2023 COURAGE to WRITE Writer of Note Awardee Feature of the Week:
Anndee Hochman, My Plural Is People (Young Adult Novel)
In My Plural is People, teenagers Zach and Khady, best friends since pre-school, embark on an impulsive winter-break quest to learn the truth about both their families.
Anndee’s novel unfolds through the voices of three characters: teenagers Zach and Khady, along with Khady’s grandmother, Delores, who tells her story in reverse chronology. Part road-trip, part deep-dive into family myth and mystery, The book asks: Is it our history, our genes or our choices that make us who we are?
The grant, propitiously timed, allowed Anndee to have a DIY writing retreat in New York in June, where she plunged into draft #5 of My Plural Is People, listening deeply to the characters’ voices, expanding some key moments in the story while paring back the weedy places.
“I want readers to come away feeling more connected and less alone, no matter their history, their identity or the secrets their families hold.