If you select links we provide, we may receive compensation.
Adam Silvera knows how to break hearts at least those belonging to readers of his books.
The presence of Theos most recent boyfriend, Jackson, complicates matters.
Margot Wood
I spent so much of that year thinking, Well get back together.
[His] boyfriend and I had a bit of rivalry.
We were both imagining futures with this one person.
Margot Wood
I just had to know what that situation would have looked like if it came to fruition.
So its not necessarily inspired by the death of an ex-boyfriend, but by the loss of one.
It feels like fanfiction of my life.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your first book also featured teenage grief.
For this book, it really was just lost love taken to the extremes.
Not just a typical breakup.
Its a breakup plus the death of the person you thought you would reunite with.
I was drawn to that.
Is there a difference when depicting this kind of sadness with a teen audience in mind?No.
Ive lost people in my life before, but not to the scale of whats represented in this book.
This is someone you loved and imagined a future with.
This is one of your best friends, and thats going to sit with you forever.
One of the things exacerbating Griffins grief is that hesalso dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder.
That was the easiest thing Ive ever written.
Ive never been checked for OCD, but I know Im not quirky.
That was something I wanted to address.
But there are times that I actually cant function because Im too caught up in obsessive thought.
The things that I did research on were more what therapy would look like.
Griffin and Theos parents are very present in both of their lives.
A week before being published, I realized all of my main characters come from single households.
That was something that when I lived in South Bronx, thats what it was like.
So I wanted to extend my muscles and write about a kid who grew up with happy parents.
It was actually really challenging to explore the grief of the respective parents.
Theyre feeling that loss, as well.
Bisexual characters are rare in YA fiction.
For me, I remember being 19 and coming out as bi to all of my friends.
Id bought into that because I was younger.
I wanted to just show that bisexuals exist.
if [Theo]s not 100 percent sure, thats also important.
Hes at the age where hes figuring out his sexuality, and hes just currently identifying as bisexual.
Maybe at 20, if hed been around to be alive, he would have identified as just gay.
History Is All You Left Meis currentlyavailable for purchase in stores and online.
