![]() ![]() What is it about the story that you think people respond to? Until one day, the characters just sort of popped into my head, and I had to start writing it. Jokingly, I told my friends I would write a book called “The DUFF.” It became an ongoing, inside joke. When I was a senior in high school, I overheard an acquaintance of mine talking about guys using the word “DUFF.” I didn’t know what it meant, so I asked, and when I learned it meant designated, ugly, fat friend, I was totally taken aback. Keplinger shared her thoughts with American Libraries on the appeal of YA literature, encouragement for young writers, and how librarians can improve services for people with disabilities. Last fall, she wrote about the important role honors like the Schneider Family Book Awards play in ensuring people with disabilities see themselves in the stories they read. Since then, she has gone on to write three other young adult titles- Secrets and Lies (two e-novellas), A Midsummer’s Nightmare, and Shut Out-as well as a middle grade book, The Swift Boys and Me. On February 20, her first book reached audiences around the country when it premiered as a major motion picture, The DUFF.Īn avid reader, Keplinger was born with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a disorder that causes legal blindness. When Kody Keplinger’s first book, The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend was published in 2010, the author was 18 years old. ![]()
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