Lauren Yero, Author
Lauren Yero’s debut novel Under This Forgetful Sky was born out of time she spent working in Chile as a freelance writer and engaging in “long, exhilarating conversations … about everything from poetry and music and current events to the specific geopolitical history and socioeconomic relationships between the US and Chile—all of which found their way into the book in some form,” Yero says.
The novel’s story, however, centers on a near-future world dramatically altered by a changing climate. “I started writing the book at a time in my life when I was just beginning to process the enormity of climate change—how enmeshed the ecological crisis was with every aspect of my existence—and it felt impossible to write a story that didn’t reckon with this reality in some way,” she says.
This YA crossover novel packs plenty of appeal for young readers. “But the novel also wrestles with questions that I think adults will find interesting as well—questions of privilege and responsibility in an increasingly interconnected world, questions of what we’re willing to sacrifice for one another and how far we’re willing to go to effect change,” says Yero.
Under This Forgetful Sky, July 2023, fiction, paperback, $19.99, by Lauren Yero and published by Atheneum Books, New York, NY. Yero will be in conversation with fellow author Megan Shepherd on Tuesday, August 1, at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café.
