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Magical Realism . . . Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary!

By on March 21, 2014   /   Book Lists  

I love that term, Magical Realism. Magical Realism added to a story brings to mind all sorts of delicious and unusual story twists, whether delightful, creepy, or just plain enchanting in a unique and unexpected way. Unexpected being the key term here.

In today’s climate of publishing, especially the children’s and young adult realm where vampires, werewolves, fairies and mermaids have been the staple for a decade now, a reader might say that any book with a supernatural twist falls under the category of “magical realism”. You might even put ghosts into that category, as well as super-powers, or creatures raised from the dead; zombies, the undead, etc.

I beg to differ. Magical Realism was coined several decades ago, but began to be more widely used in the 1990s to describe a certain type of book that hadn’t been published very much before. Up until that point, bookstores and libraries were filled with well-defined categories such as, “Contemporary” “Mystery”, “Romance”, “Western”, “Science-Fiction”, etc.

Definition of “Magical Realism”:
A story where the author creates a very normal, regular world, populated with ordinary, regular people (no Vampires or Centaurs, Klingons or Doctor Octopus) but adding a touch—mind you, just a touch—of something surreal, fantastic or bizarre that turns the story upside down while staying very much grounded in our normal, regular world setting. Magical Realism is added as an element, NOT in huge doses—but often that one magical realism element turns an otherwise regular story into something entirely different because it affects the characters and the plot in such a unique way. That one element brings an edge or slant that doesn’t line up quite right with the real world. Instead of looking at the story straight on, it makes the reader look at things in a whole different light—where the story bats its eyelashes and looks askance, perhaps almost coy—which can also help the reader understand the truths of the story in an entirely different way. This is not your average contemporary Young Adult novel or Middle-Grade story.

I love me some edgy, contemporary stories and read them a lot. I also read, and have read, widely in the paranormal, supernatural and dystopian genres. But those are not stories using Magical Realism in the Classic sense. Often readers, including teachers and librarians get Magical Realism and the Fantasy genre mixed up.

Case Study:
I had a librarian classify my 2013 novel, When the Butterflies Came as Fantasy. But I’m sorry to say, she’s mistaken. My novel takes place in the very real world of a small town in Louisiana about a girl who has grown up on an old plantation (family home since before the Civil War). She’s got ordinary family and friends with quirks and foibles and problems. Her grandmother is a research scientist on another very real world location, an island in Micronesia. My MC is dealing with her grandmother’s recent and unexpected death, her mother’s depression, her bratty, annoying blue-haired older sister, and a touch of OCD she deals with in an attempt to bring some sort of order into an otherwise disconcerting life. There is one aspect of the story that is not *quite* real (or is it?) concerning the unusual species of butterflies Tara Doucet’s grandmother is researching. These beautiful butterflies appear to possess extraordinary characteristics—maybe even magical. Hence, Grammy Claire’s fascinating research on an island treehouse laboratory! But the cultures of both Louisiana and Micronesia as well as the story’s characters and life-changing growth are very much grounded in reality.

Here’s another great link defining Magical Realism.

Another Example:
Reaching into the depths of my often fuzzy mind, I would have to say that the very first book I read that contained magical realism was, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, a novel that celebrated its 21th birthday this last September and is still selling well in hardcover as well as paperback, audio, and Kindle. Esquivel mischievously appropriates the techniques of magical realism to make her heroine of the story, Tita’s, contact with food sensual, emotional, and often explosive. Love, food, and magical recipes in a kitchen where the other characters’ emotions and fate are determined by the emotions of the cook. If Tita’s sad while cooking, then everybody who eats her food is melancholy and weeping. If Tita is happy while preparing a wedding feast, then her dinner guests are joyful. The magical realism element in a novel that is otherwise the story about the generations of a family on a hacienda in Mexico brings out a fresh way of looking at life and relationships. And it’s done brilliantly.

A few years later, we got the scrumptious novel, Chocolat by Joanne Harris, performing similar dreamlike plot twists through a chocolate confectioner who works her magic on an unsuspecting French village and their trials and loves and relationships.Hmm, all this food talk is making me hungry. (*Takes break to pop a few chocolate truffles*)
What About Time Travel?
I personally believe that time travel books could fall into a sub-genre of magical realism. You may agree to disagree, but time travel books are grounded completely in an ordinary and historical world with historically based events, but then turn the story upside down by throwing their characters backward in time into a vastly different time period and culture from their own where they must often cope with explosive events and try to get back home in one piece.

Such is my book, The Last Snake Runner where a contemporary teenage boy of the Snake Clan ends up in 1599 in the middle of a war—trying to stay alive while fighting next to his ancestors during a 3-day battle and meeting a girl that he can’t bear to leave—while at the same time knowing he can’t remain in 1599 but has to get back to the future somehow. The events of The Last Snake Runner are based on actual events in a very real place and time period, but the time travel as well as the visions my main character has could be called Magical Realism.

My novel, The Healing Spell (Scholastic, 2010) is grounded in the very real but often spooky world of the Louisiana bayous with its murky waters and hidden alligators. The story is about a family in crisis and where almost everyone is hiding a secret. A Cajun folk healer, or a traiteur, gives Livie, the main character, a nine-knotted healing string that will help wake her mamma from a life-threatening coma. The traiteur sends Livie on a journey to forgive and heal her relationship with her mother—even though Mamma is unaware in a coma in the living room. Guilt and secrets and sisters underpin this story about family and forgiveness—but the ending has a bit of magical realism built in. How else could a nine-knotted healing string strung with tokens and memories of Mamma be otherwise? (Can a tiny mustard seed of faith really move mountains? That is Magical Realism at its grandest!)

Other Magical Realism titles:
NINTH WARD by Jewell Parker Rhodes
TANGLE OF KNOTS by Lisa Graff
NIGHTINGALE’S NEST by Nikki Loftin
A SNICKER OF MAGIC by Natalie Lloyd
BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX by Laurel Snyder
BREADCRUMBS by Anne Ursu
PRACTICAL MAGIC by Alice Hoffman (Adult novel)
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Adult novel)

Please share one of your favorite Magical Realism books or authors with us in the comments. I’d love to get more titles for my own towering stack of Books To Be Read Soon!

Kimberley Griffiths Little’s next Middle-Grade novel, THE TIME OF THE FIREFLIES, will publish July, 2014 with Scholastic. (Her Young Adult debut, FORBIDDEN, launches November 2014 with Harpercollins). You can find her hanging out a lot on Facebook. Teacher’s Guides, Mother/Daughter Book Club Guides, and “filmed on location” book trailers at her website.

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Some thoughts on some B words…

By on March 19, 2014   /   Book Lists  

MissBossyLately, I’ve been hearing a lot about the word BOSSY, and that it is holding girls back.   There is even a hashtag: #banbossy.

Here’s their argument:

“When a little boy asserts himself, he’s called a “leader.” Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded “bossy.” Words like bossy send a message: don’t raise your hand or speak up. By middle school, girls are less interested in leading than boys—a trend that continues into adulthood. Together we can encourage girls to lead.”

First of all: Really??? If this is true, it’s terrible. Girls should never be discouraged from speaking up. From being leaders. 

But Bossy? Really? Are we that sensitive? These are middle grade readers we’re talking about. I have a hard time believing that this one word holds some kind of power over girls.

What do you think about the word, BOSSY? Why DOES the word, bossy, have such a negative connotation?

Some of my favorite middle grade characters are bossy. The Great Gilly Hopkins was sort of bossy. So were Lyra and Stargirl and every role Barbra Streisand ever played. These girls were unique. Quirky. Interesting. And yes, a bit flawed. As a writer, I love writing about girls who might very well be described as bossy. 

They are strong.

Which is sort of ironic, isn’t it?

But maybe that’s not the point. If ONE WORD gets adults to start paying attention to girls, this sounds good to me! I am for anything that promotes strong healthy girls. I am delighted that the world is starting to pay attention to the development of female leaders and thinkers.

Because frankly, it seems that in our world, especially the middle grade world, we spend a whole lot of time thinking about boys. As the author of a middle grade novel about soccer, I am often asked:

How do you write a book for a boy?

How do we get more boys reading?

(These are important questions. If you like, check out my interview with Rich Wallace…he has a lot to say about the subject.)

But here’s the problem: even though one of the main characters in that soccer book is a girl…and even though I am a girl….I have NEVER been asked how we get girls reading. Or how I reach girls. Or write books for girls. In fact, the discussion is so lopsided that one might conclude that we take girls…as readers and thinkers…for granted.

And THAT is not cool. (Way worse than bossy.)

For the record: Like a lot of authors I know, I needed help finding books. I was not a natural reader or writer.  (But I think I WAS bossy.) I am grateful to the brave teacher who handed me a book that was NOT necessarily marketed to girls.

As a parent, I think it’s dangerous to say, “This is for boys,” or “This is for girls,” because frankly, how do we know? My kids (a girl and a boy) have loved all kinds of books. Making books that weren’t “quite for them” available opened their eyes to new kinds of people and cultures. Those books made them think. And ask questions. As a writer, this is my dream!

When the opposite happens…when a grown up tries to steer a young reader away from a book, it is usually out of fear.

That would be a good thing to ban, too. Fear of books.

So what’s the bottom line? Ban bossy? Are you in?

As writers and teachers and mothers and fathers and librarians and everyone else who cares about the next generation, we should be thinking about all kids, bossy and quiet, loud and silly. Boys and Girls. Just like we need to encourage boys and find them good books, we need to do the same for girls.

Instead, let’s ban limitations. And stereotypes. And low expectations.

Let’s strive to nurture girls with the same attention and enthusiasm that we give boys. Let’s show all kids how to BE AMBITIOUS. Let’s show them how to get beyond labels and talk about strength in a meaningful way.

(And while we’re thinking about this, let’s not forget to thank our kids’ teachers and librarians for helping them find the books that are RIGHT for them.)

Do you like writing tips? If so, sign up for Monday Motivation on www.saraharonson.com. Every Monday, new thoughts on the writing process directly in your inbox.

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An interview with Author Karen Goldman

By on March 17, 2014   /   Author Interviews  

Jordan_cover_final1.7124704_stdKaren Goldman’s debut fantasy, Jordan and the Dreadful Golem, incorporates Jewish mythology and is a tale of friendship as well as the power of teamwork in the face of adversity. Karen lives in Jerusalem, Israel and spends part of her time in Northern California. The Mixed-Up Files caught up with her as she was hard at work on a sequel.

1) You drew your antagonist, the golem, from Jewish mythology yet the setting is contemporary. What aspects of golem from traditional mythology did you keep in your text?

Traditionally, the golem looked just like an ordinary man as my golem does. The golem created by the Maharal of Prague had a word written on his forehead. The Hebrew word TRUTH (emet). My golem has the word DREAD written on his forehead. When the Maharal of Prague wanted to destroy his golem, he erased the first letter of EMET, which left the word MET, which means DEATH in Hebrew. The children in my story erase the letter R from the word DREAD which leaves the word DEAD. Also the golem was supposed to be silent or not have the ability to speak. My golem is a man of very few words. Image

2) How did you go about making the golem contemporary and relevant to 21st century children?

I created my golem in the image of modern men. My golem wore the same clothes as all of the other men in Kfar Keshet. He was the security guard at the school, and he wore the security guard uniform. He wore a baseball cap always. It was to hide the word DREAD written on his forehead. He drove a Harley Davidson motorcycle. There is even one chapter where he has a coffee date with the nurse from the health center. All of these things made my golem feel very 21st. century

3) The story is a fantasy and yet set in present day Israel where you reside for most of the year. How much of the setting is real and how much is made up?

In Jordan and the Dreadful Golem, I tried to create a very plausible modern day Israeli environment. The children in my story are very much like the children living in villages all over Israel. They are encouraged to explore the outdoors and to know the country on a personal basis, hence, the unchaperoned camping trip. Brothers and sisters feel a big responsibility for each other. There is also a respect for the wisdom and advice of the elderly.

4) You have a fairly large cast of kids with special abilities. If could have a special ability what would it be and why.

I love all of the abilities of my kids: becoming water, night vision, cloud forming, spider webbing. I think the ability I would like is to travel at supersonic speeds so I could see people and places all over the world. Jordan, in my story, wants to be able to fly. I guess that would be my favorite.

5) You are now writing a sequel. When you conceived of Jordan and the Dreadful Golem, did you see always see a larger story?

Yes. My original plan was to have four sisters, four matriarchs in four different villages. In each village, the kids would have different types of skills. In one of the communities, the kids can speak to each other through their minds without using cell phones. Lavan, the evil man in my first book, is the brother of all of these sisters.

6) What has been the most unexpected pleasure in writing your novel?

My most unexpected pleasure was having the help of so many wonderful people who were willing to read my manuscript, listen to my ideas and add thoughts of their own. I was open to the suggestions of all of these people and I feel they made my book the success that it is.

Hillary Homzie is the author of The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009). She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page.

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