J.S. Purvis

Middle grade/YA writer, musician, educator, wife, mom of 3 kids and a zillion animals. SCBWI-Carolinas, NAfME, Ravenclaw.

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

I am excited to announce that my #YAFantasy THE WATCHERS will be released on Dec. 5, 2022 by Evolved Publishing, followed by the rest of the trilogy in ‘23 and ‘24. I can’t wait to share Alesea with the world! MOANA + Tamora Pierce #nonviolence #adventure

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

3/3 And, for your and your child’s safety, only use the E.R. as an absolute last resort in mental health emergencies (at least in the U.S.). #NCHealthNews #NorthCarolina #USAHealthcare #BrynnMarrHospital #universalhealthservices #insurancefraud

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

1/3 A break from my not-so-regularly-scheduled everyday content for this horrifying expose on the state of pediatric mental healthcare in my state of North Carolina, U.S.A. 1000s of complaints, 129 reports of sexual assault https://t.co/oC1QYkeKt2 #mentalhealthcare #kidsincrisis

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

2/3 I have 1st-hand experience with many of the horrors listed in this story that resulted in a terribly traumatized 11-year-old who took years to recover If this makes you half as mad as it makes me , please repost, write your representatives, speak out! #childabuse #sa

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

I think a harm of online activism is the "THIS IS ACTUALLY EASY" argument.

I've seen lots of folks indicate that a single billionaire could solve homelessness, or that there are 30x more houses than homeless people so we could just give them all houses.

These words are fantastic for activating people, but they are also lies.

The US government currently spends around 50B per year keeping people housed. States, of course, have their own budgets. If Bill Gates spent the same amount of money the US does just to keep people housed, he would be out of money in 3 years. I think that would be a great use of his money, but it would not be a permanent solution.

The statistics about there being more houses than homeless are just...fake. They rely on looking at extremely low estimates of homelessness (which are never used in any other context) and include normal vacancy rates (an apartment is counted as vacant even if it's only vacant for a month while the landlord is finding a new tenant.) In a country with 150,000,000 housing units, a 2% vacancy rate is three million units, which, yes, is greater than the homeless population. But a 2% vacancy rate is extremely low (and bad, because it means there's fewer available units than there are people looking to move, which drives the price of rent higher.)

Housing should not be an option in this country. It should be something we spend tons of money on. It should be a priority for every leader and every citizen. it should also be interfaced with in real, complex ways. And it should be remembered that the main way we solve the problem is BUILDING MORE HOUSING, which I find a whole lot of my peers in seemingly progressive spaces ARE ACTUALLY OPPOSED TO.

Sometimes they are opposed to it because they've heard stats that the problem is simple and could be solved very easily if only we would just decide to solve it, which is DOING REAL DAMAGE.

By telling the simplest version of the story, you can get people riled up, but what do you do with that once they're riled up if they were riled up by lies?

There are only two paths:

1. Tell them the truth...that everything they've been told is actually a lie and that the problem is actually hard. And, because the problem is both big and hard, tons of people are working very hard on it, and they should be grateful for (or even become) one of those people.

2. Keep lying until they are convinced that the problem does not exist because it is hard, it exists because people are evil.

Or, I guess, #3, people could just be angry and sad all the time, which is also not great for affecting real change.

I dunno...I'm aware that people aren't doing this because they want to create a problem, and often they believe the fake stats they are quoting, but I do not think it is doing more good than harm, and I would like to see folks doing less of it.

One thing that definitely does more good than harm is actually connecting to the complexity of an issue that is important to you. Do that...and see that there are many people working hard.

We do not have any big, easy problems. If we did, they'd be solved. I'm sorry, it's a bummer, but here we are.

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

Y’all should get this for all the little ones in your lives!

[Amy B. Mucha 📚 Author of GEO'S FORTUNE (2025) @AmyMucha]

Thank you so much for including A Girl’s Bill of Rights on this list of books to inspire young activists — wonderful choices, all! 😍

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

I haven’t been around much lately, because frankly I got pretty disillusioned and wondered if subbing was no longer ok for my mental health. Well… the universe works in mysterious ways. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT SOON! #neverstoppedwriting #ya #fantasy #publication

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

@Madeline_Pine At any rate, there is still so far to go and as an NT I am trying to do better. Unrelated, I think the whole agent fiasco you’re being subjected to right now is horrible. I 100% agree with you.

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

@Madeline_Pine What I believe. It’s still a huge problem and unfair, and I’m sure the majority of NTs really do believe these stereotypes, I just wonder how much that skewed the results. (3/3)

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

@McAveyAuthor Thanks!

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

Meet Crowley and Aziraphale, feline version. They get into a lot of trouble, but have kept away the apocalypse. @neilhimself @michaelsheen @GoodOmensPrime

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

@Kelendal @thesundaytimes P

[CrissCross Writing @ieatwords]

An ex-outlaw with a heart of gold
A musical prodigy with a dissonant past
A blind guide
A tinkerbrained mechanic
A short-fused pyrotechnician

In a world of muses vs dischords, these five will help restore harmony to Sedrinel—if Dischordians don’t get them first

#PitMad #YA #F

[Kassie Lamro is querying a mg novel-in-verse @kassielamro]

STUDIO GHIBLI + THE LINE TENDER
Tho fearful of death, 12yo Karlee chases a dragon thru a death portal to save her baby bro. Finding grandpa in the afterlife labyrinth is cool, but is it worth losing her bro to stay with grandpa? She has till sundown to decide. #PitMad #MG #F

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

Wow

[Laura Hatosy-Author of Drawn from Memory @LauraHatosy]

A 16 yo with a secret ability to erase memories is deported to a Nazi camp. She must decide whether to use her ability to spare her friends their grief or preserve the testimony of their experience. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind+Code Name Verity. #Pitmad #YA

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

Oooo

[Sandra Boynton @SandyBoynton]

#vote

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

@dianemagras @debwhite I understand what you’re saying, and I don’t disagree in general. However, this is a song parody of a highly popular song that everyone in that age group knows. That word is in the original chorus, and keeping most of those rhyming words are part of what makes the parody work.

[J.S. Purvis @jo_sisk]

This is a student from my school. Use that blank space, folks!!