It says something about our world that the largest audiences these days are reading books for kids.

Question: What made you decide to do a young adult novel?

Josh Lieb: I’ve just, I’ve always been a fan of the genre. I never stopped reading it, and when I suddenly found I had time to write a novel and I was casting about for what I would do, I landed on this one pretty quickly. I would suspect that Young Adult is the genre that casts the widest net right now actually. I think the success of Harry Potter and you’ve got your Twilight and this and that, young adult stuff doesn’t apply to young adults any more.

Question: Have kids’ reactions to your book surprised you?

Josh Lieb: No, no. I would have been devastated if they’d hated it, and they didn’t. And it's been very tough to get a read of 12-year-old sometimes, as emotional as they are, they can also be very guarded, especially a 12-year-old boy, very unexpressive. But, no.

Recorded on:  October 9, 2009