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This author appeared at the 2008 festival. Please view the list of authors appearing at this year's festival or see our suggestions for similar authors below.
 Varian Johnson
In his first young adult novel, Johnson has deftly accomplished what few writers, let alone a man, would even think about attempting. He has crafted a heartfelt, honest, non-preachy story about the complexity of dealing with an unplanned pregnancy – from the point of view of a teenage girl. My Life as a Rhombus is narrated by Rhonda Lee, a studious high school senior determined to get a full scholarship to Georgia Tech University. As a freshman, Rhonda gets pregnant and is forced by her father to have an abortion. Never wanting to experience that trauma again, Rhonda focuses on her studies and eschews all contact with the boy who loved and left her and his clique of popular, spoiled, rich friends. Enter Sarah Gamble, a junior from the in crowd, who asks Rhonda to tutor her and help bring up her failing trigonometry grade. After their second day, Rhonda notices Sarah exhibiting the telltale signs of pregnancy and an unexpected friendship forms. Through their friendship, Rhonda learns to deal with the pain of her past and helps Sarah come to terms with her own pregnancy and ultimately make the choice that's right for her. Interspersed with clever math equations that Rhonda uses to make sense of her life, My Life as a Rhombus is a sincere, funny, and thoughtful page-turner that broaches a highly controversial subject and explores it in a balanced and completely non-judgmental way. In writing the book, Johnson says he did copious amounts of research to accurately capture a teenager's emotional response to pregnancy and abortion. "Of course, I've never been a teenage girl, much less a teenage girl who had once been pregnant," Johnson says, "so I knew I was up for quite the challenge when I began the novel." My Life as a Rhombus also presents a positive portrayal of African-Americans, but at its heart is not a story defined by race. "While I’m proud to be an African-American," Johnson says, "my race doesn’t dictate every decision I make. Likewise, the same should hold true for Rhonda." Also the author of A Red Polka Dot in a World Full of Plaid, Johnson is a practicing civil engineer in Austin.
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