Author Interviews

An interview with New York Times Editor Veronica Chambers on Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matters

By on December 9, 2021   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Common Core & NGSS, Curriculum Tie-in, Diversity, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, New Releases  

Today, on the Mixed Up Files, we welcome Veronica Chambers, who is the lead author of Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matters.

Chambers is the editor for Narrative Projects at the New York Times. As an author, she is best known for the New York Times-bestseller Finish the Fight!, which was named a best book of the year by the Washington Post and the New York Public Library. Her other works include the critically acclaimed memoir Mama’s Girl, Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb, and the anthologies The Meaning of Michelle—a collection of writers celebrating former first lady Michelle Obama—and Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, she writes often about her Afro-Latino heritage. You can find her online at veronicachambers.com or on Twitter and Instagram @vvchambers

Congratulations to you and your team at the New York Times on the release of Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matters.

I can’t wait to virtually sit down with you and ask you some questions about this essential history of the Black Lives Matter movement for young people. I’m especially excited since I share certain New York City experiences with you, having been a journalist there (features writer for New York Newsday) and living for awhile in Brooklyn. I love that you’re bridging a career as an editor/journalist with being an author.

In the book, readers are introduced to the concept that “the power of the people is greater than the people in power.” Can you elaborate a little bit about that?

 Sure. Experts believe that up to 26 million Americans participated in some sort of Black Lives Matters protest, which would make it one of the largest protests in the nation’s history.

Peaceful protest is the most effective form of protest in the world. A study conducted by researchers Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan compared the outcomes of hundreds of violent insurgencies with those of major nonviolent resistance campaigns from 1900 to 2006; they found that over 50 percent of the nonviolent movements succeeded, compared with about 25 percent of the violent insurgencies.

The text addresses some universal questions, such as how does a movement become a movement? You spend time looking at contemporary events and leaders as well as historical antecedents and galvanizing moments. Was it hard for you and your team to figure out how you wanted to balance all of these elements?

 There’s a famous phrase that “journalism is the first draft of history.” The Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 were still ongoing when we started working on the book. There was a real challenge in trying to figure out what to immortalize in a book when the story was changing and growing every day.

That’s why the decision to lean in on the incredible photography of the New York Times was so meaningful to us. This is what the great photojournalists who contribute to the daily report saw and while we wrote text that put the movement in a broad historical context, each of the photos tells a deep and powerful story of its own, without any need for us to editorialize or comment on the images.

You make a point that the protest is larger than the people gathering in the street (although is certainly part of it). Protest can mean “making art with a message” or “calling elected officials.” How would you define protest for children?

Protest is anything we do to say we want things to be different. I think a lot about the kid I was when I’m working on these books. When I was growing up, and reading about the modern civil rights movement, I thought those are stories about heroes whose bravery and wisdom I could never match. I’ll never make a difference in those ways.

I understood as I got older that we all have a role to play in shaping the world we live in. Coretta Scott King once said, “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” I think that’s some of the truest words ever uttered.

The book makes a point to say that children are never too young to lead. In the text, you offer many examples of young leaders from teen environmentalist Greta Thunberg to eight-year-old Mari Copeny, who protested the water conditions in Flint Michigan. How might younger children participate in standing up for what they believe in?

One of the highlights of my year was this piece I did about Paola Velez and Bakers Against Racism. Bake sales associated with that group have raised more than two million dollars in a single year towards social justice causes.

Paola is not just an incredible culinary talent but also one of the most eloquent, thoughtful people I’ve ever interviewed. One of the things she said was this: “When we speak about issues that we care about, we do it with a pie in hand. And so sometimes it’s a little more graceful and a little more palatable because there’s something sweet at the end of this, like, very charged, very truth-forward statement that we have to make.”

The piece is here.

The founders of Black Lives Matters are three women: Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors. They were all in their late twenties or early thirties when they started BLM. However, I was intrigued to learn that Garza began her activism at the age of 12, focusing on reproductive rights. And it was in high school that Tometi became aware of the need to stand up for the rights of immigrants, particularly the undocumented. And Cullors learned first-hand about systemic racism as a kid when her family would go hungry. Veronica, did you have any powerful experiences as a child that also led you to career as an author, journalist and editor?

I think being a chronic outsider really helped me become a reader and then a writer. My family is from Panama, I’m Afro-Latina. I came to the country when I was 5, just becoming a reader and  one of the things I was looking at books to do was teach me how to be an American.  So many of the books published today remind me of the curiosity I felt at that moment – how do things work or don’t work here?

Black Lives Matter is the story of collaboration. It was Garza who wrote on Facebook in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin; it was Cullors who created the hashtag “blacklivesmatter,” and it was Tometti who created the initial Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts for the movement. In your career as an editor and writer, why is the collaborative experience so important?

Collaboration is one of my super powers. But when I was a kid, it was something I really railed against. I hated having to do projects or presentations as a team. I think it was because I was shy and I felt like I never got the credit for all my hard work.

But I’m also a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in some ways, I think that oeuvre really mimics the creative journey.  Turns out you need more than one superhero to save the world. Similarly, you need lots of great minds to make extraordinary journalism.

You write that the book is “built upon the work of incredible photographers and photo editors.” How did you work with Photo Editor Anika Burgess to select the images? There must have been so many to choose from.

Anika Burgess, the photo editor on the project, as well as Jennifer Harlan, my co-author, had all worked on a history based project at the Times called Past Tense. We had a years long history of sifting through hundreds of photos and really sitting back together and discussing what moves us.  What’s incredible was that 90% of the time, the photos we loved the most, we all had the same reaction to. Viewing a powerful photo is like hearing a truly great pop song, it just grabs you. What was hard was winnowing it down. There are more than 100 photos in the book. I would love to have run 200 photos. Making those cuts was brutal.

In an interview with National Geographic in 2020, Garza said, “In the midst of the all the grief and rage and pain, there’s hopefulness.” Can you speak to that and elaborate on hopefulness?

I’m incredibly hopeful. As a first generation American, what I’ve always gotten from black history is that, despite all of the challenges, African-Americans are in the business of Hope. Every decade, every chapter of the history of black people in this country is infused with countless moments of hope, resilience and creativity. I think that at this particular moment in the nation, black history and its masterclass in hope and possibility, can be useful to Americans of all backgrounds.

 

Hillary Homzie is the author of the Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, 2018), Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2018), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Get Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. She’s also a contributor to the Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). Her forthcoming nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster in August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University and, in the summers, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s literature, writing and illustration at Hollins University. She also is an instructor for the Children’s Book Academy.

She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page as well as on Twitter.

 

 

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Author Spotlight: Daphne Benedis-Grab + a GIVEAWAY!

By on December 6, 2021   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Fiction  

Today, author Daphne Benedis-Grab chats about her latest middle-grade novel, I KNOW YOUR SECRET—out from Scholastic tomorrow, December 7–and shares her writing secrets. She also tells us all about her role as a public-school librarian (spoiler alert: she loves it) AND and there’s a chance to win a copy of Daphne’s book if you enter the giveaway. Scroll down for details! 👇👇👇

Summary of I Know Your Secret

The email arrives Sunday night: Do exactly what I say, when I say it, or I will reveal your secret.

On Monday morning, seventh graders Owen, Gemma, Ally, and Todd, who have nothing in common and barely know each other, must work together and follow the instructions of an anonymous blackmailer. None of them want to go along with the blackmailer’s instructions, but each of them have a secret they must protect at all costs.

Set during a single day of school, the students race against the clock to complete a disquieting set of tasks, with fast-paced chapters detailing each moment of the day interspersed with a later interview-style recording made by the quartet.

Interview with Daphne Benedis-Grab

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

DBG: I am completely delighted to be here! I am a longtime fan of Mixed-Up Files.

Book Inspiration

MR: First, I need to tell you how much I enjoyed I Know Your Secret—so much so, I gobbled it up in one sitting. What was the impetus for writing it?

DBG: It makes my heart sing to hear this! I wanted to write a book that was hard to put down, and I was inspired by Lois Duncan to try and write such a book. When I was growing up, her thrillers kept me up all night–even the second (and third) readings. So, two-and-a-half years ago, when I began a graduate program to become a school librarian and suddenly found it hard to write stories, I realized I needed to create a story idea I’d find so fun that it would always pull me back in–even after long days with my kiddos, and my homework. I thought about what I’d loved when I was middle-grade age, and that was when I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing a thriller. My goal was to work on a story that was hard to put down while writing it—and that readers would find it hard to put down, too!

Dancing Dialogue

MR: As above, your novel is fun to read and incredibly fast-paced, with loads of twists and turns along the way. What is the secret to writing a book that kids (and MG-loving adults 🙂) can’t put down?

DBG: Thank you so much for that! I think writing a story that is fun to work on every day, that has bits of dialogue dancing in your head when you are on the subway or washing dishes and that makes you happy to think about, is my secret. Another element that makes a book un-put-downable to me is characters who struggle with real things, who are flawed and feel different but come to see that those flaws help them grow—and that those differences are what make them gloriously unique and essential to the world. So, working to create such characters is writing secret number two.

Multiple narrators: Owen, Todd, Ally, and Gemma

MR: The book is written from the perspective of four seventh-grade characters: Owen, Todd, Ally, and Gemma. Each has a secret, and each is terrified of having his or her secret exposed. How did you come up with these four characters? And how were you able to make their voices distinct?

DBG: I discovered when writing a previous MG novel, The Angel Tree, that I love creating books with multiple narrators. As humans when an event takes place, we tend to think we see all sides of it; that our narrative is the narrative. This is in fact almost never true. Any event has multiple perspectives, elements we may not see, and a past leading up to it that we are completely unaware of. With multiple narrators, I can show different sides of the same story so that readers see the complexity of any given event or person.

Talking about Todd…

Todd came to me first; he’s seen by the other characters (and everyone at his school) as a violent kid who lashes out with little provocation. We see this version of the narrative from Gemma, Owen, and Ally—but then we learn Todd’s story: what he is dealing with, why his fuse is so short, and how desperately he needs help. The readers get to see this early on, and then have the satisfaction of the other characters slowly coming to see it too—and seeing how learning Todd’s story changes their narratives and reshapes everything. I started with each character thinking they know the whole story but come to see how much is actually missing, both in their perceptions of each other and the bigger story at play: who is blackmailing them, and why. When they are finally honest with each other, they are able to understand each other as nuanced, complex, and vulnerable beings.

…and Ally, and Owen, and Gemma

Todd is inspired by a boy I knew in elementary school who I always thought was misunderstood and pigeonholed unfairly. I wish I’d done something about it then, and maybe having him in this book is my way of apologizing. Ally is made up of my love of animals as well as grief I have experienced in my life (Ally lost her parents twice: first her birth parents and then the parents who adopted her). Owen is my goofy, silly, over-eager but well intended side. And Gemma is who I wanted to be when I was in middle school: grounded, confident, and never afraid to speak up. Each of them having their own story helped their voices stay distinct. And then there’s that bigger story: who is behind the sinister messages, and why. But that stays secret until you read the book!

Shh…It’s a Secret

MR: Speaking of secrets, the theme of secret keeping—hence, the title—is equally important. What is it about secrets that fills most of us with anxiety and dread? Also, what were you trying to say about secrets in general?

DBG: Ages ago I took a psychology class where we read an article about how evil grows in hidden darkness. The point was that the secrets we hide inside ourselves don’t shrink or disappear; they grow bigger and stronger inside us, revealing feelings that don’t serve us like isolation and shame. The thought of being exposed can be terrifying, but when we share secrets with people we trust, the power those secrets hold over us withers in the bright of day. Quite often we discover we are not alone, either in the feelings or experience, and that the people who care about us will still care about us, and do all they can to help us through.

Stamping Out Bullying

MR: Bullying is another important theme in your book. Although I’d like to think most schools are aware of the problem—and address it as best they can—it’s clearly a prevalent and ongoing problem. While doing research for the book, did you come across any anti-bullying strategies in schools that seemed particularly effective?  

DBG: This is such a good and important question! What can be especially challenging about bullying is that it happens in those liminal times when teachers are distracted. And that makes fear of payback for telling an adult very real. Because of that, I find the most effective strategies to be community based. Schools that value, teach, and embody inclusion tend to have fewer incidents of kids being bullied. Schools that educate about bullying, compassion, and teaching kids to be allies, are also places that have less bullying. I may be biased, but I think schools with libraries and librarians are in the best position to foster these kinds of communities. Few things cultivate compassion, inclusion, and allyship like books! {For another MG author’s insight on bullying, check out Melissa Roske’s interview with Helen Rutter here.}

Inspiration Behind Daphne’s Books

 

MR: Turning back to books and writing, I Know Your Secret is your fifth published middle-grade novel, and you’ve written a YA novel too. You’ve also published short stories. Where do you get your ideas and inspiration for your various projects? Is there a secret sauce you can share with Mixed-Up Files readers?

DBG: Ha, that question is wonderful! But I’m worried my answer may not be all that helpful to others, because I have a brain that does not turn off. I am always thinking, mulling things over, going off on thought tangents, wondering endlessly about everything… And the way I make sense of it all is by creating narratives. If a headline or a student’s actions or an exchange I overhear on the subway baffle me, I create a narrative to help me understand it. I also create narratives imaging how something that has happened—either in my life or the world or a book or movie—might have gone differently. And some of those many narratives are seeds of books!

The Writing Librarian

MR: In addition to being a children’s book author, you are a public-school librarian. How do you juggle your writing career with your day job? What does your writing routine look like? Do you have any particular writing rituals?

DBG: Honestly, I am still figuring that out. My kids are seniors in high school, so I try to be with them as much as possible—which leaves less time for other things. But I absolutely love being a librarian. I love my school. I love my administration. And I love, love, love my students! Work makes me very happy, even when it’s hard. And being happy makes me a better, more engaged writer. Plus, my students influence my writing, which is motivating as well. I try to write at least a little every day. I am more productive, and able to go deeper into my story, when writing is a habit: a muscle I use regularly.

My first draft ritual is to reread whatever I wrote the day before, and polish it a bit before breaking new ground. This is a less intimidating place to start, and it gets me back into the characters. I will also confess to another secret ritual: No matter how little time I have to write, I cannot start until I’ve messed around on the internet a bit—checking my socials and reading the latest Entertainment Weekly stories. I’d probably have written twice as many books if I’d managed to drop this particular ritual!

What’s Next for Daphne

MR: What are you working on now, Daphne? Enquiring minds want to know!

DBG: Details are still a secret, but I am writing a follow-up middle-grade thriller set in Snow Valley, where I Know Your Secret takes place. More to come soon!

Lightning Round!

MR: Finally, no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, Daphne, so…

Preferred writing snacks?

Dark chocolate and granola bars.

Coffee or tea?

I like tea a lot but adore my coffee!

 Cat or dog?

Forever a cat lady (but like dogs a lot too).

Favorite mystery novel?

For the past five years or so that spot has been held by Kate Milford’s Greenglass House. The atmosphere is deliciously spooky, the plotting excellent, the characters realistic, and the main character, Milo, is adopted, which I love to see in books because my kids are adopted.

 Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay?

It’s coming.

 Superpower?

Teleportation. I love to travel but am not a big fan of airplanes. I wouldn’t mind a faster commute to work either!

 Favorite place on earth?

Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. As with the books of Lois Duncan, it has been a lifelong love affair. My parents started taking me when I was six months old (there was an unfortunate sand-eating incident, but otherwise it was a smooth trip), and we started bringing our kids when they were three.

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

Dark chocolate, an e-reader with an undying battery, and sunscreen (redheads burn super easily).

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Daphne—and congratulations on the publication of I Know Your Secret. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I know MUF readers will too!

DBG: Thank you so much for having me. This has been a thrill!

And now…

A GIVEAWAY!

For a chance to win a copy of I KNOW YOUR SECRET,  comment on the blog–and, if you’re on Twitter, on the Mixed-Up Files Twitter account, for an extra chance to win! Giveaway ends on Wednesday, December 8, at midnight EST. U.S. only, please.

About the Author

Daphne Benedis-Grab is the author of middle-grade books including Clementine for Christmas and The Angel Tree, and young-adult books including The Girl in the Wall. Her short stories have appeared in American Girl magazine. She earned an MFA at The New School and a School Media Library Specialist degree from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science. She lives in New York City with her husband, kids, and cat, and spends her days writing and being the librarian at PS32 in Brooklyn. Learn more about Daphne on her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Monica Sherwood, Author of THE ICE HOUSE + Giveaway!

By on November 17, 2021   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Today at the Mixed-Up Files, we’re delighted to introduce you to Monica Sherwood and her debut novel The Ice House, which was published by Little, Brown Books For Young Readers on November 16.

Monica is a former elementary school special education teacher in New York. She holds a master’s degree in Childhood and Special Education and currently works in edTech, designing digital products for teachers and students.

For a chance to win a copy of The Ice House, click on the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post and then leave a comment below, share this interview on your social media, tweet about it, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to increase your chances of becoming the lucky winner.

Click on the title of the book to order from Bookshop.org.

For more about Monica, check out her website.

 

Dorian: Can you tell us a little bit about The Ice House?

Monica: The Ice House tells the story of twelve-year-old Louisa, whose life has been upended by the Freeze, a dangerous global climate event that caused her grandmother’s death. She’s been snowed-in to her apartment for months with her grieving mother, her annoying little brother, and her firefighter father, who is increasingly stressed by the Freeze’s treacherous conditions. Her downstairs neighbor (and former friend) Luke is the only kid her age in the building, and when his dad is seriously injured, she’s forced to keep him company.

A mutual desperation to escape their scary new realities brings Louisa and Luke outside, where they build a massive snow fort in their yard. In the ice house, they share with each other what they want most: for Louisa’s mom to recover from her grief, and for Luke’s dad’s memory to return. When they begin to see visions of their families happy and healed, they embark on a mission to stop the Freeze and bring about this better future they’ve envisioned.

 

Inspiration and Influences

Dorian: What was the inspiration for the story?

Monica: I started writing The Ice House during an especially freezing winter that felt never-ending. I began wondering what life would be like if the snow never melted. I was teaching in Brooklyn at the time, and I started imagining what it might be like for a kid to be snowed-in with no end in sight.

The emotional turmoil Louisa and Luke are facing was inspired in part by my own personal experiences with grief as a child. When I was a kid, I didn’t have a book that represented what I was experiencing. If I had, I think I would have felt less alone.

(The trees to the left, which provided much inspiration, are what Monica looked out at as she began writing The Ice House.)

 

Dorian: What middle-grade books inspired you to become a writer, and what about these stories did you appreciate most?

Monica: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff, and PS. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin were some of my favorite books growing up, and each of them inspired me to want to be a writer.

Although each of these books are very different, they are all clever and handle serious subject matter thoughtfully.  They each have their own charm, uniquely capturing the nuanced details that captivate kid readers. I distinctly remember getting lost in each of these books, a feeling I still chase when I read today.

 

Dorian: You’ve mentioned that you wrote The Ice House before the pandemic, but I’m wondering if there were similarities between the events in the book and how you later got through the pandemic?

Monica: Yes, definitely. One of the biggest similarities between Louisa and Luke’s experience during the Freeze and my own during the pandemic was the sense of camaraderie that formed in the face of the unknown. I definitely forged closer bonds with the people in my life I quarantined with and was comforted by the desire we shared to have life as we knew it return.

Dorian: What kind of research did you have to do for the authenticity of the novel?

Monica: I researched the Inuit people and the origins of the igloo, as well as the science behind igloo formation. To create the theories proposed by climate experts in The Ice House, I researched some aspects of climate science. I also did research into memory loss associated with traumatic brain injuries.

 

Writing for the Middle-Grade Audience

Dorian: What made you want to write for the middle-grade audience? And how has your background in education influenced you?

Monica: Middle grade readers are some of the best to write for because of their passion and their curiosity; when they love a book, they really love it. I so appreciate their hunger for strong, nuanced characters, and meaningful stories.

As a teacher I always wanted to lead with honesty, because, in my experience, kids have a strong ability to tell when someone is keeping the truth from them. It’s why I didn’t want to shy away from the darker realities tackled in the story. My time as an educator taught me that kids deserve truthful depictions of the experiences they have had or one day might have. Sadly, kids do experience grief every day, and I hope that those who do can point to Louisa and Luke’s story to feel less alone.

Dorian: What do you hope readers take away from the novel?

Monica: Many kids find themselves in circumstances where they lack agency, or feel as though they have no control over their lives. I hope that The Ice House helps kids see that this feeling won’t last forever, and that they can make decisions that have a positive impact even though they aren’t adults yet.

I would also love for readers to realize that whatever they’re going through, they aren’t alone. We don’t talk to kids enough about what grief, trauma, or depression can be like, which makes it easy for them to feel isolated.

Most of all, I hope readers walk away with the knowledge that envisioning a better future and working to achieve it, even if their dreams feel out of reach at first, is brave.

 

Writing Tips

Dorian: What are two of your best writing tips?

Monica:

1. You are your book’s first audience member. If you aren’t writing a book that you would enjoy, it will eventually become very challenging to complete your manuscript.

2. One tactical piece of editing advice that was enlightening while editing The Ice House is to search for the high frequency words you’ve reused in your manuscript. It’s easy to repeat certain words or terms way too many times without realizing it. Chances are you can cut out about half of the instances of repetition (if not more) which can strengthen the clarity of your prose.

Thanks so much, Monica, for taking the time out to talk to us! We look forward to hearing about your future work.

For a chance to win a copy of The Ice House, click on the Rafflecopter link below and follow the directions. A winner will be chosen on Sunday. (U.S. Only)

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