Win an Interview with NYT Bestselling Author J. Elle

In addition to your private online Zoom interview, you will also win a print copy of her book, Wings of Ebony, a PDF copy of the book, and the chance to have your interview published in Teen Ink.

How to Enter:

1. Follow Teen Ink on Instagram(teen. ink)

2. Comment two of your potential questions for J. Elle on our contest post, or email them to contests@teenink.com

3. We will be choosing the winner based on these questions so do your best!

About the Book:

Wings of Ebony is part of YA fantasy books about a black teen goddess named Rue who must rise up against racist gods, who poisoned her block with drugs, violence, and crime. It extends a unique perspective on racism, privilege, cultural appropriation, and community.

About J. Elle:

J. Elle is a former teacher to inner-city students, and the founder of "Your Story is Your Power," a creative writing workshop that empowers teen voices. From growing up poor to being a first-generation college student, Elle's perseverance and passion for empowering others dates back to her first career in education, teaching tweens and teens from traditionally underserved areas to fight for their dreams. She drew inspiration for the novel from her own experience growing up poor, which is clearly reflected in her book.

Located in the Bahamas, Andros Island is also known as “The Sleeping Giant”，yet with only about 8.000 people living on it. Now the island has a new luxury resort Caerula Mar Club- which opened this February. The once-abandoned property was discovered by a well- known HGTV reality star couple who transformed it into a hotel. The Canadian design duo Bryan and Sarah Baeumler were vacationing in the Bahamas in the summer of 2017 when they discovered a once-abandoned resort. They instantly decided to purchase it with hopes to transform the 10-acre beachfront property into a luxury hotel.

However, they had no idea how much the investment would end up costing them. Here most supplies had to be shipped in, and the property was in bad shape. The budget for the remodelling should be around $ 4 million, but they've spent well over $ 10 million. What's worse, in the fall of 2019, category 5 Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, and their employees and friends were affected.

Finally, several months later, as they prepared to open the resort to the public, the Coronavirus pandemic （大流行病）struck. They'd just been fully booked throughout the fall and winter months when the new disaster stopped everything as the Bahamas were put on lockdown.

With tourism opening up again, new plans are now for an October launch, but they're just taking things one day at a time. "I think at the end of this pandemic, well find many people are searching for a different experience，” says Bryan. "Instead of crowding into large resorts, they'll be going to properties where they can meet people, connect with the locals and experience nature. Our hotel is just such a place.”

Now the couple is focusing on the future while creating new development for visitors. “We certainly have plans to responsibly and sustainably develop the island that will help support the local economy says Bryan.

In the past few decades, great changes have taken place in the literary world. With the time changing, Chinese university students show a typical characteristic in their after-school reading and this reflects the changes of thoughts and the quality of young people.

The 1960s was the time for admiring heroes. Chinese university students had a thirst for reading heroic stories. Novels like The Song of Youth and How the Steel Was Tempered   became extremely popular among university students. Lei Feng's Diary and Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung were almost a must to read. Everyone had a copy of China Youth, an encouraging and helpful magazine for the young. Harvest and People's Literature were fashionable among them as well.

University students in the 1970s were quite industrious in study. They spent much time in study than in spare-time reading. They wished to enrich their reading so as to improve self-cultivation and expand their knowledge. Masterpieces such as works of Shakespeare were popular, Lu Xun Selected Works and Ba Jin's trilogy were among the favorites of the students.

The 1980s shot up many young lovers for literature. At that time, foreign and Chinese masterpieces, especially works of Hugo and Shelley were the books young people often read. A survey named “The book that impressed you most during 1985 to 1989” indicated that Jin Yong's works ranked the second and works of Qiong Yao and San Mao the sixth.

In addition to romantic fiction and martial arts fiction, a new type of books — science fiction became popular among the male students in the 1990s. Apart from that, contemporary masterpieces including Chinese novels such as White Deer Plain, and foreign masterworks like War and Peace and The Thorn Birds were also popular.