Song of the day: Christmas music. Don't sue me.
So if y'all remember my RBWL post, one of the things people wanted to see more of was unbroken families with parents that cared about where their kids had disappeared to and why. I started thinking about absentee parents in my writing and other books in general.
In Teen Author, the parents are definitely still together and both are involved in my main character's life, especially her mom. In my Hamlet retelling, however... well, Shakespeare's original is sort of all about messy families. People are going to die; families are going to fight and be split. I mean, you know your family has problems when your uncle kills your dad and then marries your mom. In my other two WIPs, though, I know the parents are all still together, for the most part, and I believe they won't be terribly absent.
I've also compiled a list of young adult books where the parents are still together and aren't very absent from their kids' lives. Some novels feature more involved parents than others, but it's still good that they're present. Feel free to comment if you think of any more!
Also Known As by Robin Benway
Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn
The Debutante by Kathryn Williams
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Fifteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton
Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg
Matched by Ally Condie
The Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick
Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
Relic by Heather Terrell
The Selection trilogy by Kiera Cass
Sierra Jensen series by Robin Jones Gunn
Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton
Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
I think it's noteworthy how the majority of those books are contemporary. It's like a prerequisite of fantasy and dystopian novels that at least one of your parents is dead or at least absent. I know it often creates character growth, but books with more parents who are together and present in their kids' lives would be great to read.
I'm actually trying to do that in my current novel . . . most of my characters are at the age where they're living away from their parents, but as this story actually takes place near some of my characters' parents' current home, I'm trying to include them in the story more, especially since one of those characters is only about 16. Not sure how well it'll go, but whatever.
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