Author Nashae Jones (Photo by Terrance Jones)
Nashae Jones — whose first book, “Courtesy of Cupid,” was published in January — is channeling her childhood in her writing for young adults.
“I want to be the reason a kid picks up a book and starts laughing,” she says.
The Powhatan High School AP English teacher remembers how she relied on books as a member of a military family that moved often.
“I was an introvert in a very loud family with a host of extroverts,” Jones says. “My way of getting away was reading. My closet was my hideaway spot where I could read and go into different worlds.”
In college at Old Dominion University, Jones studied English and creative writing. “I really thought I was going to be the next Joyce Carol Oates and write stunning Southern gothicism,” she says, laughing, “but everything I wrote was very happy.”
YA romantic novel "Courtesy of Cupid" is available now. (Image courtesy Simon & Schuster)
“Courtesy of Cupid” is a retelling, of sorts, of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Erin, the 13-year-old protagonist, routinely spars with classmate Trevor, her academic nemesis. When Erin discovers she’s actually a daughter of Cupid, the Roman god of love, she thinks she’s found a way to put Trevor in his place once and for all.
Jones says she’s drawn to the YA genre because it didn’t exist for her as an early teen. “If you wanted something scary, we had ‘Goosebumps’ [by R.L. Stine], and then you went straight to Stephen King; there was no middle ground,” she says. “Now, with YA, there’s a lot of ‘adultification’ happening. There are kids who aren’t ready to read ‘The Hunger Games’ or upper-level romances. There are kids who want and need that bridge [to more mature themes]. ... I want to focus on experiences that are uniquely in that special space between childhood and adulthood."
Jones is also drawn to stories showing characters of different races and ethnicities, something that was lacking in the books she read as a child. “Growing up, I loved ‘Harriet the Spy,’ Nancy Drew and the Sweet Valley High series,” she says. “Those were girl-power books where girls were doing incredible things. But I didn’t see Black or brown girls [in those books].”
As a woman of color — her father is Black and Haitian, and her mother is Dominican — Jones says she thinks of Rudine Sims Bishop’s 2015 essay, “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors,” in which Bishop writes that books can provide a way for readers to see their lives reflected in fictional characters. But, as Bishop writes, that wasn’t the case for many years for nonwhite readers.
Jones notes that the first books she read with Black protagonists — usually male — were centered around racial strife, slavery and even horror. “As a middle-class Black girl, I connected more to Nancy Drew, which was confusing to me,” she says. “As a kid, I found it hard to reconcile. Even though I liked those books, and even though they have a place, there should be a spectrum [of representation].”
In “Courtesy of Cupid,” protagonist Erin is Black, and Trevor is Asian American. Jones’ next book, tentatively titled “As You Wish,” gives a character from “Cupid” her own story that involves Ananse, a spider god from West African folklore. “It’s my fun homage to ‘Bedazzled,’” Jones says, referencing the 2000 romantic comedy film. Her focus on myths is deliberate.
“They’re archetypes,” she says. “It’s the idea that somebody ordinary can be extraordinary is appealing, especially for kids who are going through life changes. I know it appeals to me, even as an adult. I’m still hoping to find Narnia behind the wardrobe. We all want magic that takes you out of this world. The world hasn’t been a fun place.”
