S is for Special Interest

It’s day 19 of

the A to Z Challenge!

Otherwise known as the letter S Day for my theme

Novels for Young Adults.

Sometimes teens and other readers can pick up interesting information as they follow along with characters. For instance, I learned about making honey from the coming-of-age novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I love acquiring new knowledge from characters, and many teens do, too.

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

In Something Like Normal, it is not the main character with the special interest, but his old friend Harper Gray. Her special interest is newborn turtles. She camps out on the beach when turtle eggs are hatching to guide the babies using her flashlight into the safety of the sea. A problem baby turtles face in our modern world is light pollution. They are programmed to follow the light of the moon to the sea, but because of seaside hotels and apartment buildings, the babies become confused and are vulnerable to predators. You never know when a character’s special interest will help you. One of the knowledge tidbits I gleaned from Something Like Normal is what baby turtles are called. This helped me win a game at my daughter’s baby shower. The test involved providing the names of various baby animals. By the way, baby turtles (in case you ever have to take a similar test) are called hatchlings.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Like Room, which we discussed yesterday, Special Topics in Calamity Physics is one of those love-it-or-hate-it books. I happen to be a fan, and one of the reasons I’m a fan is the special interest of the main character whose name is Blue. Blue loves research and learning stuff, some of it esoteric, but a lot of it centers around literature. If you’re a lit fan, you’ll find lots of allusions to books you’ve read and heard about. I love when this happens. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is another one of those must-read novels for lit loving title-droppers.

How about you? What special interest of a character do you find fascinating?

In case you’re dropping in for the first time, you’ve just entered the A to Z Challenge. Bloggers from all over the world write 26 posts in the month of April, one blog for each letter of the alphabet, six days a week with Sundays off. Anyone who blogs or likes to read blogs can join in. Click here to get started! And be sure to visit other participating blogs and leave comments.