Class of 1970, Haydenville, Mass., Nov. 24, 2022
An award-winning author of young adult novels, Wittlinger was a pioneer in the field of addressing the emotions and experiences of teenagers at a time when the stories of LGBTQ+ teens were not being published. Her third novel, 鈥淗ard Love,鈥 published in 1999 and named a Printz Honor Book, featured a teen who came out as a lesbian. 鈥淪he was an absolute pioneer of LGBTQ+ literature, a fierce advocate for all voices and a genuinely warm and wonderful human being,鈥 said Justin Chanda, a Senior VP and Publisher at Simon & Schuster.
