As the author of a YA novel, and as a teacher of 0th graders for 32 years (and a father of two), I find all this appalling. I do not mean to argue that the writer shouldn’t write this material or ‘Disney-fie’ her story, but it is not True North for me in any of my three roles: writer for YA, teacher or parent. However, it is a sad commentary on the state of “published entertainment” in the last 10 years. One glance at a bookstores YA section tells so much about how disfunction and tragedy dominates storytelling. (Full disclosure: my novel “Meetings at the Metaphor Cafe” was rejected despite the full efforts of my agent Laura Strachan ; forcing me to self publish. The result 3,000+ sales and numerous school district adoptions as part of curriculum. Nevertheless, still no publisher interest. It lacked all the qualities seen in this highlight. )