Trust her: Author Susan Choi has plenty of sympathy for teens

The roughest place to be a teenager might be in a world that a novelist imagines.

Consider Susan Choi’s new novel, Trust Exercise.

First of all, the kids attend an elite performing arts high school — probably a bit of pressure there, even if it hadn’t been for a drama teacher who inflicts the titular trust exercises upon them.

Choi pulls her characters out of adolescence and into the present day, where they can reflect on everything — good and bad — that went on during their teen years.

Choi explains to NPR’s Ailsa Chang what she finds so fascinating about teen minds in general and about her characters’ in particular, given their generation, in an interview on All Things Considered.

You can listen below or read a transcript on NPR’s website.