Lizzie Skurnick: a passion for Young Adult fiction

The New York Times magazine columnist’s line of reprinted US books for teens is thriving two years after launch – because, she says, they still have plenty to say

Lizzie Skurnick is still unpacking her boxes of books in a new apartment in Jersey City when I visit her mid-summer. As she digs among them, she presses title after title into my hands with the passion of a lifelong fan: books from her eponymous children’s and young adult imprint; books she’s written herself (Shelf Discovery, her paean to vintage young adult fiction, and That Should be a Word, adapted from her New York Times magazine column); as well as books she loves and just wants to share. If the success of a publishing venture depends on enthusiasm, two-year-old Lizzie Skurnick Books should have no problem thriving.

Skurnick didn’t set out to bring-much loved and long-forgotten children’s books back into print. “I was hoping someone else would do it – it was very naive of me.” While writing Shelf Discovery, she began posting old book covers to her Facebook page, sparking conversations about the books and their authors. Ig Publishing, which reprints “overlooked” fiction and politics books, contacted Skurnick and asked if she wanted to spearhead a Young Adult reprint series. The idea attracted the attention of big-name children’s authors like Lois Duncan and Judy Blume, who wrote some forewords for the new editions.

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