaldo