Brooklyn writer takes on teen tech-addiction
Writer and Brooklyn resident Maddy Lederman has recently released her debut novel, “Edna in the Desert,” which is now available at The Community Bookstore in Park Slope. The coming of age tale chronicles a tech-addicted teen stranded at her grandparents’ cabin in the Mojave Desert without cell phone service, Internet or television.
“It’s ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ meets ‘Little House on The Prairie,’” Lederman explains. “The idea came to me after I did an interview with a couple in Wonder Valley, about 30 miles from Joshua Tree, Cali. They had no cell phone or email. I kept leaving messages on their answering machine and waiting days for a response. I wondered how a modern teen might take to this lifestyle because all my friends’ kids are permanently attached to their phones.”
Lederman’s character, Edna, is a troublemaker who keeps getting kicked out of private schools. Her therapist advocates medication, but her parents come up with an alternative cure: Edna will spend the summer with her grandparents.