South Dakota university apologizes to young adult author for alumna's comments

Trevor J. Mitchell | Argus Leader

A South Dakota university has apologized to a best-selling author after a quote from a former student led to a widespread Twitter storm.

Northern State University tweeted their apology to author Sarah Dessen on Tuesday, the same day the Aberdeen American News published an article looking at the 10 years of the school's Common Read program, in which every first-year student reads the same book.

The article included a quote from a 2017 graduate of the school who joined the program's volunteer committee to push back against choosing a book by Dessen as the Common Read.

“She’s fine for teen girls,” the quote read. “But definitely not up to the level of Common Read. So I became involved simply so I could stop them from ever choosing Sarah Dessen.”

Soon after publication Dessen tweeted about the article several times, then deleting them, saying it was "not worth it."

She eventually tweeted a picture of the quote — redacting the woman's name — and adding "Authors are real people. We put our heart and soul into the stories we write often because it is literally how we survive in this world. I’m having a really hard time right now and this is just mean and cruel. I hope it made you feel good."

Authors are real people. We put our heart and soul into the stories we write often because it is literally how we survive in this world. I’m having a really hard time right now and this is just mean and cruel. I hope it made you feel good. pic.twitter.com/tt2CN13n2a — sarahdessen (@sarahdessen) November 12, 2019

Since that morning, the tweet has been retweeted more than 600 times and has nearly 2,000 replies. Dozens of authors, including Roxane Gay, Jenny Han and Jodi Picoult have tweeted their support for her.

I want to talk about this. Not only does it suck because @sarahdessen is one of the loveliest women you’ll ever meet, and because she has been a guiding force into the love or reading for thousands of kids including my own...but because this implies something more sinister. /1 https://t.co/JLnVgN90MO — Jodi Picoult (@jodipicoult) November 13, 2019

That’s a lousy thing. I am sorry you had to see it. People have strange and inflated ideas about their taste level — roxane gay (@rgay) November 12, 2019

Also responding was Angie Thomas, author of "The Hate U Give," Northern State University's 2018 choice for Common Read.

"Northern State University, this is appalling. Remember that book you chose in 2018, The Hate U Give? It was written for TEEN GIRLS. Don't make any of my books your common reads since my demographic is beneath you," she wrote in a tweet. "Sarah, I love you & your stories. It's their loss."