Author Interviews

Interview with Shaun David Hutchinson, author of The School for Invisible Boys

By on January 26, 2024   /   Articles, Author Interviews, New Releases  

Today we’re welcoming author Shaun David Hutchinson to Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors. Shaun’s latest book, The School For Invisible Boys, is out in February 2024 from Labyrinth Road (a Penguin Random House imprint).

Shaun is the author of YA novels including Howl, A Complicated Love Story Set in Space, and Before We Disappear, as well as a memoir, Brave Face. Shaun stopped by to talk about the most helpful writing advice he’s ever received, the difference between writing YA and MG, and why it’s so important to support local bookstores, libraries, teachers, and librarians.

The School For Invisible Boys book cover

Mixed-Up Files: Tell us about The School For Invisible Boys and the inspiration behind the idea. What sparked this story?

Shaun David Hutchinson: The School For Invisible Boys is an idea that’s been banging around my brain for well over a decade. I wanted to write a story that explored different concepts of masculinity. As a society, we often trap boys within a narrow definition of what constitutes appropriate masculinity, but there are a lot of boys who don’t fit into those boxes. And when they don’t fit in, they’re shamed and often bullied for it, much like Hector is.

The School For Invisible Boys is a bit autobiographical. I didn’t go to an all-boy’s school, but my mom did get remarried and I did wind up at the same Catholic school in fifth grade where my stepdad sent his sons. As a quiet boy who preferred reading to sports, I struggled to fit in at school and with my new family, all of which informed the story. The major difference between me and Hector is that I only felt invisible.

I was also inspired by the books I grew up loving. Weird books like A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle, fantasy like The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, and adventure books like The Dark Secret of Weatherend by John Bellairs. I think the fingerprints of the books I grew up loving are all over The School For Invisible Boys.

MUF: You have written quite a bit in the YA space. Can you talk about your experience writing this middle grade book and what is different in your approach to this age group vs. a slightly older reader? Was there ever a time you considered making The School for Invisible Boys YA or was it always intended as a MG?

SDH: In my head, The School For Invisible Boys has always been a middle grade book, which is probably why it took me so long to write! Writing for a middle grade audience proved to be a significant challenge for me. In a lot of ways, it felt like having to learn to write all over again. I was very lucky to be able to work with my long-time editor in the YA space, Liesa Abrams, at her new imprint Labyrinth Road. Liesa has oodles of experience with MG as well as YA, and so she was able to guide me through some of the more difficult challenges. I honestly don’t think I would have been able to do it without her.

More specifically, I think writing for a middle grade audience necessitated a gentler approach than I’m used to. For example, in the book, Hector is called a certain slur when he asks his best friend to be his boyfriend. I made the choice not to use the word because, even though I could have made the case that it was appropriate to use in the situation, I remember what it was like to be that age, and I think a child seeing that word written out in print might cause them to internalize it in a way that would negate the message the story conveys. I try not to shy away from exploring some of the harsher truths of life in my books, and I didn’t definitely didn’t shy away here, but I definitely approached those topics a little more gently.

I also focused a on the external conflicts in Hector’s life rather than dwelling on his internal conflicts to keep the pace brisk. There was a bit less navel gazing than you might find in my YA, a bit more focus on how the characters fit in with the rest of the world.

Author, Shaun David Hutchinson

MUF: What sort of writing routine do you have?

SDH: I generally wake up around 5am and write for a couple of hours before I sign-on to work my day job. I’ll write during lunch if I’m in the zone. I might write a bit more during the weekends. I do my best writing in those early hours before the demands of the day have crept into my brain. I try to write every day, though I don’t think it’s necessary for everyone. I have ADHD, so routines and schedules are very important to me. Other than that, my process is kind of chaotic. I don’t outline. Thankfully, I’m a fast drafter, so I can make a few mistakes and backtrack without losing a significant amount of time. I’ve learned a lot about craft over the years, but at the end of the day, I usually just follow my gut, even when it leads me places I didn’t expect to go.

MUF: Have you read any new middle grade lately you’d recommend?

SDH: I haven’t been able to read a lot of recent MG—I spent most of 2022 writing and revising The School For Invisible Boys and most of 2023 writing and revising the sequel, and I try not to read anything that might influence me while I’m drafting—but recent books I’ve read and loved have been We Belong by Cookie Hiponia, Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow, What Stays Buried by Suzanne Young, and The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett.

MUF: Has anyone ever given you writing advice that was helpful?

SDH: My very first editor, Anica Rissi, told me to trust my readers. At the time, I only applied it to the book I was working on, but as I continued writing and growing as a writer, her advice became this little voice in the back of my head whenever I began to doubt that readers would understand or care about what I was trying to say. Trust your readers, her voice would whisper when I wondered if I was writing the right book or if writing was even worth it.

There are a lot of “rules” when it comes to craft, and I think some of them are useful, some are not, and most can be broken, but learning to trust my readers has been the one piece of advice that has always serve me well. The books I write may not reach everyone, but that’s okay. As long as they reach the readers who need them.

MUF: There is concerning uptick in book bans across the U.S. Is there anything you think readers, writers, and people interested in books can do to support more – not less – books in the hands of kids?

SDH: Personally, I think the most important thing people can do is pay attention to what’s happening locally. Support your local teachers and librarians. Show up for school board meetings. These bans are being carried out by a small group of very vocal people. The vast majority of people in our country don’t support book bans, but the book banners are well organized, and so their voices seem much louder than they actually are. We have to show up locally in order to counter them.

I think the other thing we can do is simply continue supporting authors and books you love. Put them into the hands of kids who need them. We didn’t always have money for toys or video games or vacations when I was growing up, but my mom always made sure I had access to all the books I could ever need or want. Support local bookstores, support libraries, support teachers and librarians. Always.

MUF: What’s next for you? Are you working on a new project? (Or do you work on a few ideas at once?)

SDH: Well, I just turned in a companion book to The School For Invisible Boys that’s called A Home For Unusual Monsters and follows the character Sam from the first book as she spends the summer searching for a list that might contain the locations of monsters living in secret among us. I’m also working slowly on another young adult book that I refer to as my “gentle apocalypse” story, and I’ve started tinkering with the idea for a third MG book that continues Hector’s and Sam’s adventures.

Want to learn more about Shaun? His website is shaundavidhutchinson.com or find him on Twitter and Instagram.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL FOR INVISIBLE BOYS
What would you do if no one could see you? In this surreal adventure, a boy who is used to being overlooked literally becomes invisible, only to realize there may be far more dangerous threats in his school than bullies.

Order your copy at Bookshop or from your local bookstore, or borrow a copy from your library.

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Author Spotlight: Sheila Turnage

By on December 15, 2023   /   Articles, Author Interviews  
head shotIn today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with author Sheila Turnage about her new children’s historical fiction book, Island of Spies. She’ll share the real historical events that inspired it, the setting that influenced it, and even give us a hint about her next writing project.

 

Book Summary:

book coverTwelve-year-old Stick Lawson lives on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, where life moves steady as the tides, and mysteries abound as long as you look really hard for them. Stick and her friends Rain and Neb are good at looking hard. They call themselves the Dime Novel Kids. And the only thing Stick wants more than a paying case for them to solve is the respect that comes with it. But on Hatteras, the tides are changing. World War II looms, curious newcomers have appeared on the small island, and in the waters off its shores, a wartime menace lurks that will upend Stick’s life and those of everyone she loves. The Dimes are about to face more mysteries than they ever could have wished for, and risk more than they ever could have imagined.

Interview with Sheila Turnage

JH: Island of Spies takes a little-known historical detail about World War II and turns it into an intriguing and un-putdownable mystery featuring the Dime Novel Kids. Can you tell us about the inspiration for the story?  

ST: Right!  Island of Spies is historical fiction for kids, set on Hatteras Island, NC, in 1942 – in the first months of World War II.  At its heart lies a secret bit of US history – the many attacks of Nazi U-Boats, or submarines, on supply ships and passenger ships moving up and down the East Coast.

Those U-Boats not only sank ships, they also put Nazi spies ashore.  The U-Boats’ favorite hunting area?  The tricky waters off the coast of Hatteras Island.  The Graveyard of the Atlantic.

In Island of Spies, three island kids who dream of being famous detectives realize someone on Hatteras Island is a spy, and they do what any brave, smart kids would do: They set out to identify and help capture the spy, to protect their home and the people they love.

I first caught a glimpse of this little-known history when I was about nine years old.  As I walked along the Hatteras Island shore with my father, I spotted a large, black blob on the white sand beach.  What was it?

 “That’s oil,” Daddy said. “In World War II, German U-Boats sat right out there, torpedoing our ships. The ships still sit on the bottom of the sea, releasing oil for the ocean to churn ashore. That’s our secret history. So are the spies.”

 I was hooked.

 A bit later, my family climbed the Hatteras Lighthouse.  At the top I stepped into what becomes, in Island of Spies, the office of our heroes –Stick, Neb, and Rain—the Dime Novel Kids. I saw what narrator Stick Lawson sees when she looks out the window, scanning for U-Boats and spies…

Bit by bit, through research and interviews, the story fell in place over the years.

And now here it is, in Island of Spies.

JH: I love how you took inspiration from these historical events and created an immersive mystery. What appeals to you about writing mysteries? 

ST: I love mysteries in general because I like solving them along with the characters.

As a writer, I find a good mystery makes you think beyond character interaction to the rise and fall of the mystery’s storyline.  So the emotional storyline rises and falls with the mystery’s plotline.  And to me that’s fun – and also a challenge, as a writer.

On a personal and possibly devious note, I also enjoy hiding clues from my readers.

JH: Speaking of characters, each of your characters comes alive and seems to jump off the page and into readers’ hearts.  Can you tell us about your process for creating such original and memorable characters, each with unique talents and perspectives?   

ST: Wow, thanks for saying that.  I’m glad you like them.  I like them and I think readers do too – one reason the book pops up on SIBA’s bestsellers list from time to time, and possibly one reason it also won the Grateful American Book Prize Honor for historical fiction for middle-grade readers.

When I write, I first listen for my characters’ voices in my imagination, and try to capture their rhythm and their voice.  I listen, I write.  I call it creative eavesdropping.

It usually takes lots of drafts to get it right.  At first, I write without worrying too much about balance.  I just try to capture the voices.  In a later draft I look at the characters more objectively, to make sure they aren’t too similar, and to make sure I know what each character fears most, and what each character wants most in this world.

Once I know those things, I start fine-tuning the characters.  I make sure each character changes in the course of the book.  It seems to work out.  And of course, I make the details within the story fit the place and times.

JH: Congratulations on your Grateful American Book Prize Honor!  So well-deserved!  Sticking with the theme of characters for a bit more, Neb, Rain and Stick are perfect and evocative names.  Can you tell us about the inspiration for each character’s name?

ST: Sure!  I love character names.  And since they get repeated so much in a book, I like for mine to carry a double meaning, a reminder of who the characters are as the story moves along.

Neb is short for Nebuchadnezzar.  His Biblical name reflects his mother’s character, and the idea that he’s trapped a bit by his family’s traditions and history – especially by the fact that his father used to be the keeper of the Hatteras Lighthouse.  Religion was huge on the Islands, and it is in Neb’s mother’s life.  And I like the name shortened to Neb because that’s a stubborn sound, and a determined one.

Neb is both stubborn and determined.  He’s also very funny.

Stick’s name is an unusual name, one that “sticks” with you.  I think her name reflects her originality, and courage.  She’s a stand-up kid, plainspoken and true.  She’s determined to be a scientist at a time when girls rarely had that opportunity, for instance, and she will not be denied.  And at the same time Stick is a shortened version of a family name, Stickley.  So, both old and new.

Rain’s name I love because in the story, the word bridges Rain’s mother’s world and Stick’s mother’s world.  It also connects water, air and land.  The name Rain feels soft, innocent, and nourishing.  Like Rain herself.

Together, those three characters are the Dime Novel Kids, and the heart of this book.

JH: You created complex characters, not only in the Dime Novel Kids but also with the authorities and potential spies with whom they interacted. Can you tell us a bit about your process for creating the adult characters?

ST: My process is the same regardless of the character’s age.  First, I listen for the character’s voice in my imagination and make quick notes.  As I get to know them, I uncover their secret fears and hopes.  Knowing those things lets me focus the characters, which makes them consistent, and that helps them come to life.

In this case, I also used history sources and island ethnographies compiled by the National Park Service to help define the details of the characters’ lives, so they were true to that very specific time in our history.

 JH: Who was your favorite character to write and why? 

 ST: Rain was the most complex because of the language barrier and her relationship with her mom, who suffered so during her shipwreck.  I love writing all of my characters, but Rain was a particular delight because she was such a mystery in the beginning.

Stick was the most fun because she is so funny and smart, and so vulnerable in her own way.

JH: Your story is set on Hatteras Island, a North Carolina barrier island, and features a little-known aspect of WWII history. Can you tell us about your research process? 

ST: The story evolved over the years, through beach trips, through an interview with a man who grew up in the lighthouse compound like Neb does, through old-timers’ stories of blackout curtains and sinking ships, through tons of research, museum trips, and more beach trips.

Once I decided to write the story, I did lots of deliberate research on the era – reading books, studying internet sites, studying CIA reports, spy information, etc.  All of the spy gizmos and codes in this book are based on things spies really used, information that was fun to work with.

And because I live in Eastern North Carolina, I’ve heard stories all of my life of the Nazi spies who came ashore and of the ships being torpedoed. I heard those stories from people who saw those things – who heard the explosions, who saw the ships burning out on the sea.  So I relied on first-person, anecdotal information, too.

JH: What was the most surprising thing that you learned in your research process? 

ST: I don’t think I really understood how terrified Americans were at the beginning of World War II.  Think about it: They had already been attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii – to the west of mainland USA.  And weeks later, as this story opens, Nazi Germany’s U-boats attack the rich shipping lanes off of North Carolina, to the east, where tricky currents made those ships sitting ducks.  Boom!  Boom!  Boom!

Ship after ship went down.

I also didn’t fully realize that the US couldn’t respond to the U-Boat attacks at first, because so much of our Navy had been damaged at Pearl Harbor.  And I didn’t realize the government deliberately kept news of the German attacks as low-key as possible, to keep America from panicking.  I didn’t realize just how alone the people on Hatteras Island must have felt.

And frankly, I didn’t know there were so many spies in the United States.

JH: I never knew that either. And now your readers have an insight that many Americans didn’t. What was your favorite scene to write?

ST: I loved writing them all.  But maybe the scene where the first ship goes down, just offshore.  That was fun to write because it was so scary!

JH: What would you most like for readers to take away from Island of Spies? 

ST: I’d like for them to have fun solving the spy mystery along with the Dime Novel Kids, and to learn something about our history along the way.

JH: What’s next for you in terms of writing projects?

ST: I’m hard at work on a new mystery, set in North Carolina.  In it are one murder and two miracles.  I don’t know the title yet, but as soon as I uncover it, I will let you know!

JH:  It sounds intriguing! I can’t wait to read it!

Lightning Round!

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

Favorite cities (besides the one in which you live):  Chicago,  Savannah, and Florence, Italy.

Favorite musical group or artist:  I like so many, I don’t really have a favorite.  As I wrote Island of Spies, I listened to lots of 1940’s music.  Swing, jazz.  The Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller…

Would you rather be able to speak every language in the world or talk to animals? 

 Talk to animals, of course!

Favorite ice cream flavor?  Banana walnut.

Do you prefer mountains or beaches or somewhere in between?  I love both but if I could visit only one, it would be the beach.  I feel so content there.

Favorite childhood TV show?  Superman.  And Mighty Mouse.  Hmm.  Maybe it’s the cape.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?  Just sit down and write.  Keep writing to the end even if the first draft’s ugly, because you can always go back and polish it up.

JH: Excellent advice!  Many thanks for making time to visit with us today!

About the Author

Sheila Turnage grew up on a family farm in North Carolina near Tupelo Landing, where the Mo & Dale Mysteries are set, and a couple hours from Hatteras Island, where Island of Spies takes place. She decided to become a writer in first grade, when she wrote her first story. Her teachers helped her.  She went to college at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and earned a degree in anthropology.  She has written books for adults, poetry, magazine articles – but says that writing for kids is the best.  She says that characters like Mo and Dale, and Stick, Neb, and Rain are fun to write.  They’re smart, funny and brave.

She still lives on the farm she grew up on, along with her husband Rodney, their dog Callie, a flock of chickens, a bossy goose, and a couple of sweet-faced goats.  They have a tin roof, and rain sounds beautiful on it.  This year they planted a small meadow of wildflowers out front.  They are loving it.  So are the deer.

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Cover Reveal – The Lost Forest

By on December 14, 2023   /   Articles, Cover Reveal  
The Lost Forest
text saying "cover reveal"

The Lost Forest

I have a special treat today … MUF gets the exclusive opportunity to reveal the gorgeous new cover for The Lost Forest (Millbrook Press, April 2, 2024) Check this out!The Lost Forest

 

What’s even better about today’s cover reveal is that this is the latest work from MUF’s very own Jennifer Swanson, and is a JLG gold standard book.JLG

About The Lost Forest:

Dive into the unexpected! Have you ever heard of an underwater forest? They are rare, but they exist. Ancient stumps stand tall in a secret location, hidden from view for more than 60,000 years.

Take a deep dive with scientists exploring a sunken cypress forest that had been undisturbed in the Gulf of Mexico since the last Ice Age. Page Plus links lead to videos of the scientists at work.

In addition to getting our MUF exclusive cover reveal, I got a chance to chat with my friend and colleague Jen abotu writing her newest amazing book.

Interview with Jen Swanson

HMC: Congratulations, Jennifer! And congratulations on your Junior Library Guild Selection! Your book sounds really cool. An underwater forest? What is that exactly?

JS: Yes, most people don’t think that forests can be found underwater, but of course, they can. Most underwater forests are kelp, which sort of looks like big, wavy, palm trees that look like seaweed.

But the forest that these scientists studied is an ancient cypress forest. Cypress trees are normally found above ground, not under the water. That’s why this is so special. There are still partially standing trees—some as tall as 6 feet—in the water. This ancient forest is believed to have been covered by silt and sand for almost 60,000 years.

HMC: So the description says that this was a secret underwater forest. Why is it secret?

This forest was revealed in 2018 after Hurricane Ivan went through the Gulf of Mexico. It was discovered by accident by fishermen who saw that this area had a lot of fish around it. The fish were feeding off of the creatures that were living in and around the forest.

The cypress forest is a treasure trove of information about the environment in the Gulf of Mexico. It needs to be preserved and studied. But the cypress trees are also very valuable, so the exact location was initially kept secret so that companies would not harvest the wood and make furniture out of it.

HMC: How did you become aware of this story?

One of the lead scientists on the only team chosen to do research on the site is a good friend of mine. Dr. Brian Helmuth was the expert on my Astronaut-Aquanaut book. We’ve stayed in touch since that book and I’ve visited his lab in Nahant, MA. Once he learned that his team was chosen to be the ones to do the research, he called me and asked me if I was interested in writing their story. WAS I? Absolutely! It was a truly wonderful experience.

HMC: What was the most exciting thing about writing this book?

JS: The scientists on this project made me a part of their actual team. I was invited to attend several of their planning meetings, and was even invited to go out on one of their research trips to the forest. Unfortunately, I was not able to do so, but I got tons of access to them, their data, and all of their photos and videos. They made me an honorary aquanaut, which to me, is a huge honor!

HMC: What do you have coming up next?

JS: I’m excited to see my first ever narrative nonfiction picture book biography come out next year. It’s called, Up Periscope: How Engineer Raye Montague Revolutionized Shipbuilding (Little Brown BFYR). The book is illustrated by the fabulous Veronica Jameson and follow the life of the U.S. Navy’s Hidden Figure, Raye Montague. The amazing Ms. Montague was the first person to figure to develop a computer program to design a ship. Before that, everyone had to make calculations by hand and it too months and months. This is the very inspiring story of how Raye faced many challenges to accomplish this amazing feat. The book releases November 2, 2024.

HMC: Where can everyone learn more about you and your other books about STEM?

JS: You can find information about me, my books, and tons of STEM resources including free teacher guides, videos for students, and learn about my podcast, Solve It! for Kids at my website: https://jenniferswansonbooks.com/

HMC: Thanks again, Jen and congratulations!

TO PREORDER THE LOST FOREST:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lost-forest-an-unexpected-discovery-beneath-the-waves-jennifer-swanson/20184903?ean=9781728493015

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