Cat, Deputy Editor

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The sweet, crowned star of Dan Santat’s picture book, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, is a hero like no other—because he almost doesn’t exist! Beekle’s an imaginary friend with no child to imagine him, and so he leaves his fantastic island, full of other strange creatures like him, in search of a friend.

What was the first thing that went through your head when you found out you had won the Caldecott?
I never won the top prize for any artistic award in my life. When the phone rang, I had a good idea who was calling, considering the fact that no one else would be calling at 4:30am, and I thought, at best, I would have earned an Honor. When they had told me I had won the actual medal I just broke down into tears. It was a dream come true. A dream I never thought I would ever achieve.

“Creating content for a younger audience feels like I’m playing. I don’t ever have to take myself too seriously or worry about maintaining a cool, hip image. It’s just raw honesty.”

Who was the one person you couldn’t wait to tell about the award?
The first person I called was my agent, Jodi Reamer, who really has become one of my closest friends, which I treasure, because I don’t know if many people can say that about their relationship with their agents. It’s very Jerry Maguire, I know. She has been my guide, transitioning me from illustrator to author/illustrator, and I’ve trusted her with my career advice. It’s sort of creepy because everything seems to be going exactly according to her plan. Anyway, I called her twice right after the committee called, and she didn’t pick up. Then I texted her, and I still heard nothing. Her loss. I then shared my news with my editor, Connie Hsu, who was a major piece of the puzzle to the success of this book. Months ago she had joked that if Beekle ever won a major award, she would get a tattoo of Beekle. The first thing I texted her was, “Time for you to get a tattoo.”

Do you have a favorite past Caldecott winner?
Respectfully, I couldn’t name any one past winner, because almost all of them have been inspirations to me. I will say that Brian Floca was a personal favorite because he’s a friend of mine and I knew how long it took for him to get the book done. When your friends win you feel like you won in a way, too, you know?

What’s the best part of writing books for a younger audience?
Creating content for a younger audience feels like I’m playing. I don’t ever have to take myself too seriously or worry about maintaining a cool, hip image. It’s just raw honesty. The whole community is also overall just really friendly, from the children to librarians and teachers, as well as the other authors and illustrators in the business.

What kind of reaction have you gotten from your readers about this book?
I’ve heard some parents and librarians tell me that they cried when they read the book. There are other adults who just think it’s just an ordinary story and don’t see anything special about it. I’ll sometimes read a review where someone comments that Beekle just goes to a playground and meets a kid and that’s that. I can tell when someone completely misses the symbolism of the story.

I’ve heard nothing but positive things from children. Many parents have sent me numerous images of handcrafted Beekle dolls that they made for their kids, which I think is adorable. Around Halloween there were a few Beekle Halloween outfits, as well as Beekle Jack-O-Lanterns, and now I see images of Beekle snowmen being made out on the East coast. It feels great to know that a character you created has touched so many.

Have you read or listened to past Caldecott acceptance speeches? Are you excited (or worried!) about your own speech?
Erin Stead did a wonderfully honest speech. I had the pleasure of meeting her and her husband for a quick bite to eat the day before the actual banquet, and I remember her telling me that she was extremely nervous about the whole thing. I listened to Jon Klassen’s speech online but was unable to attend. He and I have known each other for years and so it was great to hear a friend accept the award. Brian Floca was the first time I saw a good friend accept the award in person, and I had a permanent smile on my face that evening.

I’ve done plenty of speeches to large audiences in the past so I’m not too worried about this one. I think I have a pretty good sense of humor, and the book was deeply personal to me, so I think people should expect some laughs and some tears. It’s pretty easy for me to be open and honest with folks, and I think people can relate to you from their own experiences in life and feel a connection.

What’s next for you?
Well, first I’m going to try to relax more that I have in previous years. I say “try” because I know I’m just a workaholic by nature. In terms of book projects I’m finishing up my next picture book with Little, Brown called Are We There Yet?  I’m working on my next graphic novel, The Aquanaut, with Arthur Levine Books (Scholastic). Dav Pilkey and I are finishing up two brand spanking new books for our Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot series (also with Scholastic), and I’m working on a YA graphic novel memoir of how I went from studying biology to pursuing a career in art.

Lastly, I’m illustrating some great picture book manuscripts that have been written by Gennifer Choldenko, Tom Angleberger and a few others that I can’t name just yet. We’ll see how much I actually get done. Previous Caldecott-winning friends have told me that my life will be too busy to get any real serious book work done. That remains to be seen.

It's so nice to be acknowledged, and there's no better nod than the 2015 Caldecott Medal. We contacted Santat in the whirlwind of his win.
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In Susan Crawford’s debut psychological thriller, a woman with bipolar disorder spirals in a manic episode as she struggles to determine whether or not she murdered her neighbor.

In a quiet New Jersey suburb, Dana Catrell is a “Pocket Wife,” whose condescending husband has a tendency to brush her aside, such as by slipping his phone into his pocket when she calls to tell him about the murder of her neighbor, Celia Steinhauser. The problem is, Dana can only remember bits and pieces of the events leading up to Celia’s death, and as this mystery unfolds, readers discover that she has a history of struggling with mental illness. Naturally this makes things all the more difficult when she decides to solve Celia’s murder. Her investigation crosses with that of Detective Jack Moss, a troubled cop with some serious family problems of his own.

The Pocket Wife is perfect for readers who prefer crafty characterization over cheap thrills. The more Dana loses her sense of reality, the more fascinating (and witty) she becomes. Secondary characters range from unlikable to seemingly omniscient, but all will have readers begging for their secrets.

As the book opens, the concept of the “Pocket Wife” makes us pity the wife. But as the story goes on, it’s not exactly clear whether or not she qualifies as a victim. In your opinion, what exactly is a “Pocket Wife” as it applies to her?
Dana is a pocket wife on a couple of levels. Granted, her husband is the sort who sticks his cell phone in his pocket when she calls to tell him horrifying news about their neighbor, so in the literal sense this label suits her. And here Dana is not alone. Wives often feel trivialized or overlooked. Extra. On a far deeper level, though, Dana is marginalized by society. Because she is bipolar she sometimes lives outside the lines, is too blunt, sees the world through a unique lens, and her odd and unpredictable behavior marginalizes her further. Still, she does what she can to vindicate herself, to connect with people who accept her, to ferret out the truth. If Dana is a victim, she is a victim of circumstance.

What is the appeal of the unreliable narrator, for you as the writer? For the reader?
Writing from the point of view of a woman on the edge appealed to me because there were fewer boundaries. As a character losing control, Dana at times has brilliant clarity, but at other times her instability derails her thinking, so what we see through Dana’s eyes might or might not be true. Because there was less restriction on Dana, there was less restriction on me as I wrote about her, but really, I think nearly all characters are unreliable narrators. Their truths are limited by their own experiences or filters, unique or not. The difference is that Dana is very clearly not reliable, so readers will have to decide what threads are valid, which I hope will appeal to them.

Almost every single character in this book is suspicious—or at least unstable. Which is your favorite character, and why?
Dana is my favorite character, of course, because even though her life is falling apart, her mind is splintering and her freedom is dubious, she perseveres. She is brave, humorous, and she struggles to get her life on track because of the son she adores. I’m also very fond of Jack. I don’t think he’s unstable, really—just attractively flawed. And honest.

“Mental illness is so often demonized, I wanted to try to write about it from the inside out—Dana’s changing view of herself and everything around her—instead of from the outside in.”

What research did you do into bipolar disorder for this book?
I have always had an interest in psychology. I studied it extensively in college, and I try to keep up with current theories. More importantly, I have had close friends throughout my life who had bipolar disorder. I’ve seen the seductive nature of this illness—its boundless energy and highs—and I have seen its dark side, the destruction it can leave in its wake. Mental illness is so often demonized, I wanted to try to write about it from the inside out—Dana’s changing view of herself and everything around her—instead of from the outside in.

Would you make a good detective?
I think so, because detective work has a lot to do with understanding human behavior and with reading what’s below the surface, finding the truth beneath the words. Raising three daughters has also helped hone my skills in this area! I’m not especially organized, though. I’d probably need a very structured partner.

What are you working on next?
My next book takes place in Boston. A fatal late-night car crash sets lives on a collision course when the circumstances of the accident are called into question by a zealous insurance investigator. Was the crash an accident, a suicide or a murder? Told in first person by the dead man’s widow and his girlfriend, the story exposes lies, deceit and misdirection as the two women struggle with lives upended by the death of a man who loved them both.

We emailed the Atlanta-based author to ask a few questions about her debut, the unreliablity of her characters and more.
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Susan Vaught is the author of several books for teens, including Trigger and Freaks Like Us, and is a neuropsychologist at a state psychiatric facility. Her novels often include fascinating ties to mental illness, but her first middle grade book, Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy, reveals a hilarious new side to the author.

Fifth grader Footer Davis (her real name is Fontana, but don’t call her that) and her best friend, Peavine, are investigating a fire at her neighbor’s farm that left a man dead and two kids missing. She’s a shrewd journalist, and Peavine is a clever detective—but the more they dig, the more Footer thinks the fire could be connected to her mother, who suffers from Bipolar Disorder and has been sent away to a mental hospital.

Full of sparkling humor and Footer’s wry, snappy voice, Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy is equal parts hopeful and heartbreaking.

What inspired this story?
The deep, dark truth is, trying to draw a doodlebug using computer-drawing software instead of paper-and-pencil sketches set me on the path to Footer’s story—that and writing down her name as a possible character name, and a first line to the story. My stories often begin with a name, title or first line. I haven’t ever had a tale start with a bug, though—wriggling or sketched. So, Footer is unique! She knows this. Just ask her.

You’ve written several novels on mental illness and food disorders and have an extensive background in neuropsychology. What do you wish more people knew about Bipolar Disorder (as with Footer’s mom) and repressed memories (as with Footer)?
That recovery and a full, exciting life is possible even with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. As for repressed memories, I think the brain is pretty amazing, not giving us information we can’t process until we’re ready for it. The return of memories temporarily held back is the beginning of a healing process.

What do you think is the hardest thing kids with parents who suffer from a mental illness must face?
The hardest thing? Worry. Kids are big-hearted and loving, and when someone they care about so much is sick, whether it be from a cold or a chronic illness, they worry. They worry about that parent, about their family, about the future. That’s a heavy load.

What were you scared of when you were Footer’s age? What are you scared of now?
SPIDERS. And spiders. Did I mention sssspppiiiiiiiiidddddeeerrrrsss??? <shiver> Anything that creeps up walls and drops in front of me wiggling eight little leggies, no thank you.

When Footer feels like she needs to prove that she’s strong, she makes jokes. What do you do when you need to be strong?
Ummm, the same thing? That might be a tad autobiographical. . . . Humor is my first and best coping mechanism. I just have to watch the class-clown tendencies in serious situations.

Footer really, really hates walruses. What’s so bad about walruses?
Some of them eat baby seals! They weigh around 1.5 tons, they have 400-700 whiskers, and those tusks can be over 3 feet long. Just think of them as serial seal-murderers that weigh as much as a Toyota—with giant white fangs sharp enough to stick into ice and help haul their gigantic bodies out of the Arctic Ocean.

What’s the main difference between writing for teens and writing for middle grade readers?
So far, in my learning, I’d say the amount of time/words spent on describing anything graphic (violence, romance). In YA literature, there really aren’t limits, and I didn’t have to spend time weighing how upsetting a topic or scene might be to a younger person. Also, less snark, in my opinion. I never did well writing characters with sharp, snarky dialogue because I wasn’t that way in youth, and I don’t have that in my real-life repertoire now. It’s nice to move away from needing more of an edge to my characters, and to be able to more deeply explore their innocence.

What’s next for you?
I’m working on a piece currently called Ghostology, but I rarely get to keep my titles. It involves ghost stories in the deep south (around the Ole Miss campus), the Meredith Riot, mysterious clues about what destroyed a friendship and Alzheimer’s Disease.

We needed to know more about Footer, her trials and adventures, so we contacted the author, who lives on a farm in rural Kentucky.
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David Arnold makes his YA debut with Mosquitoland, the tale of a teen runaway on a 947-mile journey to find her mother. It all begins on a Greyhound bus, but dangers big and small make Mim’s journey treacherous and transformative. “I am Mary Iris Malone,” our heroine says, “and I am not okay.” Through letters to a character named Isabel, as well as through clever, authentic narration, she reveals the confusion, pain and heartwrenching vulnerabilities that spurred this epic journey.

What inspired you to write this book?
If I had to point to one single inspiration, it would be the moment my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Until that point, I’d been working on a few other manuscripts, but there was no sense of urgency behind them, and the work suffered for it. Once I learned I would be a father, I threw caution to the wind and decided to tackle this idea I’d had that didn’t feel particularly safe, and that turned out to be Mosquitoland. But that’s the thing about writing: I think sometimes we have to be confronted with one fear in order to face another.

How did you tap into this impeccably teenage voice?
Voice is a funny thing. In writing, people constantly talk about “finding your voice,” but what they don’t tell you is that you have to find it over and over and over again. I’m not sure how to answer this question except to say that for me, writing often feels a lot more like acting. I try to get in my character’s head, and once I do, it’s more about letting them tell their own story.

How did your musical background and growing up in the South influence this book?
I did spend quite a few years of my childhood in Jackson, Mississippi, but we also lived in northern Ohio and central Kentucky and Nashville, and I also lived in England for a bit when I was in high school. So I’m not sure growing up in the South had any great influence on the book, but certainly moving around a lot did. In its infancy, Mosquitoland was going to be a story about a new kid at school. It was something I was quite familiar with and wanted to explore. But once I realized the key was back in Ohio, I knew I had to get Mim on the road. Even so, I tried to keep this sort of “new kid” mentality throughout the book.

Mosquitoland offers plenty of funny moments, but it addresses some really dark themes, including coping with mental illness. What was the hardest part of this book to write?
Mim can be quite a frustrating character. Certainly, she’s incredibly flawed and makes all manner of questionable decisions throughout the book. At times, this was very difficult. I’d find myself trying to write the things she should do, rather than the things she would do. As a writer—especially one whose primary focus is authentic, character-driven storytelling—I had to fight this urge, be true to who my character was. Because you cannot apply an adult’s wisdom to a teen’s decision and expect it to be believable. I had to let Mim be Mim. And that was no easy task. (Especially for a father!)

What do you think it is about the road-trip narrative that appeals so well to teen readers?
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, stepping out your front door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Tolkien got it. Because WHO doesn’t want to be Frodo in this scenario? We imagine Bilbo saying these words to us, speaking of mountains and elves and dragons and man: Is it time to go yet? I won’t speak for other readers, but I think part of why I’m so drawn to a journey story is because it’s an outward display of every character’s inward struggle: How do I get from here to there? You could set an entire book in one room, and that question still holds true.

If you could sit next to anyone (real or fictional) for a 1,000-mile bus ride, who would you choose?
I’m going to cheat and give you three: Elliott Smith, Aaron Sorkin and Samwise Gamgee.

What’s one thing that you, as an adult, wish you could tell Mim?
It’s going to be okay.

What has been your favorite part about publishing your first book?
The community. I’ve made some of my very best friends through this process—the writing and the publishing. I couldn’t be more grateful for my book people.

What are you working on next?
I have a few things going on, but the main project is another standalone YA novel, tentatively set for release in late 2016.

BookPage met Arnold when he came through Nashville promoting his book, and it was a delight to pick this new author's brain.
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There’s a moment in Kwame Alexander’s middle grade novel, The Crossover, when protagonist Josh Bell’s father is telling him all about jazz musician Horace Silver: “Josh, this cat is the real deal. / Listen to that piano, fast and free, / Just like you and JB on the court.” Alexander’s poetry is the real deal, and its action, energy and heart earned it the 2015 Newbery Medal as well as a Coretta Scott King Author Honor.

What was the first thing that went through your head when you found out you had won the Newbery?
Am I delirious? Dreaming? Did he just really say ‘Medal’? And then, like the clouds shifting to reveal the golden sun, my life changed, a new normal ablaze.

Who was the one person you couldn’t wait to tell about the award?
My father, the man who forced me to read books. The man who always told me to “Look it up” when I asked him what a word meant. And, when he picked up and I told him, you could hear it in his voice: This was his award as much as it was mine.

“I’ve seen reluctant readers pick up the book and not put it back down until the end. That’s fulfilling.”

Do you have a favorite past Newbery winner?
One of the books he forced me to read was Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, which won a Newbery, so I guess it’s kinda cool that I’ve now won. It’s coming full circle. So, maybe Mildred Taylor. Or maybe it’s Lois Lowry. Or maybe it’ll be Katherine Patterson, whose Bridge to Terabithia I’m reading for the first time.

What’s the best part of writing books for a younger audience?
Figuring out new and creative ways to empower young people through storytelling.

What kind of reaction have you gotten from your readers about this book?
The reaction has been fairly emotional. Readers from different backgrounds, ages and regions of our country have found some relatability in the characters and really empathize with their woes and wonders. I’ve seen reluctant readers pick up the book and not put it back down until the end. That’s fulfilling.

Have you read or listened to past Newbery acceptance speeches? Are you excited (or worried!) about your own speech?
I have not listened, nor am I sure I want to. I’ve written the speech in my head, where it sounds pretty amazing. Should be interesting to see if translates on the stage.

What’s next for you?
Sleep. I haven’t really slept since The Call. Also, there is a new middle grade that I am writing, and it’s called Booked, so I need to do some fine-tuning, then it’s off to more school visits, which I love as much as the writing.

Alexander told us all about what it's like to win the prestigious Newbery.
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This is the heartbreaking tale of clever, college-bound Naila, whose conservative immigrant parents forbid her to date boys. When Naila falls in love with Saif, her parents respond by whisking the family to Pakistan. But what starts as a family vacation appears to have secret motives: Naila’s parents plan to force her to marry a man of their choosing.

Saeed was raised in a traditional Pakistani-American family and took a “leap of faith” when she married a man chosen by her parents. While Saeed’s semiarranged marriage is a happy one, Written in the Stars exposes the dark realities of forced marriages, when young women are pressured or coerced into unions they would never have chosen for themselves. As eye-opening as it is touching, Written in the Stars is a story readers won’t soon forget.

BookPage contacted Saeed to talk about the story behind Written in the Stars and, perhaps most importantly, to check in on We Need Diverse Books.

We’re closing in on the one-year anniversary of We Need Diverse Books. Where do you think we are now? What have we done right or wrong, and what’s the next step?
It’s hard to believe it is almost a year since We Need Diverse Books made its way into the world! No longer just a hashtag, we are now an organization with many exciting initiatives launching this year, including our first ever Walter Dean Myers Award and Grants for diverse authors and works. I believe the success of WNDB is due to how important diversity in literature is to so many people and as one of its founding members I am grateful that this conversation is ongoing and leading to what I hope will be tangible change. While the statistics are still dire for diverse representation, I am optimistic about where we are now, and there are things that give me hope. For example, I was heartened to see how many diverse books were recognized at the ALA Youth Media Awards earlier this year.

Diversity is being talked about in all realms of the art and entertainment world, from Marvel comics to television shows and the book publishing industry. This is very promising, but the work has just begun. Our next steps as an organization are to continue our initiatives and to keep on working towards making a better and more diverse literary world.

What inspired you to write this book?
While Written in the Stars is a work of fiction, the inspiration stemmed from the experiences of some people I knew growing up as a child who went through the unfortunate reality of being pressured into marriages they didn’t want. Those stories have stayed with me throughout my life, and knowing how important this topic was because of my personal connection with it inspired me to keep on writing even when it was emotionally difficult.

What do you wish more people understood about arranged marriages?
I’ve found that people often lump forced marriages and arranged marriages together when they are actually two separate entities. In an arranged marriage, while parents are involved in the marriage of the groom and bride, there is always choice. Forced marriages, on the other hand, have no consent and are therefore completely unacceptable. I hope through reading Written in the Stars people can see that there is a difference between the two practices.

“As a Muslim and a Pakistani American, it was a balancing act for me to not only differentiate faith from culture, but to also be sure I highlighted an issue in Pakistan without vilifying the entire culture.”

Naila finds comfort and strength in her culture (one of my favorite moments from the book is when she is in Pakistan and hears the call to prayer, and she suddenly feels a sense of home), but it’s that same culture that pressures her. How do you, as a Muslim woman, manage that balance?
There is a big distinction between Naila’s Pakistani culture and her Muslim faith. I appreciate you pointing out Naila found comfort in the prayer call, because while her culture is certainly complicit in what happens to her, her religion is not. Forced marriages are not legitimate marriages in Islam. As a Muslim and Pakistani American woman it was important for me to highlight the problem of forced marriages while being clear it is a cultural issue, not religiously motivated. The truth is forced marriages aren’t a cultural practice limited to Pakistan; the issue spans the globe and happens among people who practice other religions as well.

As a Muslim and a Pakistani American, it was a balancing act for me to not only differentiate faith from culture, but to also be sure I highlighted an issue in Pakistan without vilifying the entire culture. All cultures have problematic aspects within them that need addressing, but this does not eliminate the goodness, beauty, and warmth that is also present within them. I hope I achieved the balance of calling out an abominable practice without reducing the entire culture to one negative aspect.

What has been your favorite part about publishing your first book?
My favorite part of publishing my debut is the journey along the way. It is completely new and unchartered territory for me and there is no one set roadmap because the journey is unique to each author. It’s been incredible to learn as I go!

What other books would you recommend for readers interested in Muslim, Pakistani-American or Middle Eastern stories?
There are quite a few I would recommend! For starters I suggest the anthology Love Insh’Allah: Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women with collected essays from Muslim women in the United States and their journey towards finding love. (My own story of how I met my husband is also in it.) I would also recommend Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair, which highlights modern Muslim-American women working and balancing identity and family.

What’s next for you?
With my book just out I’m busy with getting ready to do events and travel a bit, and I am also eager to dive into new projects that I’m working on. They are all in various stages of creation, but I’m very excited. Stay tuned!

Aisha Saeed is one of the founding members of We Need Diverse Books, a grassroots organization created to address the lack of diverse narratives in children’s literature. With the publication of Written in the Stars, Saeed is now also a YA author.

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A Court of Thorns and Roses introduces readers to a world filled with fae bearing the weight of a terrible curse. When 19-year-old human huntress Feyre accidentally kills a faerie, she’s whisked away by a dangerous creature to live forever in the faerie lands. But this creature reveals himself to be a powerful, beautiful High Lord named Tamlin, and while he and Feyre fall into an intense romance, it’s clear he’s keeping secrets from her.

This book started out as a fairy-tale retelling over several myths, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” and “Tam Lin,” and it still bears strains of all those fairy tales. What was your process for mix and matching these different classic fairy tales?
Honestly, I read as many versions of those tales as I could before starting, but they were all such favorites from growing up (“East of the Sun, West of the Moon” might be my all-time favorite fairytale) that I already had them internalized by the time I began drafting A Court of Thorns and Roses.

In some ways, “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” had a greater impact on the book than “Beauty and the Beast” (which is in the same folktale family)—the overall structure of Feyre and Tamlin’s story, the shift from pure love story to Supreme Badass Action, the presence of a dark, wicked queen, all shaped and guided the creation of this book. I definitely drew more heavily from the evil faerie queen and her relationship to the hero in Tam Lin for Amarantha’s inspiration, though both EotSWotM and “Tam Lin” feature women coveting/cursing men—and then going head-to-head with the heroine.

In all three fairytales, actually, the element of female strength was what initially drew me to them, and helped me shape ACOTAR. These are all heroines who persevere, who are empowered in their desires and wants, and who are willing to face countless dangers to save the ones they love.

There are countless faerie mythologies out there. Where do your faeries fit in?
My faeries kind of come from everywhere. I drew from traditional Irish/English/Scottish mythology, but I also borrowed creatures and ideas from other cultures—the naga, for instance, were inspired by Hindu mythology. I didn’t want to be confined to one mythology when I created the world of A Court of Thorns and Roses, so it became a blend of creatures that interest and frighten me. Which has really given me the freedom to do whatever I want with Prythian and its inhabitants.

There’s a lot more mature content in A Court of Thorns and Roses than in the Throne of Glass series, making it appropriate for a slightly older teen audience. Are you intentionally writing older, to stay with your huge fan base? If so, do you think you’ll move into adult fantasy at any point?
To be honest, when I write my books, I don’t often think about where they’ll wind up on a shelf. I just write the story as it unfolds, write the characters as they speak to me and see what the finished product looks like when I’m done. I knew from the start that the world of ACOTAR would be a darker, more sensual one—so the mature content just sort of happened as a result. So, no, I didn’t intentionally write older to stick with my audience—I just wrote the story in my heart, which happened to be a bit more sexy than the TOG books. I think it’ll probably be that way with any other book or series I write: I’ll leave where it gets shelved in a store or library to my publisher. 🙂

You’ve said in previous interviews that you grew up with fantasies like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, stories that put heavy emphasis on the world-building aspect of fantasy writing. What are your favorite and least favorite elements of world-building?
Least favorite parts? Keeping track of everything and making sure everything makes sense and is consistent. If my characters are eating a certain kind of fruit, I need to account for how that fruit got onto their table, especially if it’s out of season. Sometimes that stuff makes it onto the page, sometimes it’s just information that I need to know. But the consistency of world-building is always intense.

Favorite part? Getting to do whatever I want (within reason—see the above answer). I love sitting down at my computer and discovering new places within the worlds of ACOTAR and TOG—places that I didn’t know existed until that moment, when they suddenly have been there all along, and they fit in perfectly and add extra depth to the characters and world. I’m a big believer in world-building and character-building going hand-in-hand (we’re all products of our world/culture/upbringing), so I often discover a lot about both while drafting. It’s awesome when it all clicks.

Speaking of that mature content, what do you think are the sexiest scenes to write?
Oh, God. Such a hard question. (…*awkwardly winks*) I think the sexiest scenes are the ones where the emotional and physical arcs between the characters perfectly tie together. So, for me, it’s often that Big First Kiss scene. Feyre and Tamlin’s first kiss still makes me cry whenever I read it, perhaps because it’s as much about their physical relationship as it is about Feyre’s own emotional healing and growth.

If you had one night with any of the A Court of Thorns and Roses characters, who would you choose, and what would do with him/her?
Um. Rhysand. Definitely. And as for what I’d do with him . . .  I’m a married woman. But . . . you know. It’s Rhysand. So . . . *smiles innocently*

What’s one bad habit you have no intention of breaking?
I watch an ungodly amount of TV and will never apologize for it. (I feel like I should list “Netflix” as my religion.)

True love—fact or fiction?
Fact. Though I do think that love takes work—and requires trust most of all. But I also believe that there are all kinds of true love. The love between friends can be as strong and life-changing as romantic love. My relationship with my best friend (aka YA author Susan Dennard) is as important to me as my relationship with my husband—and has impacted me as greatly, too.

Sarah J. Maas swept readers away with her wildly popular Throne of Glass series, a high fantasy partially inspired by Disney's Cinderella. For her new series, Maas draws from a whole new set of fairy tales—and takes the romance to a new level. We contacted Maas to talk about myths, world-building and other sexy things.

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Nashville author Lynne Berry offers twice as many laughs with two new picture books. Pig and Pug is perfect for early readers, as a pair of reluctant friends confront their differences. The hero of Squid Kid the Magnificent presents a spectacular magic show, but his sister, Stella, isn’t impressed.


Two books pubbing on one day! If you had to, could you pick a favorite between the two?
Yes! My book twins! Fraternal twins, of course, not identical—but twins nevertheless—and what proper mother could pick a favorite between twins? Turns out, I am not a proper book mother at all, and I am rather partial to Pig and Pug! It’s not that I don’t love Squid Kid, I certainly do—but the inspiration for Pig and Pug came from my very own grumpy pig (Sir Francis Bacon) and my best pug pal (the Empress Evelyn Pookena), who belongs to a dear friend. In my mind, Pig and Pug are Francey and Pookie, so I can’t help but have an extra-special place in my heart for this book.

What was the process of working with these two illustrators?
I must be the luckiest writer alive, because every one of my books has had a spectacular illustrator (not to mention outstanding editors and art directors). Other authors and illustrators sometimes work more closely together—quite a few well-known collaborative teams—but I think it’s fair to say I have had little to no input on the art for my books. My participation has been limited to receiving from my editor sketches or early spreads or first full layouts, and saying, “Wow. Wow. Wow. Carry on. Please.”

But I will say this: I wrote these two stories for the illustrators into whose hands they fell—Squid Kid for Luke quite intentionally, and Pig and Pug for Gemma without an intention in the world. I met Luke once, many years ago, shortly after our first book together was published. At that meeting, Luke asked me if I had ever written any stories about squids, because he loves squids—cephalopods of all sorts, really, when it comes right down to it—and he would love to do the pictures for a story about a squid. So, I set about writing a squid story for Luke. When I wrote Pig and Pug, I’d not heard of Gemma (please forgive me, I do sometimes live under a rock), but now that I have heard of her—wow. Could ever a story have been better suited for an illustrator, than Pig and Pug for Gemma?  So, the evidence is in: I am the luckiest writer in the world. To collaborate on a pug book—a PUG book—with Gemma Correll—GEMMA CORRELL! And squids by Luke LaMarca—at risk of repeating myself: wow.

Animals always have such distinct and hilarious personalities in your picture books. How did you know that squid siblings would squabble so? Or that a pig and a pug, if they took a moment, could get over their differences?
Thank you! Most of the time, I am not at all sure what the characters in my books are likely to do until I discover they are doing it. In writing a squid story for Luke, I had several false starts—the characters were not cooperating with me AT ALL—until it dawned on me the squid I was writing about was SQUID KID the MAGNIFICENT. Well! Of course he was a ham (no cross-book pun intended). Of course he was a magician. Of course his sister would give him grief about his not-so-magic tricks. How could it be any other way? Pig and Pug, I think, are at the mercy of the destiny of their names: pigheaded and pugnacious. They just can’t escape it. But I knew they could see their way clear (as mud, anyhow) to friendship because they scrap the way brothers scrap—and no matter how brothers may scrap, no friends are friends like brothers are friends.

What would the animals on your farm think of your books?
I would love to show you, if I may! So that’s the reaction from a representative sampling of the critters—I think it’s safe to say they speak for the rest. Or, at least, for the goats and the ducks. The chickens are not all that bright, and tend to have a poor appreciation of literature in general, I find.

Have you always had such a knack for young reader rhyme and rhythm? Do you ever find yourself narrating your life in your head in this same way?
I am very much drawn to rhythm and rhyme. I can forego rhyme, at times, but rhythms draw me back again and again. I am not at all sure where this comes from; I am not a musical person, but the rhythm of language just gets right in amongst me. I should, indeed, spend more time narrating my life in rhyme! I am a worrier, so the narration of my life tends to take a gloomy turn more often that it should; narrating in the form of limericks would clear that up in a hurry, I expect.

What do you love most about writing children’s books?
I love the most getting to work with such talented and creative people. When I send a manuscript off to my editor, the story is just a smattering of words on a sheet of paper. That’s all. And yet, an editor can see a book. An art director can see a book. An artist can see a book— a book with setting and characters—sometimes characters not even mentioned in the text, sometimes entire visual subplots not even hinted at in the text. I love to see the words leap off that humble sheet of paper, get chummy with some amazing art, maybe say hey to the new fellas with whom they will never cross paths in the text—and make a BOOK.

What’s next?
I am hopeful that Pig and Pug will have the opportunity to embark on new adventures. I cannot stop thinking about these wee little imps, and would like to see what might happen at a picnic with a table full of pies, or during an afternoon at the local pool. My best guess: Hijinks might very well ensue.

 

Berry plays favorites with her two books and gives us a peek into her life full of animals and rhyme.
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Rachel Caine is the bestselling author of more than 45 novels, including the popular Morganville Vampires series, so it comes as no surprise that her new YA novel, Ink and Bone, is a thrilling fantasy about the incredible power of books. It’s set in a world where the Great Library of Alexandria never burned, but instead became a governing body over all knowledge. Personal ownership of books is forbidden in this magical world, but young Jess Brightwell has been brought up in the family business of distributing black market books.

What inspired you to write Ink and Bone, with its strong focus on themes of the control of knowledge and censorship?
It was an interesting journey! I started this story many times over the past 10 years, and just couldn’t find the “hook” to make it interesting and different until I realized it really was, at the core, about libraries, about the Internet and paper books, about content and who owns it. Of course, those are huge subjects for a YA novel, and I wanted to do them in an entertaining and suspenseful way . . . and in my research, I realized that the Great Library of Alexandria had been built from some humble (and not altogether legal) beginnings. The idea of collected libraries that allowed the general public to enter them wasn’t always either a common or accepted thing, and in building on that, I discovered how to tell the story and the world in which that Great Library never disappeared.

What do you believe is the greatest power of books? Do you think their role has changed—or will change—as our society evolves with the Internet, allowing greater dissemination of knowledge?
The fascinating thing about books is that we forget the controversy of books. The scandal when the printing press was first used for something other than reprinting of sacred or scientific materials. The uproar over the advent of “novels” (which literally meant “new fiction”) instead of instructive stories with moral messages. Books have always fascinated and tempted, and from time to time (particularly in the 1850s through the early 1900s) they were also seen as just as destructive to “good work habits” as drinking or drugs. Libraries, after all, were compared to “gin shops and brothels” in the mid-1800s, because they were seen as making novels readily available to the public, which allowed them to neglect their duties, isolated them and “eroded their morals.” (Sound familiar? It should! We have the same kind of moral panics periodically about whatever is new and popular . . .  like the latest popular video game.)

The Internet presents an interesting challenge. It does disseminate information . . . and misinformation. There’s no curation and no validation, and in that sense the Internet is more about data than knowledge—since knowledge has some kind of intellectual rigor behind it. It also presents the question of who owns information. It’s a huge issue, and one we’ll be wrestling with for generations to come. If information should be free, what does that look like from an economic and creative standpoint? It’s all very interesting, and a bit frightening.

What do you find so fascinating about the Library of Alexandria, rather than creating a brand-new library (or other controlling organization) for this world?
It has a mythical significance to modern readers. I’ve seen t-shirts that say, “They got the books in Alexandria, they’re not getting mine!”—it’s the reader equivalent of “You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hand.” Western readers have collectively chosen that particular library as a symbol of lost knowledge, even though there are many other libraries as great (or possibly even greater) that were lost before it, and after.

So the resonance of that institution was something that I felt could really give the book energy and grounding.

What do you love most about worldbuilding? What are the greatest challenges?
Creating the alternate paths are a lot of fun; you start to consider which events would happen, which wouldn’t, which discoveries would have been made or even suppressed, and which political events would or wouldn’t happen. You can spend a huge amount of time creating an incredibly detailed world, if you’re so minded; I try to do as much as I can but I limit the amount of time I spend on it, because first and foremost, I want to tell a good story. So the story has to remain paramount.

The challenges really are more about how much of the worldbuilding can you include without bogging down the story, or making it confusing. It takes a lot of work to get that balance even close to correct.

What’s one “banned” book you think everyone should read?
I remember the one that really changed my life was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. It’s banned on some lists, not on others, but it broke my world open in a way that nothing had before.

Honestly, I look at banned lists as “must read” lists! A book wouldn’t be on the list if there wasn’t something in it intense and powerful enough to incite controversy . . . and as readers, we shouldn’t only stay in our comfort zone. That’s not where personal growth happens, or where we learn more about the world and ourselves.

Did you have a favorite library when you were a teen?
My favorite library was the little Bookmobile that visited our neighborhood way outside of El Paso when I was a teen. It was stocked with maybe 500 books, and I’ll bet I read at least two-thirds of them, if not more; just the fact that it arrived every week and I could check out a new stack was amazing. My school library was also where I found a lot of joy, especially in the “Boys” section. That was where they put all the cool adventure books.

What can readers expect next?
Book 2 of the Great Library will launch Jess on a new battle against the higher-ups within the Library, and plunge him and his friends into even more peril. More battles, more suspense and, most of all, more about the Obscurists and the Iron Tower, which we’ll see from within as well as without. You’ll also see a deepening of the bonds between Jess, his friends and their mentors. It’ll be a tense, dangerous journey full of adventure, feelings and—always—books.

Thanks so much for letting me visit and talk books!

BookPage spoke with Caine about the history of libraries, the power of banned books and so much more.
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Ben Hatke, author of the popular Zita the Spacegirl series, brings readers a junkyard tale of friendship with his new book, Little Robot. A little girl, armed with a tool belt, gumption and lots of independence, discovers a lost blue robot. After she fixes him up, the two explore cats, flowers and frogs—until the factory where the robot belongs sends a bigger, scarier robot to retrieve him.

Considering the popularity of your Zita the Spacegirl series, it’s no surprise that this new story has some major E.T. and Lilo & Stitch vibes, and yet the lost creature here is a robot. How is a robot like an alien?
I think robots are, in some stories, almost an anti-alien. Robots, in stories, work really well as being “us.” The robot in this story is activated for the first time and is very much like a child.

Where did this little robot character come from?
About four years ago I drew a short, silent, five panel comic about a little robot. It was a very simple gag, that first comic but before long, and almost without thinking, I found myself drawing another Little Robot comic. And then another . . .

I made 30 Little Robot comics in all, and through those comics the robot’s personality developed. Gradually the little trashcan shaped robot started suggesting that there was a larger story to tell.

Were there any Little Robot moments that you really, really wish had made it into this story?
Not really. There are things that happened in the comic strips that I thought were fun, like marching, dancing vegetables, but those things didn’t fit the new world that the robot was inhabiting. As far as the main story goes all the best bits from my sketchbooks made it into the final piece.

You’ve described this book as your “little love letter to summer and friendship and robots and makers.” What about this story sums up summer for you?
I think the setting and the sense of idleness. And being near a river. I’ve spent a lot of summers near a river. If there was a soundtrack to this comic it would just be the sound of cicadas.

What are some of the most important lessons about first friendship that the little girl and the robot learn in this story?
They have to learn to navigate their disagreements. They have to learn to figure out what friendship even means and how to balance the difference between responsibility and possessiveness.

Why do you believe it was necessary for this story to be wordless?
It’s not really wordless, it just has very sparse dialogue. I tried to do a story that had words but that could be read without words. In this way I had very beginning readers in mind.

How do your own kids influence your stories? What do you think they would do if they found a lost robot?
I have started to refer to my kids as the Quality Control Department. They really do check up on my work, probably daily, and they have gotten good at giving me honest opinions about the stories I’ working on. When they are confused about part of a story I know I have to reexamine it.

And if the girls found a robot? Wow. I hardly know how to answer that one . . .

What is your favorite part of the writing process?
My favorite part is the good days, when the typing part and the sketching part are working perfectly in tandem and I’m listening to just the right music and the ideas are flowing. I have come to really love seeing the structure of a story take shape.

What’s next for you? Will we see these characters again?
The next book is a picture book called Nobody Likes a Goblin and it was probably the most fun I’ve had drawing a book. It’s my little attempt to examine and flip over some of the tropes of classic fantasy. After that is a graphic novel called Mighty Jack which is about a very dangerous garden. I don’t know when we’ll next see the characters from Little Robot, but the girl from that story has a very small blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in Mighty Jack.

We contacted Hatke to find out more about robots, new friendships and his most important audience—his own kids.
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Maggie Thrash spent every summer at Camp Bellflower, one of the oldest camps in the South, set deep in the mountains of Kentucky. Her graphic memoir, Honor Girl, takes readers to the summer of 2000, when 15-year-old Thrash fell in love with a female camp counselor named Erin. She attempts to escape—or maybe sort through new feelings—at the rifle range, but then it seems Erin may feel something, too.

Through spare illustrations and often hilarious dialogue, Thrash captures the confusing and heart-wrenching moments that come with first love, with leaving a part of childhood behind, with discovering a part of yourself that didn’t seem to exist before.

Why did you want to tell this story? And why in comics?
I needed to get this story out of my system. I hadn’t talked about it much, not even to people who know me really well. It was kind of lodged in my heart gumming up the works. And for me, comics are the easiest way to talk about personal stuff. You can present yourself really plainly and efficiently. Comics are awesome that way.

A 100-year-old camp, with uniforms and longstanding, antiquated Southern traditions, is an almost-too-perfect backdrop for a summer of discovery and leaving childhood behind, particularly for a young gay teen. What does the camp setting provide that is different from school life?
At camp you’re allowed to be in the moment. During the school year, the future is a specter that hovers over your ever decision. Will getting a B+ instead of an A affect my GPA? What if I want to be a photographer? What if I want to be the President? Which classes will put me on a graphic design track? You can plan what you do, but you can’t plan the person you become. And it’s hard to figure out who that person is in the pressure-cooker of high school. I think it’s so important for kids to have time to chill out. Camp is very chill. You’re outside, you’re kind of bored, no one’s asking much of you—there’s a measure of freedom and idleness that allows you to actually be yourself.

If this story were fiction, readers wouldn’t get the opportunity to look back on this pivotal summer through your eyes—knowing what you know now, remembering the summer through the haze that comes with the passing of time. What do you think this story gains through that last section, when you reunite with Erin, when you’re able to reflect on what you experienced that summer?
I thought it was important for the reader to be yanked out of the idyllic bubble of camp the same way that I was. In a way, the friendships you make at camp are doomed. They can’t really survive outside of that environment, at least in my experience. It’s like pulling two flowers from the ground and sticking them next to each other in a vase. They’re going to die.

Did you learn anything new about that summer by putting it down on paper?
I learned how important that summer was to me. The more I examined my memories, the more I realized how deeply they had shaped me. It was kind of scary! I don’t want to freak out the teens, but seriously, your lives are taking shape right now. You’re becoming the person you will be, right now.

There’s a theme running throughout Honor Girl about being someone else, or even inhabiting a “web of lies” to hide who you really are. But it seems that when you “become” Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys, it opens your teenage self up to this opportunity in a way. It certainly is the moment when Erin notices you. Is there some merit to playing as someone else, when you’re still figuring out who you are?
Oh, absolutely. When you’re 15, everyone thinks they get you, including yourself. You think you know who you are, and what your limits are. But really you have no idea. At that age, your brain is still under construction. So don’t make any assumptions about what you’re capable of; do whatever it takes to get out of your head and test yourself.

What’s so cool about Kevin Richardson anyway? Is it the power of the goatee? The trench coat? (What’s he doing these days? Think he’ll read the book?)
Kevin was the serious one, and also the most beautiful one. They kept him in the background a lot, which made him easy to project stuff onto. I spent hours interpreting the mysteries of “I Want It That Way”: “Believe when I say, I want it that way . . .  I never wanna hear you say, I want it that way.” No one knew what the hell that song meant! People assumed it was nonsense. But I would look at Kevin—the intensity of his eyebrows, the fact that he hardly ever smiled—and felt certain the song had a secret meaning that Kevin wanted us to discover for ourselves. We didn’t realize at the time that none of those boy bands actually wrote their own songs.

Kevin’s back with BSB now after a long hiatus! I have their new album, In a World Like This. And I think they actually did write all the songs this time. It has kind of a Reagan administration vibe (family values and stuff), but it’s still really good.

And yeah, I’d love for Kevin to read the book. I want him to know how important he was to me. I think he was a little overlooked back in the day, but he was really the unsung heart of the band. He’ll always be my favorite. Boy band love never dies.

Have you put yer shootin’ skills to use?
Nope! In fact, by the time I went back to camp the summer after the one I depict in the book, my skill had more or less disappeared. I’d lost my confidence and my drive, and I never really got it back. The magic was gone. Maybe it’ll return one day. I’ll let you know!

Who has been the biggest influence on your work?
In terms of craft, the Scott Pilgrim books by Bryan Lee O’Malley. I studied that series like it was an instruction manual for how to make a graphic novel. And Twilight had a huge impact on me when I read it a few years ago. It doesn’t get nearly enough cred in my opinion. Stephenie Meyer is brilliant at capturing intense longing and the way feelings can contradict each other. Also theres a poet and essayist named Jenny Zhang who fascinates me. She has a truly wild heart, and she writes with an honesty and brutality that’s kind of terrifying.

You’ve described memoir-writing as “lofty” business. What does that mean to you, and do you plan to continue your lofty work? (More memoirs?)
The memoir genre tends to be dominated by ex-presidents and war heroes and drug-addicted movie stars, so it can feel a little “lofty” to be like, “Move over, Bill Clinton, my teenage gay drama is of national importance!” But at the same time, have you read Bill Clinton’s memoir? It’s very boring and reveals little about his inner self. It’s not very relatable. I have to remind myself that it’s not about whether my story is “important”; it’s about whether it’s important to me, and whether anyone can relate to it.

And yeah, I’d like to do a follow-up to Honor Girl eventually. I’m focusing on fiction right now; I need a break from myself. Perspective and distance are crucial for memoir-writing. I need to get out of my head for a while.

 

Author photo credit Nico Carver.

We spoke with Thrash about the magic of camp, what it's like to look back on your 15-year-old self and more.
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For two girls on opposite ends of the world, adventure begins with a mysterious book.

In Georgia, Kai is staying with her great-aunt and finds a gorgeous, ornate book called The Exquisite Corpse. Its pages are almost completely blank, but it soon begins to share its secrets. In Pakistan, Leila finds a copy of The Exquisite Corpse as well. As A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic unfolds, told by a mysterious omniscient narrator, the two girls discover that their books are connected—and that together they’re spinning a truly magical tale.

What inspired this book?
This book was inspired by my very own magic book! When I was 10 years old, my German grandmother gave me a book of fairy tales. She explained that this book was a gift to her from her father, my great-grandfather, who had bought it from a bookstore in France during World War I because he wanted his daughter to learn English. The stories are beautifully illustrated and told, and as I read it and re-read them, I realized that I wanted to write stories when I grew up. I knew that this book was magical, and that it was meant for me—look at how far it had traveled and how long, just to reach me.

A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic is about two girls on opposite sides of the world who are linked by a magic book and a series of mysterious events. It’s about the way the past and present intersect, tying together people and events. And the nugget of that story is right there, in a book I got when I was 10 years old.

Kai and Leila’s stories are delivered by a very assertive omniscient narrator. (“In the gutter, Kai saw a squashed frog that had dried to leather in the Texas heat. I like to call that road jerky.”) Why did you choose this narrative style?
A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic is a book about a book. The Exquisite Corpse is the magical book that ties two girls—one in Texas and one in Pakistan—together. But The Exquisite Corpse is, itself, a character. It has a goal in mind. It wants the girls to connect, and—in some cases—it even writes directly to them. It is a book with a particular voice, and I wanted that voice to be distinct.

The narrator of A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic is the voice of The Exquisite Corpse. The same voice addresses both the characters and the reader. There are even a few places in which the voice talks about itself. For example, page 210: “Of course, the book knew the ending. But it was a very intelligent book, and knew that the best stories only give enough information to keep the reader interested. It wasn’t about to start explaining too much. Instead, it let Kai wonder.”

Even reading that makes me giggle. That book has some serious attitude!

There’s something very untrustworthy about magic items, especially magic books. As much as it could hold wonders, a magical book could turn out to be, oh, you know, a Horcrux. But that’s the risk of any type of magic, isn’t it? It could be sinister or kind, and often characters don’t know until the end. How do you think kids implicitly understand that magic is worth the risk?
(Awkward, embarrassed pause as I google “Horcrux.”) Interesting! “A powerful object in which a wizard has hidden part of his/ her soul in a bid for immortality.” That sounds a lot like . . . books. Arguably, every book ever written is an attempt at immortality, an attempt to connect to people beyond the depth and scope of our limited lives. This is a really interesting question.

Yes, magic is risky, but the danger is part of the appeal. I think that kids understand that—often—magic is highly influenced by the user. Someone who attempts to use magic for selfish or poorly-thought-out ends is likely to encounter danger. Someone with a kind heart and good intentions is likelier to have a good outcome, or is at least likelier to escape harm. Kids understand that intentions matter.

What is your connection to Pakistan, and what has been the most surprising or enjoyable part of getting to know Pakistani culture?
My husband is from Pakistan, and my in-laws have welcomed me into their big, vibrant family. My daughter is 7, and she identifies very strongly with her Pakistani heritage, as well as her American heritage. I think most people don’t understand how colorful and joyful Pakistani culture can be. The typical news images we see are nothing like what I experience when I go there: colorful clothing, dancing, incredible music, delicious food and a lively art scene. These are the things I wanted to reflect in my book.

If you were co-writing a book with anyone in the world, who would you choose, and what would you write about?
Wow! GREAT QUESTION! I have been very lucky to co-write with James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, and I really enjoyed those experiences. Collaborating is wonderful, because it mitigates the isolation and self-doubt that writing alone can cause. But anyone in the world?

I think I’d like to work with Amy Poehler—something really smart and hilarious, set in middle school. Or maybe a crazy feel-good musical with Cyndi Lauper. I love Cyndi Lauper.

What do you love most about writing for young readers?
I don’t really think of young readers as being terribly different from older readers, except that they feel the books more. When I tell a joke, there are people who say, “That’s funny,” and there are people who laugh. Grown-ups will read a book and say, “That’s well-written” or “That’s moving.” Young readers will cry or giggle or screech or gasp. They’re the ideal audience, really, and they are far more intelligent than most adults realize.

What are you working on next?
I just finished a first draft of my next novel, which is tentatively titled Apartment 1986. It’s about a girl who skips school for a week to visit the art museums along New York City’s Museum Mile. It’s the usual Lisa Papademetriou mix of funny and sad and slightly weird. I’m excited about it!

 

Author photo credit Ellen Augarten.

The Author's Note at the beginning of A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic reveals author Lisa Papademetriou's inspiration for this sparkling novel—a beautiful book in her own life. We contacted the author to find out more about this personal back story, the universal language of storytelling and more.
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Power couple Toni and Gretchen have been together for nearly two years when they leave for separate colleges. Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, finds a place at Harvard with a group of transgender upperclassmen who offer a new sense of belonging and an expanded language for discussing gender and nonbinary identities. Meanwhile at NYU, Gretchen struggles to understand their evolving long-distance relationship.

What inspired you to write this book?
What We Left Behind actually started out as a completely different story. Originally, it was set during Toni and Gretchen’s high school days, and it focused on a different couple, with Toni and Gretchen as secondary characters. As I was writing it, though, I realized Toni’s story was the one I really wanted to tell—and that meant telling Gretchen’s story, too. As soon as I put them at the center of their own manuscript, I realized What We Left Behind was the book I’d wanted to write all along.

The characters here are searching for a lot of answers—about self-identity, labels, their relationships and so much more. But there aren’t solid answers to pretty much any of the questions being asked here. Was that your intent when you first began writing this book, to present a story that thoughtfully pursues questions that can only be answered on an individual level?
I didn’t set out with that specific intention in mind—it just sort of evolved that way as I got to know the characters and their journeys. When it comes to identity and relationships, though, I definitely think these are questions that everyone has to answer for themselves. I think YA books can be a great place to address that, since a lot of teenagers (and I know I was like this) have a tendency to assume that life is all about finding the right answers to a pre-defined set of questions. I wish that were true—it would make everything a lot simpler!

It’s wonderful to see LGBTQIA+ YA books begin to move away from the typical bully stories (though of course we still have and need those) and present teens growing up surrounded by a bit more acceptance. But perhaps what’s most exciting about this work is its voice for trans and genderqueer teens. What do you consider to be the biggest gaps in LGBTQIA+ fiction, and in what ways do you think the genre needs to evolve?
There are so many amazing books now starring LGBTQIA+ teens, ranging from contemporary romance stories to dystopian epics to way-out-there sci-fi tales. We could definitely still use more representation across the board, though. The number of YA books starring LGBTQIA+ characters still represents a much smaller percentage out of all YA books overall than actual teen demographics would reflect. And there’s a great need for more representation of intersectional identities—characters who are members of more than one marginalized community (for example, disabled gay kids, Latinx trans teens, etc.). We’re also starting to see more and more LGBTQIA+ characters represented in middle grade books, which is fantastic.

Unlike many YA novels, What We Left Behind is set in college. What keeps this book from being considered “new adult,” and why do you think the college setting works so well for this story?
It’s fine with me if readers classify What We Left Behind as new adult, but I don’t usually describe it that way myself. I know a lot of new adult readers are also romance readers, and I wouldn’t want folks to go into What We Left Behind expecting a traditional romance novel—I’d worry they’d be disappointed. (I know how annoyed I get when I’m looking forward to watching what I think will be a funny movie and wind up sitting through a bunch of deadly serious action scenes.)

As for the college setting, What We Left Behind is very much a story about being in a new environment and having the opportunity to reinvent yourself. It’s also about the challenges placed on a relationship when a couple is separated by distance for the first time. And it’s also about the late teen years, when you’re past the initial throes of adolescence and are ready to start really examining yourself and making decisions that will affect your long-term future. So college was definitely the perfect place to put this story.

What would your 18-year-old self have taken away from this book? What do you hope today’s teen readers will take away?
When I was 18, I was so sheltered that I was totally unfamiliar with the concept of gender identity, so I would’ve been blown away by the discussions the characters have throughout What We Left Behind about gender and sexuality. But many of today’s teen readers are much savvier than I was, thanks to the growth of social justice movements as well as the internet and social media. The message I hope readers of all ages take from the book is about the importance of developing independence—of getting to know yourself as an individual and learning what you want, what you need and how that relates to the people around you.

What was your favorite part about writing this book? What was the hardest?
My favorite part was getting to spend time with these characters. Toni and Gretchen are my two favorite characters I’ve ever written. I feel like I know them so well that sometimes I forget I made them up!

The hardest part was getting the language right. The characters in What We Left Behind place a lot of value on language, and rightly so, especially when it comes to things like pronouns and identity labels. I wanted to make sure I weighed decisions about language just as heavily as they did.

What’s one thing most people would be surprised to know about you?
People are always surprised to learn that writing isn’t my only job! I also work full-time at a women’s rights nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., doing online marketing. Between that and writing, my free time is, shall we say, limited.

What are you working on next?
My next book, As I Descended, is a totally new genre for me. It’s a lesbian retelling of Macbeth set at a haunted Virginia boarding school. It has ghosts, mean girls and a lot of really poor teen decision-making.

What We Left Behind is the second novel from Robin Talley, after her emotionally wrenching Lies We Tell Ourselves. We spoke with Talley about LGBTQIA+ literature, the college setting and much more.

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