In the acknowledgments for his new young adult novel, “The Great American Whatever” (Simon & Schuster, $17.99), Pittsburgh native Tim Federle thanks his friends, family and readers. He thanks booksellers, librarians, his editors and his publisher.

Federle also thanks “my many vivid bullies within the Upper St. Clair School District.”

“I would never want to advocate for ‘you get beat up and it builds character,' ” says Federle, who now lives in New York. “If I had a kid, I would be incredibly protective. However, I'm grateful for certain setbacks that I had. … I grew up in a house where you weren't allowed to hit, so if I wasn't going to punch back, I was going to punch-line back.”

The ability to respond to threats with wit and verbal dexterity has served Federle well. In addition to his children's books, “Better Nate Than Ever” and “Five, Six, Seven, Nate,” he has penned three recipe books: “Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist,” “Hickory Daiquiri Dock: Cocktails with a Nursery Rhyme Twist” and “Gone With the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist.” Federle, who started his career as a dancer, is also the co-author, with Claudia Shear, of the book for the Broadway production “Tuck Everlasting.”

His new book, “The Great American Whatever,” skews close to home for the prolific 34-year-old. The young-adult novel features 16-year-old Quinn Roberts, who has been in a funk because his father abandons the family. After his sister dies in a car accident, he retreats further, shutting off his cellphone and refusing to go to school. His mother is similarly affected, rarely leaving the house.

Not to mention that Quinn — a budding filmmaker who recalls J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye” — is trying to figure out how to let his mother and friends know he's gay.

The story was inspired by a car accident in which a close friend was killed when Federle was a student at Upper St. Clair.

Federle wanted to explore “the grief of what her family was going through, and, also, that kicked me into recognizing that I wasn't going to live forever,” he says.

Beyond that, “The Great American Whatever” examines the trauma teenagers face when forced to deal with life-altering situations.

“I toggle back and forth between thinking my teens were the best time in my life when I was discovering so many amazing things about the world on the cusp of adulthood,” Federle says, “and also thinking they were some of the worst times in my life. You're filled with so much promise and the responsibilities of making decisions about things that are going to affect you the rest of your life, like romantic partners and college. And, at the same time, so many people treat you like a kid. “

“The Great American Whatever” started out as a novel for adults, with the characters 10 years older. But even though Quinn and his friends are teenagers in the revised book, many of the same scenarios and situations stayed the same.

Though Federle says he's not pushing limits in the same manner of young-adult writers such as John Green (“The Fault in Our Stars”) or Judy Blume, he's not shying away from adult situations.

“I never set out to prove a point or to try to shock people,” Federle says. “When you're around young people and you talk to them in any depth beyond how was school today, you start to realize their extraordinary amount of depth and sophistication. The real beauty of working with and talking to and reaching young people is they still have the capability to change at an elemental level that's harder for adults.

“I receive emails all the time from young readers who say they read ‘Better Nate Than Never” and have never read a character like that. They realize they can be that brave. When I get that kind of email, I realize why I like writing for a purportedly younger audience, because you can actually change their life.”

Rege Behe is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---