Posts Tagged Author Interview

STEM Tuesday–Peeking into the Mind of a Scientist/Engineer–Interview with Author Heather L. Montgomery

By on November 27, 2018   /   Articles, Engineering, STEM Tuesday  

STEM TUESDAY from the mixed up files Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview & Book Giveaway, a repeating feature for the fourth Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Today we’re interviewing Heather L. Montgomery, author of SOMETHING ROTTEN: A Fresh Look at Roadkill, a recently-released book that’s stacking up starred reviews. School Library Journal says, “With wry humor, gory detail, and great enthusiasm, . . . this book is not for the faint of heart, but be prepared to laugh along the way and to learn a lot. . . Sure to be a hit among students. A top addition to STEM collections.”

Click the cover for additional information about the book, including research photos and a link to submit your own roadkill stories. www.heatherlmontgomery.com/something-rotten.html

 

 

 

Mary Kay Carson: Why did you write Something Rotten?

Heather L. Montgomery: One day, when I was procrastinating writing a book about rattlesnakes, I went for a run. On my little country lane I came across a rattler who had lost his life to a tire. I had some questions, so I picked him up. No, you probably shouldn’t do that, but I did. And I spent the rest of the day learning from that marvelous guy, his fold-able fangs, his snorkel for when his mouth is crammed full of bunny, his non-existent lung!?! This was research at its best. And then I wondered: who else uses roadkill…

MKC: Care to share a memorable research moment?

Heather: Just about everything about this book has become a favorite moment. From plunging my hands into roadkill compost to talking to a kid who re-builds animal skeletons from roadkill, this research rocked. Another beautiful thing is that the research process became the book.

This might be my favorite part of it all: I had the opportunity to share with readers how questions drove me to slice open a skunk, how one sentence dropped in an interview lead me across the country to meet 400 roadkill professionals, how trusting inquiry carried me right down the road to jaw-dropping discoveries — can you say “contagious cancer”!?!   This book proved it: Inquiry is my life!

Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are wild about animals. The weirder, the wackier, the better. An award-winning science educator, Heather uses yuck appeal to engage young minds. During school presentations, petrified animal parts and tree guts inspire reluctant readers and writers. www.HeatherLMontgomery.com

MKC: Why do you write STEM books?

Heather: Um, Inquiry is my life. Once, I tried to kick the habit of asking questions. It made me sick. I do have a B.S. in biology, an M.S. in environmental education, and over 20 years’ experience teaching about nature, but really it’s just that writing, researching, and teaching about science is who I am at my core.

MKC: The book’s unique first-person voice and the clever use of footnotes are courageous style choices. Who was your audience when writing the book? 

Heather: For years at school visits or educator conferences I talked about dissecting that road-killed rattlesnake. Those audiences showed me the power of story. They taught me to play a game, balancing information and story. And, they laughed with me (this quirky lady asking oddball questions), not at me. Those audiences gave me the confidence to write the way I speak. That was a gift. I began to see that readers would follow me down this road, this rollercoaster of research. Thank you listeners, for showing me how to write this book.

MKC: Any suggested titles for fans of Something Rotten?

Heather: Any of the phenomenal nonfiction by authors Sy Montgomery, Sarah Albee, or Georgia Bragg. Page-turning fiction such as: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly and The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. Adult readers might like books by Mary Roach. She showed me how to share my quest for information.

Win a FREE copy of SOMETHING ROTTEN: A Fresh Look at Roadkill!

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below. The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.

Good luck!

Your host this week is fellow skull collector Mary Kay Carson, author of Mission to Pluto and other nonfiction books for kids. @marykaycarson

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STEM Tuesday — Let’s Explore Botany!– Interview with Author Sally Walker

By on October 23, 2018   /   Botany, Common Core & NGSS, STEM Tuesday  

Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview & Book Giveaway, a repeating feature for the fourth Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Today we’re interviewing Sally Walker, author of this month’s featured botany book, CHAMPION: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut Tree. Among its favorable reviews is one from Kirkus, calling it, “A compelling, inspiring true story of a species rescued from extinction through decades of determined innovation.” 

 

 

Mary Kay Carson: Why did you write Champion?

Sally Walker: I’ve known part of the American Chestnut tree’s story since I was in high school. My biology teacher assigned a leaf collection project. We could only include trees native to New Jersey, where I lived. Any tree was okay, with the exception of the American Chestnut tree, because, he said, it was extinct. My father, however, knew that wasn’t true. It turned out that American Chestnut tree was my dad’s favorite type of tree.  And he knew they were not extinct: Their roots still survived in New Jersey forests (and in other states) and gave rise to new sprouts. These saplings grew for 10 or so years, and then succumbed to the chestnut blight. Even so, the roots continued to send up more sprouts. My dad and I visited a forest not too far from our home. A half-hour trek into the woods, and we found a chestnut sapling. I was thrilled to be able to add one of its leaves to my leaf collection project.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than a good mystery, and the story of the American Chestnut tree is like a Russian Matryoshka doll: mystery within mystery within mystery. I channeled my inner Nancy Drew and hoped readers would join me as I hunted for clues. Clues that would explain why American Chestnut trees died, and clues that would lead to a solution that would restore the trees to health.  I wrote the story for people, young and old, who, like me, enjoy spending time outdoors. Who like wondering about the natural world. And who listen to the songs that trees sing.

Sally M. Walker has brought science to life in more than 20 books for young readers, including Secrets of a Civil War Submarine and Blizzard of Glass. Her research has seen her corresponding with experts in archaeology, geology, forensic anthropology, and genealogy, interviewing scientists, and touring the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina, where she saw the H.L. Hunley and her artifacts. Walker lives in DeKalb, Illinois. sallymwalker.com

MKC: Could you share a memorable moment—or two—from your research for Champion?

Sally: My most thrilling chestnut experience occurred while I was visiting England. Castanea sativa, the European Chestnut, thrives there. The massive trunks of several-hundred-year-old chestnut trees are unbelievable. Seeing them—and hugging one—let me imagine how very majestic the American Chestnut trees growing in our forests had been before the blight killed them.

When I first walked into the American Chestnut Foundation’s orchards, in Virginia, I was astounded to see many hundreds of young chestnut trees. Healthy, lush with leaves. A flash of blue caught my eye—an indigo bunting landed in one of the larger trees.  I felt as though I’d entered a magic kingdom.  AND THEN I LEARNED HORRIBLE NEWS!  The team I was working with would be inoculating the young trees with the fungus that gives American Chestnut trees the blight. Some of the trees we inoculated would have some resistance to the blight, but most of them would die. But I did my job, knowing that the young trees that lived would become parent trees for new blight-resistant generations.

MKC: Did you set out to write a STEM book? 

Sally: I don’t choose to write STEM books. I write about what interests me. Finding fossils and cool rocks. Watching insects, animals, and fish. Understanding how a submarine rises and sinks. When I am gardening, using a stick and a small rock to help me shift a larger rock to a new place. I guess most people would say this is science—the “S” in STEM. But for me it’s simply the way I was raised. My parents encouraged me to ask question, exploring the world to find answers, and experiment. To use my mind and imagination.

I have a college degree in geology and archaeology, but that was from before the term STEM was invented.  I studied those areas because they are incredibly fascinating and fun, full of puzzles and mysteries. What I love about STEM is that it shows kids that science, technology, engineering, and math are interrelated. As they learn, students can draw connections among the fields and see how each part affects the other, often in a way that relates directly to some aspect of her or his life. STEM creates a network.

MKC:  Any recommendations for readers who enjoyed Champion? 

Sally: Deep Roots: How Trees Sustain Our Planet by Nikki Tate and Treecology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Trees and Forests by Monica Russo are nonfiction, while End of the Wild by Nicole Helget and Wishtree by Katherine Applegate are fiction.

Win a FREE copy of CHAMPION: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut Tree!

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below. The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.

Good luck!

Your host this week is fellow tree freak Mary Kay Carson, author of Mission to Pluto and other nonfiction books for kids. @marykaycarson

 

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Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Charlie Hernandez & the League of Shadows!

By on October 8, 2018   /   Author Interviews, For Librarians  

To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, MUF is featuring Charlie Hernandez & the League of Shadows, a middle-grade fantasy inspired by Hispanic folklore, legends, and myths. Talented new author, Ryan Calejo, has agreed to tell MUF blogger Annabelle Fisher about how he developed the ideas behind his magical, action-packed book.

AF:Your characters come from so many countries in Central and South America. Where are your ancestors from? Who were the storytellers among them?

RC:What an amazingly timely question! I just got the results back from an ancestry DNA test, so I’ve got graphs, pie charts—the works! The findings were as follows: 39.5% Cuban, 27% Spanish, 20.5% Portuguese, 9.3% French, and 3.7% Chullachaqui. The Chullachaqui comes from my mother’s father’s side according to the test (and some very reliable family sources).

The storytellers of the family would have to be my abuelitas (that’s Spanish for grandmothers). It was their wild and fantastical tales that instilled in me a love of stories and reading at a very young age.

AF: Your knowledge of Hispanic/Latino stories and myths is encyclopedic! How did you research the stories and characters? Did you travel, take classes, interview other authors—or live in a library? What books were most helpful?

RC: Haha! Yes, I did live in a library for a while—right between the children’s section and the gardening books, in fact. But honestly, I first heard about most of these myths from my abuelitas. As a child, I was a little . . . rambunctious, by all accounts, and my grandmothers really didn’t have any other way of keeping me under control other than to entertain me with myths and legends and then tell me that the creatures/beings from those stories would take it personally if I didn’t eat my lunch or go to bed on time or stop jail-breaking my cousins from their high-chairs. And sometimes it actually worked!

But I did do quite a bit of research at my local library. Perhaps the most helpful books were Mesoamerican Mythology: a Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America, and South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z, although there are many, many, MANY wonderful books on the subject! I also spoke with a whole bunch of my grandmothers’ friends and some of my older relatives who had grown up listening to these myths and they proved to be a valuable resource as well.

AF: Your use of humor is very effective in bringing your characters to life. Are you a funny guy?

RC: I’m definitely the clown of the family. I love making people laugh! I’m also a seasoned prankster. I believe I hold the record for “most consecutive pranks on a relative”; I’ve pranked my uncle (whose name I won’t mention here today so as not to shame the man) at every single family Christmas party since I was 11. And I’m proud to say the streak lives to this day!

AF: Did you ‘play superheroes’ as a child? Please tell us a bit about it.

RC: As a child??? I still play superheroes! But, yeah, I was a different superhero practically every day of the week. Just ask my poor mother who had to hand make most of my costumes. In fact, I still have the black cape and Darth Vader chest box that she fashioned out of a curtain chain, a crackerjack box, and a few shirt buttons during my Star Wars phase. I remember getting really upset when I would try to levitate something and it wouldn’t move, so my parents always had to be ready to toss something across the room—usually it was their car keys. I also remember one of my aunts being too embarrassed to walk into a grocery store with me when I was King Kong for a day and had shaved off most of my dog’s hair and glued it all over my body in order to give myself a nice Kong-like coat. Fortunately, my parents have always celebrated my eccentricities.

AF: Which of the mythical creatures in your book is your favorite and why?

RC: My favorite would probably have to be El Cadejo. It’s sort of a guardian angel that takes the form of a huge white dog. When I was little, one of my neighbors owned this ginormous White Shepherd I was convinced was the myth incarnate, because it would follow me around the neighborhood whenever I rode my bike. I always felt so safe! Those are some of my earliest and fondest memories.

AF: Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadowshas been compared to The Lightning Thief. Congratulations! What are some of the differences between Hispanic/Latino mythology and Greek mythology?

RC: The biggest difference I’ve found between the two is the incredible amount of variation within Hispanic/Latino myths. There are countless examples where a mythological creature is called one name in a certain region and then something completely different just two hundred miles away. Many times you’ll even find subtle—and sometimes not so subtle—tweaks to the creature’s origin story! I find that little quirk particularly fascinating, because it provides us with unique insight into the psychology and the various regional and social challenges facing individuals from that time and place. Also, Hispanic/Latino mythology tends to be a whole lot scarier!

AF: Why did you think it was important to write this book? What do you hope young readers will take away from it?

RC: I wanted to offer children of all backgrounds a glimpse into the richness and beauty of Hispanic/Latino culture in a fun and engaging way. It was also of utmost importance to me to write a book that children who are of Hispanic/Latino descent could see themselves in, while at the same time introducing them to the myths and legends their ancestors grew up with. I hope young readers will come away with the knowledge that there’s something special in all of us—even if it’s not what we expected—and that it’s up to us to embrace it.

AF: I get the feeling that Charlie is going on “to the south and beyond the sea.” Are you working on a sequel?

RC: Yes! It’s almost finished and Charlie and Violet are in for another crazy adventure! Get ready for even more myths, mystery, and funnies!

AF: Thanks for your time, Ryan. Good luck on your terrific book!

 

Charlie Hernandez & the League of Shadows, Ryan Calejo’s first novel, will be released on 10-23-18 from Aladdin, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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