Author Interview – Andrea Beatriz Arango

I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to author Andrea Beatriz Arango today. Andrea is the author of multiple beautiful middle grade books, including the Newbery Honor title “Iveliz Explains it All”! And today we will be discussing her newest release for middle grade readers: “No Place on Earth” which comes out from Random House Kids on August 25, 2026!

Librarians and educators- you don’t want to miss this!

About “No Place on Earth”:

From the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All, comes a moving novel with a touch of magic, where two boys find themselves in each other’s dreams and slowly help one another face the real world.

Since moving to Yellowstone National Park for his mom’s job, Gustavo Santos Costa has had a lot on his mind.

• For instance: bison stampedes. Did you know that bison can run three times faster than the average person?
• Also: Why do people always stand so close to boiling hot springs?!
• Finally: the bad dreams. Why have they only gotten worse since the move?

And that’s all before Gus somehow meets his classmate Kordell inside his dreams. While Gus avoids sleeping (and nightmares) at all costs, Kordell finds that dreams seem to be a welcome escape from his real life . . . until one day, they’re no longer enough. With the connection between the boys, Gus may be the only person who can help Kordell. But when most things already feel too big to take on, how can Gus find the courage to be there for his friends?

In this powerful novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All, two boys confront their fears—and their dreams—to save themselves and each other.

Interview with Andrea:

I loved getting to talk to Andrea about her new book and I know you will enjoy meeting her and her characters Gus and Kordell as well.

SSS: I am so excited to talk with you today, Andrea! I love your books! Tells us more about this new book! How did you come up with the idea for it?

ABA: I’m so happy to be here! I’m a big fan of your work ❤️. As for the book… It honestly came together very slowly and in pieces. First came Yellowstone, which I’ll dive into in a bit. I knew I wanted to write a book set there, but I didn’t know exactly what kind of story it would be. Second, I really wanted to write my first boy character – readers had been asking me for a boy book for years. Finally, I really wanted to tell a story that involved nightmares, because I’ve always had them but couldn’t ever remember reading a book about them when I was young. At least not the chronic type I had/have. All of that percolated in my brain for a long time before Gustavo’s specific story came to me.

SSS: Tell us more about the characters Gus and Kordell. What are their characters and personalities like, their dreams, and how does the story weave their perspectives together?

ABA: Out of all my main characters, Gustavo is probably the one whose brain is the most similar to mine, so I have a huge soft spot for him. He has (undiagnosed) anxiety, but not the vocabulary to talk about it. This manifests in nightmares and a sort of maladaptive daydreaming where he’s constantly thinking of worst-case scenarios. Kordell, on the other hand, lives with depression, but does have the vocabulary for it, even if he doesn’t have friends he can actually talk about that stuff with. Their stories come together in Dream Yellowstone, where they keep bumping heads at night. It can be extra hard for boys to ask for help with their mental health, especially in cultures like Gustavo’s, and so the boys’ slow-burn friendship is something neither of them realized they needed until they have it. It’s very much a book about learning how to be there for others even when it’s hard to show up. How sometimes friendship can feel difficult, maybe even like an inconvenience, but it’s always worth it in the end.

SSS: What made you decide on Yellowstone National Park as the setting? Have you been there? (It sounds stunning!)

ABA: I have been there! My mom actually took a job there for two years and I was able to go visit her when she was living inside the park. I went in the winter, when most of the park is shut down and the animals extra visible, and I truly don’t think I’ve ever seen a place more beautifully wild. I looked up the size of it while I was there, because I couldn’t get over how immense it seemed, and was shocked to find out the entirety of Puerto Rico (where I live) fits inside the park. When I found out families lived there too, and that a school bus would come grab them from the nearest town, I knew I needed to write a book about a middle schooler moving there. (Which, for the record and unlike Gustavo, 6^th grade Andrea would have LOVED.) 

SSS: Agreed!! I read the book and absolutely adored it and reccomend it to all readers<3

Link to order here.

Writing Process

SSS: I know that this book is your first prose!! How was it writing this book as compared to writing a verse novel (although I will note, that I think verse is weaved into this book as well, correct?)

ABA: I thought I would never finish 😂! After writing three novels fully in verse, I think I got accustomed to a certain length of pages in my drafts, a certain number of words, and so when I reached that and still had half the story left to tell I almost fell out of my writing chair, haha. I also had to incorporate a lot more descriptions than I’m used to with my minimal verse, and that was a bit of a learning curve, too. Mind you, I’d written plenty of prose before my 3 verse novels, but I’d….forgotten. And yes, that’s despite this novel still having some verse sections. It wasn’t even 100% prose.

SSS: Are you a pantser or a plotter? And what helps you with finishing stories when you first start writing your drafts?

ABA: 38-year-old Andrea is definitely a plotter. Students always ask me about writer’s block and I tell them I have brain block. My mental health doesn’t always cooperate with me and that can make meeting deadlines or finishing projects really difficult. So to me, my outlines are basically crutches for my brain. I don’t think I ever plotted a single story prior to my 30s but now I plot very extensively—15 page outlines, usually—and when I don’t feel creative or I’m having a hard time feeling inspired, I’m still able to write because I know exactly what happens next. Granted, it may not be my best work, but if I don’t get something down on the page I won’t be able to get the draft done and be able to turn to what I actually love, which is revising. I think the biggest difference between the me who is writing now and the me who was writing in her teens and twenties is that I’m able to finish way more projects now because of the plotting.

SSS: I am the same! Revising is my jam!!! Any advice for fellow middle-grade authors looking to write middle grade novels, and verse novels in particular?

ABA: Read all the books! I think with verse, especially, people tend to be scared to try it because we have this idea in our heads of what poetry is or isn’t. And so the wonderful thing about reading a variety of novels in verse is that every author has a different approach to it and a different style. Some verse novelists that I absolutely recommend people study (present company excluded, haha) are: Jasminne Mendez, Amber McBride, Jasmine Warga, Thanhha Lai, Hannah V. Sawyerr, Elisabet Velasquez, and Mariama J. Lockington.

SSS: AGREED!

Bonus!

SSS: What more is coming up for you! (can you tell us?)

ABA: I can! (A little, haha.) I’m actually working on a survival story. So for anyone who read an early version of SISTERS ALONE and loved it, get ready, because my next book might be right up your alley. I’ve been a big fan of the survival genre (in both books and screens) since I was young, and I’m excited to be contributing my own spin to it after all this time.

 SSS: WOOHOO! Cannot wait!

Thank you Andrea for joining us and I know readers and librarians will enjoy your book!

About Andrea:

Andrea Beatriz Arango is the author of the Newbery Honor Book Iveliz Explains It All, the Pura Belpré Honor Book Something Like Home, and most recently It’s All or Nothing, Vale. Andrea was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she first discovered her love of writing and eventually became a teacher. She then spent a decade in the United States working in public schools and nonprofits. When she’s not busy writing about middle schoolers and their families, you can find her hoping to spot manatees at the beach. Andrea lives in Puerto Rico with her family and two dogs.

Find her online at https://andreabeatrizarango.com

INSTAGRAM: @andreabeatrizarango

Shifa Safadi

SHIFA SALTAGI SAFADI is the National Book Award winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, is a former ELA teacher, and is passionate about spreading a love of reading through storytimes and school visits. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.

Find her on Instagram @shifasaltagisafadi