Author Interviews

Cover Reveal and Interview! The First Magnificent Summer

By on November 21, 2022   /   Author Interviews, books, For Librarians  

One of my most anticipated middle-grade books of 2023 is THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT SUMMER by R.L. Toalson, so I was thrilled when she agreed to an interview to celebrate the wonderful cover her book has received.

Here’s the description from Simon & Schuster:

Judy Blume meets Barbara Dee in this tender and empowering middle grade novel told in journal entries and poetry about a young writer on the verge of becoming a woman whose summer with her estranged father doesn’t turn out the way she’d hoped.

Twelve-year-old Victoria Reeves is all set for her “First Magnificent Summer with Dad,” even though it’s been more than two years since she last saw him. She’s ready to impress him with her wit, her maturity, and her smarts—at least until he shows up for the long road trip to Ohio with his new family, The Replacements, in tow.

But that’s not the only unpleasant surprise in store for Victoria. There are some smaller disappointments, like being forced to eat bologna even though it’s her least favorite food in the world. And then there’s having to sleep outside in a tent while The Replacements rest comfortably inside the family RV. But the worst thing Victoria grapples with is when she begins to suspect that part of the reason Dad always treats her as “less than” is for one simple reason: she’s female.

As Victoria captures every moment of her less than magnificent summer in her journal, she discovers that the odds are stacked against her in the contest-no-one-knows-is-a-contest: Not only does her wit begin to crumble around Dad’s multiple shaming jabs, but she gets her first period. And when Dad does the worst thing yet, she realizes she has a decision to make: will she let a man define her?

R.L. Toalson is the author of two other middle-grade novels: THE COLORS OF THE RAIN and THE WOODS, both published by the Yellow Jacket imprint of Little Bee Books. THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT SUMMER will be out from Simon & Schuster on May 30.

Samantha: Welcome to From the Mixed Up Files, R.L.! What inspired this book?

The First Magnificent Summer written by R.L. ToalsonR.L. Toalson: There is no simple answer to this question; it has several parts!

A story like this one has been sitting in the back of my mind for several years, but I was always afraid to pursue it. I had a similar experience to the one Victoria (the main character) has in the book—and it is not an easy story to tell. So I didn’t. For such a long time.

And then some questions started building in my head. Why is this the way things are? Why did I feel, as a young girl, like a man had the authority to define who I was and who I would one day be? Who else needs to hear this story?

That last question–who else needs to hear this story?–made me brave enough to pick up my pen (and it was a literal pen–I write all my stories longhand in a Yoobi composition book).

There’s a lot of me in this book. There’s a lot of what I wish I would have done and learned long before I actually did. There’s a lot of hope. And I guess that was the last step of the inspiration process: I wrote hope and love and healing into my own 12-year-old story, and out came Victoria and her journey to define herself.

Samantha: What was the most challenging part of writing it?

R.L. Toalson: Every story an author writes is different; I often feel, when I open my notebook to write, that I’m completely out of my depth for what this story requires. That was especially true for THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT SUMMER, proven by the many drafts that changed the structure of the story entirely. It started as a prose story. Then I wrote it as a novel in verse. Then I changed it back to prose. And then I experimented with journal entries. That structure stuck, because it felt right for the story. There’s still poetry and some humorous mini-essays that Victoria includes, but the main narrative is told through her own journal entries. Sometimes she breaks the fourth wall, which is fun.

It was also challenging to write in a consistently humorous way. I have experience writing humor, but mostly in essay form. Humor is really difficult to get right. You don’t want to rely on cliches and easy laughs; you want to mine for the unexpected, which takes quite a lot of work and energy. And the daily writing of humor gets a little tedious on the days you don’t feel much like laughing.

And it must be said that writing such a difficult-to-tell story, one that delved some of the depths of my own childhood story, took its toll on me emotionally. I have an amazing therapist who helped me through the tricky bits.

Lastly, I spent a lot of time and care writing the author’s note, so…even if you’re not the type who reads author’s note, read this one.

Samantha: I always read author’s notes, but will definitely be reading this one. What was the most fun part writing this story?

R.L. Toalson: I know I said the humor was one of the most challenging parts, but it was also one of the most fun parts about writing THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT SUMMER. As I’ve mentioned several times already, this is not an easy story. I felt like it needed humor to lighten places that felt heavy and that give readers important things to think about and consider. And those were some of my favorite places to write.

I also really, really love all the asides Victoria has throughout the narrative. She uses her humor and her melancholy and her personality to process through things that are happening in the narrative, and it was delightful to craft those asides. She has one called “Things I Like About Camping,” a poem comprised of multiple choice answers where she invites the reader to figure out whether (a), (b), (c) or (d) is what she likes about camping–and all of the choices are so sarcastic and grumpy, and then she has the last choice: (d) absolutely nothing. And you know that’s the right answer from all the other answers. It was so much fun to write. I hate camping, too. I empathize with Victoria. 🙂

Full jacket image for The First Magnificent Summer book written by R.L. Toalson

Samantha: Ahh, camping. And that brings us to the wonderful cover. Tell us about it.

R.L. Toalson: This cover was designed by Svetla Radioeva and is absolutely perfect and gorgeous and perfect (it deserves a repeat). Victoria is front-and-center, hiding away in a tent, with a notebook open on her lap. In the background’s tent opening, you can see her father with a little girl next to a grill and a camper, and from the two juxtaposed images you get the sense of her isolation. There are all sorts of little lovely details you’ll only notice if you look closely–like a package of Womanhood Supplies (Victoria’s name for period products) by her left foot. It’s delightful. I spent several long minutes noticing all the little details that make this cover so remarkable, and I really cannot have asked for a better representation of Victoria and her first magnificent summer.

Samantha: Yes, the details are fantastic. And I love that they included them on the whole jacket, not just the front. (Readers, check out the pic.) What else should we know about this book and you?

R.L. Toalson: As the mom of several boys, I have to mention that I don’t believe in books for girls and books for boys. Yes, this book has a female protagonist, and yes she starts her first period in the book, and it’s a big part of her story. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a book for boys, too (and don’t get me started on how if we just talked about periods more it wouldn’t be so taboo in the first place). Girls AND boys watch their parents divorce. Girls AND boys sometimes have a parent who leaves. Girls AND boys feel the hurt and confusion and instability that comes from that, and girls AND boys wonder if their parent left because of them. Girls AND boys need to know that they are magnificent just the way they are. And that’s what this book tries to communicate to its readers: Be your magnificent self.

So I hope boys won’t be afraid to read Victoria’s story, too. We all need to be reminded that we’re magnificent.

Samantha: I love that! And I can’t wait to read this MAGNIFICENT book.

Readers, check out R.L. Toalson’s other books on her website and pre-order THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT SUMMER.

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Author Spotlight: Interview with Hena Khan

By on October 28, 2022   /   Author Interviews, kidlit  

Three years before the pandemic hit, I had the great luck of sharing a train ride with Hena Khan, the award-winning author of Amina’s Voice. Hena and I were headed home from #nErDCampLI, and I remember feeling wiped out—and talked out—from the conference. But once I sat down next to Hena and started chatting, my weariness evaporated and an instant connection was formed. For the next 60 minutes, we talked about writing (we were both debut authors); parenting (Hena’s two sons were in middle school; my daughter was a senior in high school); and countless other topics that newfound friends on a train often discover.

Since Amina’s Voice came out in 2017, Hena has gone on to publish multiple MG novels, including Amina’s Song (2021), More to the Story (2020), and the Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream series. She is also the author of seven picture books and has contributed to six children’s anthologies, including Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices. A popular guest speaker in classrooms, school auditoriums, and libraries across the country, Hena’s latest MG novel, Zara’s Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure, is out now from Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Here’s a brief summary:

Zara’s Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure

Zara lives for bike rides with her friends—so, when her shiny, brand-new bike goes missing from the park one day, she’s crushed. After her parents insist she earn the money for another bike herself, Zara’s determined to start a business. But what kind? A lemonade stand? Not profitable enough. Selling painted rocks? Not enough customers.

Zara’s starting to get discouraged when she and her friend Naomi finally come up with the perfect idea: The Treasure Wagon, a roving garage sale that unloads knickknacks from the Saleem family basement and makes money all at once! But when a mix-up gets Zara in hot water again, will she have to give up everything she’s earned toward her new bike?

The Interview

MR: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Hena! I’m so happy to have you here. I can’t believe it’s been five years since our paths crossed!

HK: I know! But it’s so nice to reminisce about that lovely train ride and our instant friendship! Thanks so much for inviting me to talk about my newest book.

MR: Zara’s Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure is the second of a trilogy. (Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun came out earlier this year; Zara’s Rules for Living Your Best Life pubs on March 21, 2023.) What was the inspiration behind the series?

HK: I came up with the idea during the pandemic while listening to children playing outside in droves and thinking about my own childhood. I adored Beverly Cleary’s books, characters like Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, and reading about their clever antics (anyone else want to stomp around on coffee can stilts too?). I wanted to write a series that similarly makes kids wish they were part of the neighborhood and imagine themselves joining in the fun, just like I did.

MR: Zara has two loving parents, a cute-but-sometimes-annoying little brother, Zayd, a strong bond with her extended family, including her grandparents and her uncle, Jamal Mamoo, and a crew of caring, fun-loving neighborhood friends. Is this reflective of your own childhood? What are the main similarities and differences?

HK: The crew of neighborhood friends is very much based on the children I grew up with, and the Goldsteins are inspired by my lifelong friends who lived across the street. The extended family, however, is more reflective of my children’s experience and vantage point as third-generation Pakistani American Muslims. I’m fascinated by the way my kids interact with their grandparents (Naano and Nana Abu are essentially my real-life parents), aunts and uncles, and the way they relate to the culture. They find it alternately cool and hilarious and don’t have the same type of pressure, expectations, or awkwardness that I felt as a child of immigrants. I also didn’t get to grow up around many relatives, and always wished I had been as fortunate.

Trash and Treasure

MR: One of the main themes of Zara’s Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure is our emotional attachment to possessions. This resonated with me deeply, because I recently had to clear out my mom’s apartment, which contained 60 years’ worth of stuff. (The task was daunting, to say the least.) What made you focus on this theme? And where does Marie Kondo fit into the picture?

HK: Oh wow, my heart is with you—I’m sure that was incredibly difficult! I grew up with parents who saved everything, and we had a storage room much like the one I describe in the book. They were reluctant to part with anything, in the hopes that it could be useful in the future. I wanted to tackle the topic because it’s something I still wrestle with, both in terms of finding the right balance between saving, donating, and recycling my own things, and convincing my mother to part with her “junk.”

I thought a lot about the idea of trash versus treasure, why we value the things we do, sentimental value, and what really matters. And it felt both cathartic and wishful to write some of the scenes. I’ve heard a lot about Marie Kondo, particularly the controversy around getting rid of books (the horror!), and thought it would be funny to include her although I’m not a disciple . . . at least not yet!

Viewing Life from a Younger Lens

MR:  Compared to some of your previous MG novels (Amina’s Voice, Amina’s Song, and More to the Story), the Zara’s Rules trilogy skews younger, ages seven-10, with shorter chapters and numerous illustrations. What’s the main challenge when writing for a younger audience? What’s the most fun?

HK: I’d say the biggest challenge is having less space to fully flesh out characters and plots, which is very important to me even in a shorter book. But it’s so fun to be able to jump right into the action, and to examine the world through the lens of a 10-and-three-quarter-year-old. Kids at that age are very aware and engaged with the world but still so earnest and innocent, and I love to explore the things that I’m thinking about now from that perspective.

Series Versus Stand-alones

MR: In addition to the Zara’s Rules trilogy, you’ve written the Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream series, with six books in total. What’s it like to work on a series as opposed to a stand-alone book?

HK: The biggest difference is that you get to know your characters deeply, so it feels like getting to play with old friends in each story. I never really believed authors who talked about their characters deciding what happens in a story, but I kind of understand that concept now. When characters become so fully developed in your mind, you have an idea of what they would say or do in a situation, and it becomes easier to write them. At the same time, it’s critical to keep the stories fresh and interesting and avoid repetition. I love making passing references to former books as little surprises to those who have read them all.

Picture-Book Love

MR: You also write picture books, including the acclaimed Under My Hijab. Is it tricky to switch from MG to picture books—and from picture books to MG…?

HK: It’s not too hard to switch back and forth between the formats since they use very different writing muscles. I generally don’t work on two middle-grade projects at once, but often turn to a picture book during breaks. I love the economy of words and the way one sentence can make or break an entire book. It forces you to be a sharp editor and pay attention to every syllable.

Celebrating Diversity

MR: Your books are lovingly infused with elements from your Pakistani heritage, and your characters are ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. What can authors—and publishers—do to increase the visibility of authentic, diverse characters in kidlit?

HK: Thank you! The people I love inspire so much of what I write. But it’s important to remember that I represent only one subset of the Pakistani American Muslim community, which also has diversity within it—in terms of level of cultural assimilation, socioeconomic status, religious observance and more. And then, of course, the American Muslim community is even more diverse. I think it’s wonderful to see more diverse representation in kidlit, but we need a bigger variety of stories and characters in all genres. Also, while it’s wonderful to have books to celebration diversity, culture, and traditions, I hope to see more stories where identities aren’t necessarily emphasized but are simply woven into the background like in Zara’s Rules.

Plotter or Pantser?

MR: What does your writing routine look like? Do you have a particular schedule? Also, are you a plotter or a pantser?

HK: I wish I had a routine, but I don’t. I write at all times of the day, sometimes every day for a while and then not for weeks. But I’d like to find some discipline someday! Overall, I’m more of a plotter than a pantser.

The Secret to Success

MR: You’ve written 13 (and counting!) middle-grade novels, seven picture books, and stories included in six anthologies. What’s the secret to being such a prolific author?

HK: Well, I’ve been at it for a while now, and sometimes it feels like I’ve published a lot, and at other times I think I could have done more! I think the key to staying engaged and motivated is to keep challenging myself to improve my craft, to try to reach audiences in different ways, and to only write about what genuinely excites me.

What’s Next?

MR: What are you working on now, Hena? Enquiring Mixed-Up Files readers want to know…

HK: I’m excited to be starting on my second graphic novel, finishing up a new middle-grade novel, and editing an anthology that hasn’t been announced yet. I’ve also got some new picture books on the way! Please connect with me to get updates on my new titles.

Lightning Round!

MR: And finally, no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack?

I prefer cookies but settle for nuts or kettle corn.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee all the way! I drink espresso with a little bit of milk.

Marie Kondo: Yea or nay?

Nay, can’t do it!

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay?

If I had to choose an apocalypse, it would be the one.

Superpower?

I’d have to go with invisibility.

Favorite place on earth (besides Seville, Istanbul, and Seattle)?

Turks and Caicos is just incredible.

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be?

My husband and two sons. Or if they count as one family, then ice cream and my laptop.

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Hena—and congratulations on the recent publication of Zara’s Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure!

Thank YOU!

Bio

Hena Khan is an award-winning author of picture books and middle-grade fiction. Her middle-grade novel Amina’s Voice launched Simon & Schuster’s groundbreaking Salaam Reads imprint and was named a Best Book of 2017 by the Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and others. The sequel, Amina’s Song, won the 2021 Asian/Pacific Award for Children’s Literature. Hena wrote the popular Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream series, and More to the Story, a novel inspired by her all-time favorite book, Little Women. Hena’s acclaimed picture books include Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets, Night of the Moon, and It’s Ramadan, Curious George. Learn more about Hena on her website and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

(For more on Hena Khan, check out this MUF interview by Jonathan Rosen!)

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Interview with Meira Drazin, author of Honey and Me!

By on October 27, 2022   /   Author Interviews  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

We are in for a treat today! I am thrilled to welcome a good friend and fellow Mixed-Up Files member, Meira Drazin, whose new Middle Grade novel, Honey and Me, was released this week!

JR: Meira, thanks so much for joining us!

MD: Hi Jonathan, I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to be here on the Mixed-Up Files as an author for the first time!

JR: To start with, can you tell us a little bit about Honey and Me, and what prompted the idea to write it?

MD: I’d love to. Honey and Me is a coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old girl going through sixth grade in the shadow of her fearless best friend. Milla envies Honey’s confidence, her charm, and her big chaotic, loving family—especially when they provide a welcome escape from Milla’s small family and their silent house. The two friends do everything and go everywhere together. So when Honey joins Milla’s school for sixth grade, why is it not as great as Milla expected? Will she ever find the courage to step out of Honey’s shadow and into her own spotlight?

Honey and Me is the first contemporary realistic middle grade novel that I know of that is set in a Modern Orthodox Jewish community and published by a mainstream press. I was inspired to write it when I started reading some of my own childhood favourite books to my daughter— Ballet Shoes, Anne of Green Gables, tons of Judy Blume, all the Ramona books, and All-of-a-Kind Family—as well as some new ones I was just discovering, like The Penderwicks, and later, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street. To me, what connects these books are writers who understand the magnitude of the small dramas of everyday life. I especially love how the All-of-a-Kind Family books focus on the small dramas in everyday Jewish life. I wondered if I could do that too, but in a modern way and with contemporary characters.

JR: I also love that we get to see a side of Judaism that isn’t often represented in mainstream books. Tell us a little bit about Milla, the main character of the book.

MD: Milla is 11 when the book opens, about to start sixth grade. She’s reflective and observant, a reader, and she often sees herself in a foil position to her best friend Honey. Honey is the type of kid who’s totally confident calling grown-ups directly by name; Milla is the type of kid who says “um” awkwardly until she gets the grown-up’s attention. Milla thinks that these kinds of things mean Honey has more to offer than herself, but Milla realizes over the course of the novel that their friendship in fact is more evenly balanced, each one supporting and filling in the other.

JR: Milla is such an endearing character. How much of you and your experiences are in her?

MD: Thank you! Honey and Me is not autobiographical but I definitely relate to Milla’s character. (I was not a child who could call grown-ups by name!) And I definitely borrowed certain experiences I had myself in order to explore aspects of Milla’s character or to work through things from my own childhood. For example, like Milla, I was in my school’s speech contest when I was in sixth grade and it shifted something for me in realizing that I could be creative, funny, and extroverted in a way I never knew I had in me.

Another example is that Milla’s relationship with her teacher was inspired by a teacher I had briefly in eighth grade who left after the first term due to a disagreement with the school and then tragically had a fatal heart attack a few months later. When I began writing Honey and Me, I used fiction to try to grapple with some of the feelings I was left with all that time ago, loosely basing a character, Mr. Sandler, on Mr. Waldman, and giving Milla a chance to have an inspirational relationship with a teacher, in a way that I myself had not had a chance to. Incidentally, I love this review of Honey and Me (https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/books/350959/friendship-judaism-and-all-the-feelings-a-welcome-addition-to-the-middle-school-canon/?fbclid=IwAR121MaR2EIiBBB6olpUjTLulRYxFuizKTV5iNwG4MkqarTcZbmcSgrPKJ8) by Dr. Karen E.H. Skinazi, a professor of English and who coincidentally went to the same junior high as me, although a grade above, and describes in the review how her life’s work was inspired by having Mr. Waldman as a teacher.

JR: We’ve spoken about the need for Jewish representation in Middle Grade, and Honey and Me definitely fits that criteria, especially since, as we said, it’s rare for books to portray more orthodox perspectives. You come from an orthodox background, why was it so important for you to include that perspective in your book?

MD: Thanks for asking this question. I speak about this in depth here (https://oomscholasticblog.com/post/jewish-joy-meira-drazin-author-honey-and-me) but basically when I was growing up, I didn’t see anything in children’s literature that reflected my own community and home, other than the All-of-A-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor, or the Holocaust books that as the granddaughter of four Holocaust survivors, I devoured as a means of understanding what my grandparents went through but never spoke about. I am a staunch advocate for children’s Holocaust literature, and see below about how meaningful the All-of-A-Kind Family books—which take place on the Lower East Side in the early 1900s and were written mid-century— are to me, but at the same time neither of these reading experiences portrayed examples of life that looked anything like mine in 1980s Toronto.

When I began reading middle grade books to my daughter, I was shocked to realize the landscape hadn’t changed in terms of seeing religious Jews in children’s literature. And when I first started trying to write my own books for children, I think it became apparent that I had internalized a certain idea that religiously observant Jews didn’t really “belong” in books unless it was historical fiction, or the characters were victims of persecution. In the first stories I wrote I sent my characters to regular public schools, not a Jewish day school; I had them dress up for Halloween, not Purim. And I think my writing suffered for it. Only once I had the idea of these two girls, Milla and Honey, who I knew were Modern Orthodox, and I opened that world up, did my writing begin to take life.

I would also add that only once my editor asked me to think about it for the Author’s Note, was I able to look back and begin to understand that reading over and over again about my people being victimized, rather than also having the experience of watching them live lives in which their Judaism wasn’t a source of conflict, left a psychological impact.

JR: Speaking of, All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor, you have often spoken about how much you loved it. How much of an influence was that book to your own work?

MD: I am, and it was quite a big influence. I really loved the whole series growing up and read them over and over again. They were so warm and family oriented, while also dealing with the natural conflict that comes up between siblings, friends and day-to-day life. It’s also hard to overstate what a kick it was to see them practicing their Judaism—it was like, wait, they’re celebrating Purim and eating hamantaschen and dressing up, just like we do. Wait, this part of my life is in a book. And in a book read not just by Jews. That must mean it’s not so weird.

Recently I was blow away by the warm and effusive comments left on an article in the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/books/review/from-sarah-to-sydney-june-cummins-alexandra-dunietz.html) about a new biography of Sydney Taylor, the author of the All-of-A-Kind Family series. So many of the comments were of the tenor that when reading these books as a child it was the first time they saw Jews, like themselves, joyfully and incidentally practicing their religion. Or that it was their first introduction to Jewish people and what it might look like to be Jewish. When I had the idea to write a coming-of-age story set in a modern orthodox community, creating a book that did this too, and that might one day have this kind of impact, was my dream.

 

JR: I do love the relationship between Milla and Honey. There are some humorous elements in the book, as well as some sad ones, which I was angry with you for. How difficult was it for you to strike that balance?

MD: Haha! In my first draft of the book I just made each chapter a different episode of one of Milla and Honey’s escapades — their adventures brought out the different aspects of their personalities, and to be sure there was some tension, but I was steadfast in their loyalty to each other and loved their friendship so much I couldn’t bear for them to do more than raise their eyebrows at each other. But then the teacher for the workshop I was doing at the time said “Meira, they need to get in a fight!” I hated to do it, but she was right: the inevitable tension between Milla and Honey, that exists in every friendship, needed to be explored—both for the sake of the narrative arc, but also for the sake of Milla’s emotional journey, and for them to continue to stay such bosom friends, as Anne Shirley would say, when we close the book.

In terms of balance in general between funny and sad, I really wanted there to be both—as those are the kinds of stories I like most—and I found that writing it that way came naturally. The hardest balance for me to strike was in creating the character of Milla’s mom, Lori. Much of the feedback in early drafts of the book was that she was too awful, which wasn’t my intention at all. But the things I was having her say came off as way more harsh than they were meant to.  It took a lot of revision and trial and error to get her character right and to show where the tensions were in her and Milla’s relationship that weren’t just in a one-way direction.

 

JR: A lot of the book deals with Milla’s Bat Mitzvah. Any good anecdotes from your own Bat Mitzvah that you’d like to share?

MD: Oh boy.  At my bat mitzvah my father told a really embarrassing story about me in his speech (no, I will not say what it was!) Recently I was at a friend’s daughter’s bat mitzvah and he did something similar. He got the laughs and maybe his daughter was less mortified than I would have been, but all I’ll say is: dads, DON’T. Just don’t. Your daughter may not remember all the nice things you say about her in your speech, but they will probably never forget the humiliating ones.

Another fun anecdote from my own bat mitzvah is that apparently I took one of my younger brothers’ can of silly string to give to a friend who hadn’t gotten one and my brother stewed about that for many months, all the while planning his revenge which was eventually revealed to be hiding my bat mitzvah present, a new pale yellow landline phone that matched my room. Ah, siblings. Hmm, maybe I’ll use that story in my next book.

JR: What are you working on next?

MD: I have a few projects at various stages of draft that I am excited to get back to work on, but at the same time Honey and Me was such a long journey that I am trying to be very in-the-moment with it right now, very present to all the excitement of it coming out and working on publicizing it, getting ready for school visits and any other speaking opportunities, and just trying to enjoy and feel grateful for this dream come true.

JR: Meira, thanks so much for joining us today!

Well, Mixed-Up Filers, that’s it for now. Make sure you go out and get a copy (or two) of Meira Drazin’s, Honey and Me!

Until next time . . .

Jonathan

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