Author Interviews

Interview and Giveaway with Author Varian Johnson

By on March 23, 2018   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Diversity, Fiction, Giveaways  

Varian Johnson is the author of several novels for children and young adults, including The Great Greene Heist, which was an ALA Notable Children’s Book, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2014, and a Texas Library Association Lone Star List selection, and To Catch a Cheat, another Jackson Greene adventure and a Kids’ Indie Next List pick. He lives with his family near Austin, Texas. You can find him on the web at www.varianjohnson.com and @varianjohnson.

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Gall

Varian’s newest book, The Parker Inheritance (Arthur A. Levine/ Scholastic) will come out next week, and has received starred reviews from School Library Journal, The Horn Book, and Kirkus, and is a Junior Library Guild Spring 2018 Selection.   

About the book:

“When Candice finds a letter in an old attic in Lambert, South Carolina, she isn’t sure she should read it. It’s addressed to her grandmother, who left the town in shame. But the letter describes a young woman. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle.

So with the help of Brandon Jones, the quiet boy across the street, she begins to decipher the clues. The challenge will lead them deep into Lambert’s history, full of ugly deeds, forgotten heroes, and one great love; and deeper into their own families, with their own unspoken secrets. Can they find the fortune and fulfill the letter’s promise before the answers slip into the past yet again?”

How does your engineering background inform your writing?

The Parker Inheritance was probably influenced by my engineering career more than any of my other books. There are a lot of math terms in the book, much of which I learned while getting my civil engineering degree. But there’s also a very big difference between designing bridges and writing books. And as much as I liked my engineering job, I’m very happy now be a full-time children’s book author.

 

The Parker Inheritance pays homage to the classic puzzle novel, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. (The Cooperative Children’s’ Book Center at UW-Madison has many of her notes and drafts archived here.) Can you tell us about your process for constructing the Parker puzzle(s) and deciding how the clues would reveal the answer?

The novel that would eventually become The Parker Inheritance started off as two separate novel ideas, with one being a puzzle mystery and the other being a historical multi-generational novel. I tinkered with both on and off for years, but neither idea was strong enough to stand alone. It wasn’t until rereading Holes that I got the idea to combine the ideas. The puzzle was pretty well developed when I began writing the book—and it was surprising how well the puzzle fit into the larger historical story. Even though I was consciously writing two books, maybe my subconscious always knew that the stories belonged together.

Like your Jackson Greene books, The Parker Inheritance involves complex details for the characters to put together, but in a sort of reverse way. Instead of building the details into a caper like “Gang Greene,” Candice and Brandon are breaking down a mystery by revealing the details. Did that difference influence your approach to the writing?

Oh, totally. Candice and Brandon’s strategies mirror the real-life sleuthing I did to create and “solve” the puzzle. I ran each of the web searches that they performed in order to see what popped up—to make sure that the answer to a clue wasn’t revealed too quickly. In many ways, it was easy to write about the techniques that Candice and Brandon used for deciphering the letter, as I had performed that very same research to write the book.

What made you decide to use flashbacks and multiple points of view to tell part of the story instead of sticking with Candice’s POV?

I thought it was important to see the lives of the people from the puzzle through their own eyes—not just Candice and Brandon’s viewpoints. I also thought it would be interesting to show how race relations have improved from the 1950s to today…and unfortunately to also show how race relations have stayed the same.

If there was one single thing that you wanted readers to get from The Parker Inheritance what would it be?

If anything, I want readers to think about the preferences and preconceptions that they bring into any interaction. I want readers to question what they believe when they see someone; when they speak with someone. I want reader to step past their internal biases in order to see the real person standing in front of them.

What other books do you recommend to readers who enjoyed The Parker Inheritance?

The Westing Game, obviously! But also The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963, Holes, March Book 3, and When You Reach Me.

And now for the giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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A triple Book Birthday for Mixed Up Files Author Michelle Houts

By on March 16, 2018   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Curriculum Tie-in, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, STEM  

It’s always a treat to feature the book birthdays of Mixed Up Files members and especially today when we are celebrating a new series from our long time contributor Michelle Houts, the author of the novels The Beef Princess of Practical County, Practical County Drama Queen, and Winterfrost; the biography Kammie on First; and the picture book When Grandma Gatewood Took a Hike. Michelle has headed off into new territory again with a young middle grade series for 1-3rd grade readers. It’s called Lucy’s Lab and here are her first three covers. Nuts About Science and Solids, Liquids, Guess Who’s Got Gas, came out last fall and the newest title is The Colossal Fossil Fiasco. 

1) Were you a science loving kid? What inspired you to make science the focus of your series?

 

 

 

 

I wanted very much to be a science-minded girl in the 70s. In fact, I begged for a Chemistry Kit, and got one the likes of which would never be legally sold these days! It had all kinds of chemicals and glass beakers and tubes in it! The sad part is that I don’t remember doing a lot with it. It wasn’t that I lack interest. I lacked confidence. In recent years, I have seen how important it is to build girls’ confidence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. So, initially, as a writer of middle-grade novels, I set out to write a middle-grade science girls series. I thought of it as: The Babysitter’s Club meets Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Okay, interrupting this interview to say–how is that not a thing? Please write this series! I know, you’re busy. I’ll write it with you! Or ask our fellow science writer extraordinaire Jennifer Swanson. We could do this!

Michelle here, jumping back in to say, NO WORRIES! My hope is that Lucy will grow into that series for which she was originally intended. I mean, she can’t stay in second grade forever, right? So, ideally, someday that amazing middle-grade series will exist – with Lucy at the center! Back to you, Rosanne!

And also I can’t resist sharing a picture of my science girls and their project on on fermentation that involved home-brewed rootbeer using champagne yeast.
And now back to our scheduled interview.

2) You’ve written stand alone titles before and for older readers. What prompted you to switch to series writing for a younger audience?

My idea for that middle-grade series was quickly derailed by my other job. In my non-writing life, I was a Speech-Language Pathologist.  As a school-based SLP, I worked with second graders. I heard their stories, listened to their interests, and quickly realized that girls identify as science-minded (or not!) long before the middle grades. By seven years old, many girls I met had already decided that math and science were “hard” or “for boys” or “gross.” I knew then that my science series needed to target grades 1 – 3. 

 (Did I mention that the art for this series is done by the truly fabulous Elizabeth Zetchel!)
3) Do you have a favorite research story?
So far, my favorite topic in the series to research has been fossils. Lucy’s Lab Book #1 is about Habitats and Book #2 is about States of Matter, both of which I felt I had a decent knowledge of.  But Book #3 is about Fossils, and I found myself fascinated by all the research, digging deeper (no pun intended!) than I needed to simply because it was so interesting. When I discovered that one of the most famous nearly-intact fossils every found was named “Lucy,” I couldn’t believe the coincidence! 
You know I had wondered when I first saw the series if she would be a paleontologist because of the Lucy fossil. I’ve also heard that a surprising number of great fossils finds have been made by children.
4) Do you have a fact checker at your publishing house?
There isn’t anyone whose sole job it is to check facts, but my amazing editor, Alison Weiss, is a master at asking questions and she’ll look up anything that seems not quite right. I feel a lot of responsibility to make sure I have my facts straight before I turn in a manuscript. 
Shout out to the wonderful Sky Pony Press who publishes your books, and from this bookseller’s perspective, is doing a great job of promoting it to indie bookstores.
5)How far ahead do you plan the series and do you have science topics picked out for future books? Do you have a larger character arc for Lucy across several books or do you take them one book at a time?
As of this moment, there are three books in the Lucy’s Lab series, but more are proposed, and, yes, each has a science topic I’ve hand-picked for the first – third grade reader.  I do have thoughts about how Lucy, her sidekick and cousin Cora, and her classmates grow over the course an entire series.  Stay tuned for more news on this subject! 🙂
The cousin relationship was the other thing I loved about this book. Most kids have cousins they love and very few books have a cousin relationship.
Congratulations on your beautiful series from all of us at The Mixed Up Files. I hope we see lots more of Lucy and her lab in the future.
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Interview with Tami Charles, author of LIKE VANESSA

By on March 12, 2018   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Fiction, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers  

Like Vanessa, by Tami Charles

Welcome to the blog, Tami Charles! Charles’ debut middle grade novel, Like Vanessa, is out 3/13/18. This semi-autobiographical story is set in 1983, and 13-year-old Vanessa Martin’s life in Newark, NJ is not at all like the amazing, newly-crowned Miss America Vanessa Williams. The opportunity to be in the school beauty pageant pushes Vanessa to take risks, and she may learn to be as confident in her skin as her role model. “This debut is a treasure: a gift to every middle school girl who ever felt unpretty, unloved, and trapped by her circumstances. “—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

MIXED-UP FILES: So this is your debut middle grade novel. Congrats! What made you want to go back to this age and write a book for middle grade readers? What do you hope they will get out of reading Like Vanessa? 
TAMI CHARLES: It is my debut and thanks so much! For me, it was a no-brainer to write a story that fictionalized my early teen pageant years. My hope is that readers will follow Vanessa’s journey of self-love and become empowered to find their own talents and strengths.

MUF: Your press materials say that your book is semi-autobiographical. How is Vanessa Martin different from you at that age? 
TC: So much of this story is a reflection of my life and past experiences so this is a hard question for me. I think the biggest difference is that unlike Vanessa, I grew up with both my mother and father present in my life. Vanessa is raised by her grandfather and father, whom each have their own ways of showing their love for Vanessa.

Tami Charles

MUF: Can you talk a little bit about Vanessa Williams? What made her so important to you when she won Miss America, and what do think it means for a young girl to have a role model like Vanessa Williams for them? 

TC: Though I was very young at the time, I clearly remember when Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America in 1983. It was a big deal to see a woman of color finally win a pageant that historically shut us out since its inception. For a young girl at the time to witness such a moment, it’s a life altering experience! Every year many girls of color watched Miss America faithfully, hoping and praying to see someone like them win. Vanessa Williams’s win, was a win for ALL of us!

MUF: How did THE ACTUAL VANESSA WILLIAMS come to endorse your book? That is so exciting! 
TC: This was such a dream come true for me! Thanks to the help of my writer friends, I was able to contact Vanessa’s agent, Brian Edwards, and tell him about my novel. I had tickets to see her perform at a local theater and Brian arranged for me to meet her backstage. I had the opportunity to have my picture taken and give her a copy of the novel, to which she said, “I can’t wait to read it!” A few months later, I received her glowing endorsement via email. I cried for a good ten minutes!

MUF: What are some of your favorite middle grade books?
TC: The One Crazy Summer trilogy, by Rita Williams-Garcia, is a favorite! I’m so honored that she has read and provided a blurb for Like Vanessa as well. I also really enjoyed The Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. Right now, I’m reading The Way to Bea, by Kat Yeh, and I’m loving it!

MUF: If you were a tween today, who would be your celeb idol? 
TC: I’d have to go with Stephen Curry, mostly because my son is obsessed with him. We’re reading his biography together and I think Steph is a great role model for tweens.

MUF: If there’s anything else you’d like to add, please feel free! 
TC: Yes! I’d love to share my book trailer and an invitation to my book signing, being held Saturday, March 17th, from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble in Edison, NJ. My special guest will be Karyn Parsons, famous for her role as “Cousin Hilary” on the iconic TV show, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air!” If you’re local, come join us for conversation, treats, fun, and BOOKS!

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