A girl with a summer job at her family’s amusement park crushes on a coworker who’d rather be working anywhere else in this fun and flirty middle grade rom-com. Meet Me at Wonderland (Aladdin). For grades 5+
MUF: Welcome to MUF, Julia DeVillers! Thanks for dropping by to talk about your new middle-grade novel, Meet Me at Wonderland. Tell us what inspired you to write this story.
Julia DeVillers: Hi MUF! So the inspiration for my story came about when my fabulous editor, Alyson, and I were talking about embarrassing moments when I told her about the time at my high school job that I, dressed as Chuck E. Cheese (the New Jersey sewer rat),walked into the break room and saw a cute guy filling out a job application. I panicked, tried to sneak out, and bumped into my manager, who made me unmask. That mishap inspired Meet Me at Wonderland. While I swapped Chuck E. for a moose mascot, my real-life disaster became the book’s “moose-cute.” I LOVED writing this book so much, with its blend of rom and com.
MUF: Your protagonists are on the upper end of middle-grade characters. Can you talk about what made you choose to write MG instead of YA? What sorts of choices did you make to write a romance for the middle-grade readers?
JD: I’ve been writing middle grade for most of my career, only my nonfiction books are YA. Middle grades can range widely. What I’ve chosen to do for my upper middle grade romcom is focus on crushes–the ups and downs, the awkward, the excitement, the despair– and the (spoiler alert!) “ends with a kiss.’ In Meet Me at Wonderland, Coco and Henry are workplace rivals who start their relationship with banter with each other in a fun, funny way. Don’t get me wrong, the emotional stakes are still real. I think it makes the genre accessible to my readers who want to explore what it feels like to have a crush without diving into the more intense, complicated relationships you might find in older books.
MUF: There’s been plenty of talk about how it can be tricky for kids to find books when they’re not quite ready for YA but are aging out of younger middle grade. What age reader were you writing for when you wrote MMAW?
JD: Exactly, Meet Me at Wonderland fits right in between lower middle grade and YA space, as it’s for 10 and up. (And by up, I have to say I’m hearing from adult arc readers they’re loving the nostalgia read–first crushes! First jobs! – themselves!)
MUF: You have written quite a bit in the middle grade space. What is it about this age group that you’re drawn to?
JD: Personally, I started my middle grade years loving school, my friends, and life was good. Then friend drama and more serious issues hit, and I felt unrooted, emotional, and alone. I don’t want kids to have those feelings, so I write about them in the hopes that my books can help middle graders feel less alone. Plus that time is such an intense time of growth and discovery. Middle grade readers are developing a sense of independence but are still figuring out how to navigate relationships, whether it’s with friends, family, or those early romantic interests. I love capturing that excitement and awkwardness in my writing because it feels so relatable and real. Plus, there’s a wonderful balance of humor and heart in middle grade.
MUF: What was it like to write for the American Girl brand? How does that process work and is it quite different than other books you’ve worked on?
JD: It was SO FUN. I wrote the books for the 90s dolls with my twin sister, Jennifer Roy. I wrote as one twin character (Isabel) and she wrote as the other (Nicki). Along with books, we now have our “own” dolls. The process was different because AG chose the era, the names, and some of the backstory, which is to be expected since they’re developing iconic characters to fit their historical line. They were the experts and Jennifer and I brought their vision to life and put our own touches on it. That’s so special, knowing we contributed to this beloved line. Writing about the 90s was a vibe, and brought back so many memories we wanted to recreate for young readers.
MUF: Read any fun new or new-ish MG lately?
JD: This year so far: Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita, As You Wish by Nashae Jones, The Misfits series by Lisa Yee and Dan Santat, Secrets of Lovelace Academy by Marie Benedict and Courtney Sheinmel, The Liars Society by Alyson Gerber, On Thin Ice by Jessica Kim, J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft, the Penny series by Sara Shephard, Bree Boyd is a Legend by Leah Johnson. My favorite of last year was Not Nothing by Gayle Forman.
MUF: Have we forgotten to ask you something important?
JD: This is my first book since getting through cancer! The reason Chuck E Cheese was on my mind at always because when I was sick I was very nostalgic and remembering happy times (not that being in a rat costume is a happy time, ha!) So…it feels very special to be celebrating with you!
Find Julia at @juliadevillers on Instagram and TikTok and at juliadevillers.com. (Where you may find pictures of her dressed as Morty the Moose.)
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