Benduhn, Tea

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Benduhn, Tea

PERSONAL: Female. Education: Emerson College, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Milwaukee, WI. Office—Harry W. Schwartz Books, 2559 N. Downer Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211.

CAREER: Writer. Harry W. Schwartz Books, Milwaukee, WI, public relations manager. Has also worked as a bookseller and writing instructor.

AWARDS, HONORS: Lambda Literary Award nomination, for Gravel Queen.

WRITINGS:

YOUNG-ADULT FICTION

Gravel Queen, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Tea Benduhn's first novel, Gravel Queen, is a young-adult book that explores a teenage girl's shifting ties of friendship and her growing awareness of her sexual orientation. The summer before she embarks on her senior year in high school, Aurin and her best friends Kenney and Fred strike up a friendship with Neila, a talented and striking girl who is new to Greensboro, North Carolina. The four of them spend their days in the neighborhood park, watching a group of handsome boys from their school playing Frisbee. Kenney becomes envious of the close bond between Aurin and Neila, which puts Aurin in an awkward position. The situation is complicated when sexual overtones enter Aurin's relationship with Neila, forcing her to confront the possibility that she may be a lesbian.

Written when Benduhn was in her early twenties, Gravel Queen proved popular with critics and was nominated for a Lambda award. As a coming-of-age story, the narrative contains "believable inner monologues and finely tuned contemporary dialogue," wrote Gillian Engberg in Booklist. In addition to Aurin's problems, another love triangle develops when Fred, who is openly gay, and Kenney both compete to win the attention of Grant, Neila's handsome cousin. As events transpire, Aurin sees them in cinematic terms. As a budding filmmaker, Aurin finds numerous comparisons between her own life and the characters in her favorite movies.

Critics were divided over Benduhn's approach to the characters. A writer for Kirkus Reviews appreciated the author's "light, deft touch that plays down the angst and focuses on the fizzy joy of first love." However, Katherine A. Gleason, writing in Lambda Book Report, wished that "Aurin could have been more obsessed and thus come into sharper focus for the reader." This sentiment was echoed by a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, who took issue with the book's "underdeveloped characterizations" and "uneven pacing."

Benduhn's interest in writing for young adults was almost accidental. Though she had always been interested in writing, it was not until she was in college that she became inspired by Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind. She wrote about the experience in Kliatt: "I really didn't know anyone was allowed to write books about gay teens in love. I was also a little bit shattered because I wanted to write the first one." Benduhn soon became a teacher and continued to explore young adult literature, ultimately deciding to quit teaching and return to school for a master's degree in writing. She found her voice in writing for teenagers. "There is almost always raw youth and energy breathing through those enormously enjoyable pages," Benduhn wrote in Kliatt, and this is what I love: books that are exuberant and exhilarating, celebrating life."