Author Interviews

Author Interview: Goldy Moldavsky with Bubblegum Shoes

By on July 24, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

Goldy Moldavsky photoWe’re excited to have New York Times bestselling author Goldy Moldavsky on here today to talk about her new release: Bubblegum Shoes: The Case of the Contraband Closet. The title intrigues me so much, I can’t wait to find out more.

Hi, Goldy, thank you so much for joining us here today. We’d like to learn more about you, and then we’ll talk about your book.

Did you have any childhood dreams for when you became an adult? If so, did they come true?

As a child I wanted to become an archeologist. Partly inspired by my aunt, tia Becki, who was an archeologist and a professor, a little bit like Indiana Jones. But also because I dreamed of digging up something very valuable one day. I did not become an archeologist, but I have found cool things buried in sand!

Did you love to read as a child? If so, can you tell us some favorite books?

I was what you might call a reluctant reader. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that English was my second language when I came to America as a child. The first books that I ever read were Spanish picture books. But there were some books that my teachers introduced to me through reading assignments that have stuck with me. I adored Caddie Woodlawn, and I fell head over heels for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Well, you’ve come to the right place for an interview. This whole blog is built around the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It’s great to meet another fan.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would tell myself to keep a diary. I tried to a few times, but alas, I thought my day-to-day life was so boring. Looking back, I know it wasn’t at all, and I wish I could pore over my words and feelings about that time in my life.

Is your past woven into the story? If so, how?

My childhood experience is very different from the one portrayed in Bubblegum Shoes. I was a shy (though relatively well-liked!) kid who was deeply afraid of trouble and confrontation. and I never stuck my nose where it didn’t belong. Maya Mendoza, the main character in Bubblegum Shoes is the polar opposite. She chases trouble, thrives on confrontation, and is kind of a social pariah. But it was fun imagining a child who was so unlike me, standing up to authority and telling it like it is!

Would you be willing to share an embarrassing grade school moment?

So many embarrassing moments. The one that sticks out to me is when a middle school teacher invited everyone in the class over to her house for Sunday brunch. I walked over, was a few houses away, and my teacher saw me from her stoop. She waved at me, and I responded by turning around a running away. I don’t know why I had a fight or flight response, but there you go. Social situations totally frightened me.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I guess I realized I wanted to be a writer when I started writing fan fiction for my favorite shows as a teen. Fan fiction to me was just an upgrade on playing with dolls. The characters are already there, and all you had to do was bring more life into them. After that, I had so many ideas swirling around in my head that I had to get them down on paper.

What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a writer?

My favorite part of being a writer is the shiny new idea. There’s nothing like getting an idea so good that you’re willing to devote the next year of your life to making it into a reality. The most challenging part is closely related to that—getting the idea out of my head. Sometimes I’ll stall and actively avoid writing because I’m convinced that the idea is too pure, and the moment I try to put it on paper it won’t hold up. It will be messy, boring, hard. And at first it always is. But that’s also part of the process. I have to remember that a first draft is always going to be bad, but it’s an essential step.

Have you had any careers besides writing?

I wouldn’t call it a career, but before I was a writer, I was a nanny! I wrote part of my first book while waiting for those kids outside their dance/soccer/rock-climbing classes.

Can you tell us a little about the novel?Book cover: Bubblegum Shoes

In Bubblegum Shoes: The Case of the Contraband Closet, self-appointed investigator Maya Mendoza must solve the biggest mystery that ever hit her middle school—who stole all the precious items out of the school’s contraband closet—or risk getting expelled. Maya and three other misfit girls are the only suspects, so they band together to clear their names, and in doing so become the Bubblegum Shoes, a group of investigators-for-hire.

Are any characters based on anyone you know?

Nope!

Did you have to leave anything out of this book that you wished you could have included? If so, what?

Not specific scenes, but there is so much backstory I have in my head for the core four girls in the book. I dream of including some of their backstories in future books (this is a series, so hopefully I’ll get to!) but I love thinking of what the characters are like at home with their families. Here’s something that isn’t in the book: Jordan is named after Michael Jordan, and her four older brothers are also named after four great athletes, Ronaldo (Christiano), Brady (Tom), Williams (Serena), and James (Lebron).

I love this secret peek into your character names and the way you’ve honored great athletes. What fun!

Do you have any message or advice for the teachers and parents who will be sharing your book with their students and families?

My message for teachers and parents and librarians is first and foremost THANK YOU for putting books into kids’ hands. And then I’d tell them that this book is perfect for kids who want something lighthearted and funny, and also for kids who feel like they’re on the outside looking in. They might feel like they’re not the most popular, or they’re not that good at making friends, and in that way, Maya is a very relatable character. The great thing about her is that even though she’s a little rough around the edges socially, she’s still so confident and cool and someone who is self-assured and likes herself. I hope other kids can find themselves in her.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

The book is a who-dun-it caper, but at its core it’s really about friendship. It’s about a group of girls who are bobbing along in school by themselves until they find each other. And in forming their private eye group they also find a purpose. I hope readers can relate to the power of friendship and what it means to put your friends first.

Can you tell us about some of your other books?

Bubblegum Shoes is my middle grade debut! But I’ve written six other books before it, all for young adults. They range from dark comedy (Kill the Boy Band) to horror/thriller (The Mary Shelley Club) to satire (Lord of the Fly Fest) to romance (Just Say Yes; Of Earthly Delights.)

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on something I’ve put off for about ten years because the scope of it is so large. It’s a middle grade period piece based on a real-life institution in my hometown of Brooklyn. I’m still in the drafting stage and trying to wrestle the idea into something readable, so wish me luck!

We definitely wish you luck with getting that idea into book shape. Drafting and rewriting can be so challenging, and even more so when the project has been simmering for so long. It also sounds as if it will take a lot of research, but if it’s been in your heart this long, it must be very special. I hope you’ll let us know when it’s finished.

Thanks ever so much for agreeing to this interview, Goldy. I know our young readers, as well as teachers and librarians will enjoy learning more about you and Bubblegum Shoes: The Case of the Contraband Closet.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Maya is a trouble-maker, but she never stops paying attention. She knows who’s passing notes. She can spot which teacher wore shoes a half-size too tight. And she certainly notices when her former best friend Jordan suddenly stops talking to her. But that’s because of The Incident.

Then, the legendary Contraband Closet is robbed. Every Hotwheels car, spray paint canister, bouncy ball, and other prized possession teachers have collected since the dawn of time are seemingly lost forever—including an item of Jordan’s. When Maya, along with the rest of the girls in detention, are accused of stealing the treasure, they band together and make a deal with their principal to find the missing items and the true culprit. If they do, they’ll be off the hook for their crimes. If they don’t, Maya will be suspended from Marlow Middle School. With the stakes so high, Maya is on a mission to solve her biggest case yet.

9:48 AM. Math class. Marlowe Middle School.

Life isn’t easy on the streets, er, hallways of Marlowe Middle School. Luckily, private eye Maya Mendoza never stops paying attention. She knows who is passing notes in class. Spots which teacher wore shoes a half-size too tight. And she certainly notices when her former best friend Jordan suddenly stops talking to her.

Then, the legendary Contraband Closet is robbed. Every Hotwheels car, spray paint canister, bouncy ball, and other prized possession teachers have collected since the dawn of time are seemingly lost forever–including an item of Jordan’s. Suddenly, Maya sees a case that may set things back to the way it used to be because contraband–and friendships–don’t vanish into thin air…right?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Goldy Moldavsky was born in Lima, Peru, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives with her family. Her novels include the New York Times bestseller Kill the Boy Band, No Good Deed, The Mary Shelley Club, Lord of the Fly Fest, and Just Say Yes. Bubblegum Shoes: The Case of the Contraband Closet is her debut middle-grade title and was inspired by black-and-white noir movies.

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Interview with Jeanne Birdsall, award-winning author of The Library of Unruly Treasures!

By on July 21, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

Jeanne Birdsall’s THE PENDERWICKS is as highly acclaimed and beloved as a middle-grade series can be, earning the National Book Award and becoming New York Times bestsellers. With her newest novel, THE LIBRARY OF UNRULY TREASURES, she creates a new world: one of tiny, winged creatures called Lahdukan and the adventures a girl named Gwen has with them in a library outside Boston. It’s a wild, fun, and heartwarming ride that is sure to delight Penderwicks fans and new readers alike.

Read below to discover the inspiration for this new book, thoughts on Lahdukan pronunciation and (incredible!) art, and the real Pumpkin the dog(s) in Jeanne’s life!

Book cover of THE LIBRARY OF UNRULY TREASURES by Jeanne Birdsall

The opening of THE LIBRARY OF UNRULY TREASURES grabs readers with a series of diary entries that tease some of the magic to come. When did you decide to open the book like that, and what are you hoping readers will glean from it?

I knew I’d have to open the book in 1860s Edinburgh, if only to justify the research trip I took to Scotland. That’s only kind of a joke. Truly, once I’d wandered the neighborhood where my diarist lived, she became too real to be shoved aside as mere backstory.

I thought it would be fun for the readers to know more than Gwen does at the beginning of the story, to have them impatient for her to meet the Lahdukan. When she finally does, the reader already knows the Lahdukan are real and thus can enjoy watching Gwen become convinced. From that point on, the reader knows only what Gwen knows. They can be puzzled together, and I hope they are. I like a bit of a mystery.

Gwen is a character readers immediately pull for—what was the process like of creating her? Was she fully formed from the start, or was it a longer process, and how did Matt Phelan’s interpretation of her (and the other characters!) come to be?

I knew Gwen right away. It took me a while, though, to work out what made her who she was—both despite of and because of her rotten parents and lonely childhood. And even longer to figure out how to explain her past without a lot of exposition. I wanted the reader to understand how difficult it had been for Gwen, but without piling on too many gruesome details.

Matt illustrated a picture book of mine, Flora’s Very Windy Day, so I knew that our instincts and visual aesthetics were in sync. He got Gwen right away. (And gave her freckles. I pretend this was in honor of my freckles, but it may have been a coincidence.) We had to go back and forth for a while with Pumpkin, but that was my fault. My original text made her sound like a mythic monster, a tiny griffin with impossibly mismatched parts. Matt’s Lahdukan are masterpieces. Their combination of goofiness and dignity is right there in every painting. And the Lahdukan in flight! There’s one spread of them aloft inside the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum that makes me catch my breath every time I see it.

The detailed worldbuilding of the Lahdukan is such a joy to uncover in the book. You mention Mary Norton’s delightful The Borrowers as an inspiration for these tiny, wondrous creatures, but did you have any other influences on this world?

The Borrowers are an obvious reference point. Not only were the books written during my childhood—we were allreading them—but Beth and Jo Krush, the illustrators, lived in my neighborhood, a mile down the road. But the Lahdukan were woven from dozens of myths and stories, enriched by my fascination with Scotland, particularly the Highlands. Some of this came because of my Scottish blood, but lately I’ve been re-reading T. H. White’s The Once and Future King. He goes deeply into the Scottish Gaels (Gawaine and his peculiar brothers) and their resentment of the English. This must have lodged in my brain years ago, to come out now.

Plus, I’ve always wanted to be able to fly, haven’t you? The closest I could get was bestowing eagle wings on my Lahdukan.

Pumpkin the dog is a force throughout the book, and you mention in the introduction that you can’t write without a canine companion. Was Pumpkin always such an integral character, or did her role change through the drafting process?

Pumpkin was always going to be important to the story, but not being satisfied with mere importance, she upped her own role until she was vital. Just like my real dogs.

[Editor’s note: to see pictures of Jeanne’s own dogs, visit her website!]

I appreciated the pronunciation guide at the end of the book and had so much fun with the Lahdukan names and background. Is that something you had thought through while writing and sounding out these splendid details?

No, but I should have! Because I don’t like reading my own writing out loud and I don’t listen to audiobooks, I didn’t think about it along the way, just merrily dreaming up names and words. It was only toward the end, when my own husband still couldn’t remember how to say Abarisruk or Zarakir, that I realized I’d need a pronunciation guide.

Although I don’t listen to audiobooks, I hope people will listen to this one. By an incredible stroke of luck—or maybe magic—we found the perfect narrator. Sorcha Groundsell grew up on the Isle of Lewis, one of the Outer Hebrides, west of Scotland and close to the Isle of Rùm, where the Lahdukan lived a thousand and more years ago. (See? Magic!) Her voice is gorgeous—light, quick, musical—exactly what the story calls for. Just wait until you hear her as the Lahdukan.

Do you have any other adventures in mind for Gwen, Pumpkin, and the Lahdukan, or are you returning to other book worlds (or elsewhere!) next?

I have dozens of other adventures in mind, going forward and backward in time. But speaking of time, alas, I don’t have enough of it. The Penderwicks took twenty years of my life, and almost certainly I don’t have twenty more to spend on another series. Where I’m headed next is still a bit fuzzy, but there will be pie and a dog, and I’ll have to learn some Italian.

Author photo of Jeanne Birdsall

Jeanne Birdsall is the National Book Award–winning author of the children’s book The Penderwicks and its sequel, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, both of which were also New York Times bestsellers. She grew up in the suburbs west of Philadelphia, where she attended wonderful public schools. Although Birdsall first decided to become a writer when she was 10 years old, it took her until she was 41 to get started. In the years in between, Birdsall had many strange jobs to support herself while working hard as a photographer. Birdsall’s photographs are included in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Art Museum. She lives with her husband in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their house is old and comfortable, full of unruly animals, and surrounded by gardens.

THE LIBRARY OF UNRULY TREASURES is available for pre-order until August 5th, 2025 and then wherever books are sold. Visit Penguin Random House for more information and to order!

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Author Spotlight: Barbara Carroll Roberts + a GIVEAWAY

By on July 17, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

In today’s Author Spotlight, Landra Jennings chats with author Barbara Carroll Roberts about her new middle-grade novel, The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter (Holiday House, July 22). She’ll share her inspiration behind writing it, the passion for gardening and wildlife that informed it, and the lovely inspiration for the dog character. Plus, there’s a chance to win an ARC of The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter if you enter the giveaway!

 

Book Summary:

Bunny Baxter thinks nothing could be worse than starting seventh grade at a school where she knows no one. But after her first day, she realizes things can actually get much worse.

If Bunny Baxter were an insect, she’d have so many ways to slip through seventh grade unnoticed. But she’s tall instead of tiny, has flaming red Medusa hair instead of camouflage, and she suffers from social anxiety, which makes it hard to be part of a swarm. Worst of all, she’s been redistricted to a new middle school away from her best friend who she could always hide behind when her anxiety got the best of her.

The first day at E.D. Britt Middle School does not go well. Bunny trips on the steps, falls into the cutest boy in the school, and causes a kid domino pile-up. At lunch, she unintentionally causes an uproar in the cafeteria, which lands her and another girl in the principal’s office. Bunny decides there is only one option: to get expelled so she can transfer to the school her best friend attends.

She soon discovers that it isn’t that hard to get in trouble — don’t turn in your homework, walk around the track instead of run in P.E., pretend you deliberately hit someone with a badminton birdie. What isn’t so easy for Bunny is realizing she now has a reputation as a troublemaker. And even more confusing, when it looks like her plan to get expelled might work, she’s no longer sure what to do.

The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter is a heartfelt coming of age story about an insect-loving girl who is learning to grow into herself — quirks and all.

Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Booklist Starred Review.

Interview with Barbara Carroll Roberts

LJ: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Barbara! Thanks for joining us today.

BR: Thank you so much for having me.

LJ:  First, I have to tell you how much I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. Bunny’s journey is so beautifully layered and nuanced. “Metamorphosis” is the perfect descriptor. Can you please tell us about your inspiration to write it?

BR: Thanks so much! I actually began this book with what it wouldn’t be about. While I was working on my MFA at Hamline University, one of the other students wrote her critical thesis about how few children’s books she’d found in which the main character had been adopted into their family. And of the books she did find, almost all of them focused on the character searching for a birth parent, or on another issue directly linked to the child’s adoption. The woman who wrote this essay had been adopted into her family, and she also adopted her own children. She felt that children who’d been adopted needed more books about kids like them, but more than that, they needed books in which the main character just happened to have been adopted, but that’s not what their story was about. Since my husband and I had adopted one of our children, I decided to write a book like that.

This isn’t a craft technique I’d recommend, though – starting a novel with what it won’t be about. I struggled through several really awful attempts to come up with a story before the main character and the vaguest idea of a plot began to take shape.

Gardens and Pollinators

LJ: You’re a gardener. How did your passion for gardening and pollinators influence the story? Did you have to do any additional research on that?

BR: This story actually came to me through research, though I initially didn’t realize I was doing research – I was just reading the magazines and websites of the gardening and wildlife organizations I belong to and seeing more and more articles about the need to protect insects, especially pollinators. Then I read two books by Douglas Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope, which also discuss the importance of insects in the natural world, as well as the difference individuals can make by planting native plants in their yards.

So, then I tore out a big planting bed in my yard that was filled with boring nonnative shrubs and replanted it with native flowering plants. And somewhere in all of that the story of a very shy girl who’s fascinated by insects began to take shape. I had to do a lot of research on insects and social anxiety, which Bunny experiences. There was much more research done than what ended up in the story!

Favorite Scene

LJ: The writing was so beautiful. My favorite scene to read was the lovely “hammock” scene. What was your favorite scene to write?

BR: Wow, this is a difficult question. It was really important to me to dig into the deep emotions of the characters in that scene. This was also true of the scene in which Bunny asks her sister, Bella, if she thinks it feels different to have been born into their family instead of having been adopted into the family, as Bunny was. But these scenes were also very difficult to write, because I had to dig deep into my own emotions, too. I’m sure I revised these scenes more than any others, trying to get them “right.” Scenes with broader humor, like the pandemonium in the cafeteria caused by Bunny’s emotional-support cicada, were definitely more enjoyable to work on.

Favorite Character

LJ: Your side characters were so well drawn out. Ralph was a personal favorite. Do you have a favorite secondary character?

Riley

BR: It’s funny you mention Ralph. My dog Riley was a real life inspiration!

In general this question is sort of like asking “Who’s your favorite child?” I grew very attached to all of the characters in this book, but the two I had the most fun with are Bunny’s dad – because he’s so talented and creative at garden design, but so absent-minded about all kinds of mundane things – and Sylvia Lester-Hewitt-Abruzzo-Fung – because she has no filter and says whatever comes into her head. Plus, I had a lot of fun thinking about all the goofy things she wears in her hair.

 

Cover Art

LJ: The cover by Erin McGuire is absolutely gorgeous. What was your reaction on seeing Bunny and her faithful counselor Ralph depicted for the first time?

BR: When my editor at Holiday House, Margaret Ferguson, told me they were considering Erin McGuire for the cover illustration, I went to Erin’s website to see her work. And I was thrilled to discover that she’d illustrated book covers that I’ve always loved, including the cover of The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu, and the cover of your book, Wand. I’m absolutely delighted with the cover Erin created for my book. She perfectly captured Bunny’s fascination with insects and the natural world, as well as the love and friendship she shares with Ralph.

To the Heart of Bunny

LJ: I was really touched by Kyle’s articulation of what seemed to be a major theme for the story—”You get to be who you are.” Can you tell us a little bit about that?

BR: I wish I could tell you that I had that scene all planned out from the beginning, but pretty much the opposite is true. Instead, it was one of those magical moments when your characters just start talking to you. I was probably on my fifth or sixth full revision of the manuscript when Kyle suddenly “said” those words to Bunny, and I realized I’d finally found the heart of the book.

LJ: What else do you hope readers take away from this story?

BR: You know, every reader sees a book through the lens of their own life experiences. So, I suspect readers will find a variety of take-aways. My main hope is that readers enjoy the book. And if they happen to be inspired to plant a pollinator garden at their own school or home – even just a small pot of native plants on their apartment balcony or windowsill – that would be lovely.

On Writing

LJ: What do you like best about being a writer?

BR: Oh boy, another difficult question. I very rarely find writing to be fun. More often it’s hard work. Trying to get a sentence to flow smoothly. Figuring out the logical steps of a conversation or a sequence of action. Developing an idea without smacking the reader over the head; finding the most evocative sensory details to bring a scene to life. I started writing Bunny in 2019 after my first book came out. It took some time to develop. But I’ve always enjoyed being alone with my thoughts – what my mother called daydreaming and my children call spacing-out-staring-at-nothing. I think it was E. L. Doctorow who said writers have to “re-dream the scene.” And I think this is what I like best about writing – the dreaming-it-up part.

Lightning Round

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so. . . .

Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

Sunrise or sunset?

I do love seeing the sunrise. But since I’m a bit of a night owl and not at all a morning person, I don’t see too many sunrises. I’ve always loved the hour or so around sunset, when things start to go quiet and still. I also love the word that describes that hour – the gloaming.

Favorite city (besides the one you live in):

I’m not really a city person – I like being outside in nature too much. But I visited Paris for the first time last year, and it was fabulous.

Favorite childhood television show:

The Wonderful World of Disney. During the summer, Sunday evenings always presented a difficult choice: stay outside playing after dinner or come inside to watch Disney. No streaming shows in those days.

Favorite ice cream:

Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?

I’d love to be able to talk with animals.

Favorite book from childhood:

I always loved animal books – Charlotte’s Web, Misty of Chincoteague, Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka. I particularly loved Rascal, by Sterling North.

LJ: How can readers obtain a copy of the book?

BR: The book can be preordered at your local independent bookstores, Bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon, or any place books are sold. Personalized copies can be shipped from Politics and Prose.

How to win!

For a chance to win an ARC of The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter, comment below! (Giveaway ends July 31, 2025, MIDNIGHT EST.) U.S. only, please. ARC will be mailed.

About the Author 

Barbara Carroll Roberts is a children’s author whose debut middle-grade novel, Nikki on the Line, was a finalist for two state children’s book awards and made numerous best-of-the-year lists. Her nonfiction picture book, A Rose Named Peace, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and received a starred review from School Library Journal.

Barbara has had many careers: farm worker, video producer, freelance writer, mom. All of which she draws on in her work writing for children. She grew up in northern California and holds a BA in English from Occidental College in Los Angeles and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has two grown children and now lives in Virginia with her husband, two cats, and one very goofy springer spaniel.

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