Another author of pro trans YA books turns out to be a creep

[NotBadConsidering]

Honeybee was about a 14 year old boy wanting to transition. And this is the author.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-13/author-craig-silvey-charged-with-child-exploitation-offences/106223528?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

I’m not sure about this statement that he’s not a good writer. I haven’t read Runt, bought it because my lovely friend who’s a children’s librarian highly recommended it, and my kids are good readers who can be fussy, and they devoured it. I have been planning to get them the sequel. I’ll read runt and decide if I need to come back and retract this.

Fair enough, he's not a good writer in my opinion. Certainly not deserving of the all the gushing and he's received over the years. I get that Runt was popular with kids though.

Personally I wouldn't be buying books by an alleged child abuser when there are so many other talented authors out there who don't see children as prey.

But each to their own.

I liked Jasper Jones. I don’t think it was the literary masterpiece it was feted as, but it was good, IMO. I liked the Jeffrey Lu character and the cricket game. However, as noted upthread I hated Honeybee.

Jasper Jones is a poor man's To Kill a Mockingbird in the same way that A Little Life is a poor man's Lolita.

And the scene when the young boyfriend pulls up the dead girl's dress and inspects her to confirm that she's also been raped is gross and gratuitous and just basic trauma porn.

A good writer is far more subtle and has the confidence to leave things off the page. He's about suited to Runt level middle grade fiction where everything is literal.

In my opinion, obviously.

There is a lot of talking in Jasper Jones. The main male characters discuss everything in unbelievable detail - nothing is left for the reader to infer. But - I felt the characters were interesting, it’s fairly fast-paced and the story is compelling, even if the dialogue is overblown.

Whereas, for me, honeybee was unreadable,

interesting that both of his main characters in his teen books are boys aged 13/14.

Honeybee sounded grim, I didn't go near it. Had to read Runt for school curriculum reasons and it was a painful experience. I'm glad he's been arrested because a) children, including his own, are a tiny bit safer and b) I won't have to deal with that bloody book again because it's been banned from all school lists.

More charges laid. Also a 68 year old woman charged with producing and distributing child exploitation material with Silvey. Given the content of Jasper Jones, I’ll be interested to hear confirmation that this is indeed a woman 🤔

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-16/jasper-jones-craig-silvey-new-child-exploitation-charges/106459704?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

Sorry, I meant Honeybee 🤨

Oh interesting, that hadn't crossed my mind. I have just done some googling and she does appear to be a woman. Very active in the community which shouldn't be a red flag but sadly often is.

Who'd have guessed? But a shocking illustration of how captured publishing is.

Craig Silvey pleads guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7pz2xj4l3o

Well well well. Is anyone surprised? Not me. Creepy blokes are creepy! Duh. 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

Because these creepy men only have to say "trans" or "drag" & suddenly everyone who should know better forgets everything they ever knew about safeguarding and red flags, this sainted caste of untouchable males cannot be scrutinised apparently,they can do anything they like and anyone, especially a woman, says hang on, is he safe? is witch hunted, cancelled and eternally punished by the wokerati. Big fake boobs? No problem,it's just how University is! Big fake phallus poking out of a frilly dress? No problem, he's an Artist! Playing piano on t v with his dick? Just good clean fun! Male Perverts in plain sight are given a free pass until they seriously harm someone , and then everyone pretends they couldn't possibly have seen it coming

Absolutely correct @Bertiebiscuit .

I bought Honeybee as a gift for my SIL on the recommendation of the bookshop owner. OMG, I'm horrified, I had no idea what it was about. Funnily enough, SIL didn't give me any feedback on my top choice. Lesson learned, make sure to double check recommendations.

NotBadConsidering · 16/03/2026 06:15

Also a 68 year old woman charged with producing and distributing child exploitation material with Silvey. Given the content of Jasper Jones, I’ll be interested to hear confirmation that this is indeed a woman.

Well, that's everybody's first thought, these days. Is it a woman, or did "she" used to be called Kevin?