Making Light: Humor’s Serious Place in Children’s/YA Literature

In this panel discussion, we dispel two myths: that humor is insignificant because it is lighthearted, and that with humor you’ve either got it or you don’t. We discuss the craft of humor and demonstrate how to purposefully write funnier. From our experience as writers with wide knowledge of children’s/YA lit, we examine how humor lies at the intersection of truth and pain, and how humor gives effective means to speak to pain and injustice, offering healing, hope, and light.