Kody Keplinger may be the Leslie Knope of Young Adult fiction. Like the “Parks and Recreation” public servant whom she adores, the unflagging Kentucky native is all about feminist positivity and five-year plans, and so far she’s right on track. As a seventeen-year-old high school senior, she wrote The DUFF, the New York Times-bestselling YA book about Bianca, a high school student who discovers she’s the “Designated Ugly Fat Friend” of her ultra-hot besties. Now at the ripe old age of twenty-three, Keplinger is a New York City resident with four more published YA novels under her belt, and The DUFF has been adapted into a smart-as-a-whip, critically acclaimed teen flick starring Mae Whitman, Bella Thorne, Allison Janney, and Ken Jeong. I talked with Mz. Knope er Keplinger about the adaptation process, size acceptance, and the genius of Mae Whitman.
Lisa Rosman: Let’s start with brass tacks. What inspired you to write The DUFF while you were still a student?
Kody Keplinger: It was hearing the word DUFF being used in my school. That is not a word I made up. Actually, I did research on this after the fact – it apparently got popular on some reality TV dating show in the early 2000s – but I first heard it my senior year, when a girl was talking about a boy as “The DUFF.” Continue Reading →
