The Leteo Institute gives you the chance to erase all of your bad memories. If you could, would you take advantage of it? But what if what you wanted to erase was an inherent part of you? Aaron Soto faces this dilemma while growing up in the South Bronx, in More Happy Than Not, Adam Silvera’s debut young adult novel.

We at the Bronx Library Center were very excited about hosting Adam as part of the TeenLIVE Fall 2015 series! He began with talking a little bit about the journey of More Happy Than Not, which included several changes to the original draft. Adam was very open and honest about growing up in the Bronx, his writing process, and of course about his love for Harry Potter. This made the audience, of primarily teens, very receptive towards Adam. So receptive, that Adam ran over his time in order to answer all of their questions!

We had an interested group that asked many different questions! A few teens asked about his writing as well as his literary influences. From his writing process to his tattoos, the questions varied greatly, and they allowed for the teens to get to know Adam better. He is not much older than the audience we had and many of the teens were able to relate to Adam in different ways. Towards the end of the event, he made sure to sign a personalized flyer for everyone and took many photos. Being able to meet someone with a similar background who has become successful doing something that he loves is incredibly inspiring for our teens.

Afterwards, Adam also answered a few questions about his book and his experience coming to the Bronx Library Center. We are happy he enjoyed it as much as our teens did!

What do you hope readers, especially teen readers, get out of More Happy than Not?

The novel's universal theme is the pursuit of happiness so I hope readers understand that the path towards happiness may be difficult sometimes, and how happy endings aren't promised in our teen years, but we can be in control of separating the good from the bad, even if those choices can sometimes be heartbreaking. Just trust that happiness goes on at the end of the day.

What was your favorite part about coming to the Bronx Library Center?

Meeting teens is obviously the genuine, go-to answer because teen readers are legit the coolest and very passionate, but it was extra special to meet teens from neighborhoods not unlike the ones where I grew up. We ran over the expected time because they had so many questions. It was also incredible to not only speak openly about my sexuality in a borough that I was once afraid to come out in, but for my stories about making out with hot guys now that I'm out to be cheered. I'm so happy I got a chance to meet them!

How did you feel when you saw your book on the New York Times Bestseller list?!

It was so awesome, with a few happy curse words thrown in there. This book was rejected by tons of publishers and some editors even wanted to strike parts of Aaron's identity, like his ethnicity and orientation, so I'm happy he remained as he is and has connected with so many readers as he was always meant to be. It's safe to say there aren't many books on the bestseller list with gay Puerto Rican narrators so I'm honored Aaron Soto has left that mark.