Posts Tagged Author Interview

STEM Tuesday– Plants– Interview with Rebecca Hirsch

By on July 22, 2025   /   Plants, STEM Tuesday  

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

Today we’re learning with Rebecca E. Hirsch, a science writer, educator, and author of more than 90 books for young people. Her 2024 book A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds is a delightful collection of science, folklore, true crime, quotes, and more, all about poisonous plants!

 

Andi Diehn: How did you get interested in poisonous plants? (Should we be worried?!)

Rebecca Hirsch: Great question! And there’s no need to worry, but now you’ve got me laughing! This book grew out of research I had done for a previous middle grade title, called When Plants Attack: Strange and Terrifying Plants. When I was researching that book and deciding what plants to feature in it,I came across a lot of poisonous plants. But poison wasn’t really the focus of that book, so I set most of those plants aside. Nevertheless, the seed had been planted. Several years later, I began to imagine writing a creepy, gothic book that looked at the science and history of poisonous plants.

 

AD: I love that you combine mythology, quotes, history, and science – why include all these elements?
RH: Poisonous plants have such fascinating back stories! People have long used these plants for medicine, as well as for darker acts like warfare and murder. As a science writer, I knew I wanted to share the science of these plants—facts about how and where they grow but also how they interact with and harm the human body.  But I made the decision to start each chapter with an intriguing historical quote and whatever dark and fascinating stories I could dig up. My goal was to entertain readers in addition to educating them. I wanted them to see how captivating and complex these plants are.
AD: Many poisonous plants are useful as well as deadly. Does this make botany even more interesting?

RH: Definitely! Most people think of plants as boring, kind of like green statuary. But plants are actively struggling to survive, like all living things. Plants have very effective ways of fighting back against anything or anyone that tries to eat them. In the botanical world, the most common self-defense tactic is poison. Plants are master chemists. They are very good at concocting nasty chemicals, and some of these chemicals can make animals and people very sick.

 

AD: The chemical explanation of how different poisons work is fascinating. Do you think poison loses some of its fear factor when we learn about why it does what it does?
RH: For me, learning about these poisons made them even more terrifying. It’s alarming to discover how the deadliest of nightshades—belladonna, for instance—can unleash havoc on our brains and bodies. Or how ricin from castor beans can act like a wrecking ball to our vital organs. Or the way cocaine or opium can hijack our brains and produce crippling addiction.
I do think the fear factor can be a good thing, because it can protect us. At least, that’s my hope. I repeatedly encourage readers to steer clear of nearly all of the plants in the book.

 

AD: In a way, this book redefined my definition of poison when I read about peppers. I eat peppers all the time and never thought of the hot ones as poisonous. How does this show that even things we encounter every day can be harmful in large quantities or if used wrong?

RH: Oh yes, chilies are definitely poisonous. These plants manufacture their poison—a chemical called capsaicin—as a way to prevent mammals, including humans, from eating their fruits (the peppers).

Here’s a personal anecdote about chilies: A number of years ago, my garden produced a bumper crop of jalapeños, and I decided to dice and freeze my harvest. One evening, I pulled out a sharp knife and a cutting board, and went to work on a pile of shiny green jalapeños. Foolishly, I did not wear rubber gloves. When I was finished, I had a heap of diced jalapeños—and poison all over my hands. My skin burned, especially under my fingernails. Then I rubbed my eye. Now my eye was stinging and watering. I soaked my hands in milk and yogurt—dairy products are a remedy—but it didn’t help. I ended up staying awake half the night, unable to sleep because of the pain.
By the way, jalapeños measure about 5,000 on the Scoville scale, a measure of chili hotness. One of the chilies mentioned in my book, a variety called Pepper X, has a Scoville rating of 2.7 million! Jalapeños are quite mild in comparison, but even they can be painful in large quantities!

 

AD:What is your research process like? How do you find all the great stories included in your book?

RH: I love the research process. I can get lost in it! My process is to start general and then get more specific. I usually begin with general internet searches, and I also track down books that are written for a general audience. I use the public library to find nonfiction books on my topic, and I use my library’s online research tools to track down magazine articles. When I’m reading a book, I’m flipping to the back pages constantly, studying the source notes and bibliography. I want to see what sources that author used in their own research, so I can follow up with any promising sources.

As I go deeper on my research, I start moving into more scholarly works. For A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants, those works included toxicology textbooks, scientific research on the action of poisons in the body, and scholarly books about the history of poisonous and medicinal plants. Google Scholar is my go-to place for tracking down scientific papers. My state university’s library system is where I find scholarly books. As I’m reading those scholarly papers and books, I’m also studying their bibliographies, and then I continue tracking down more sources.

 

AD: I love the artwork and design of the book. Did you have input or was that entirely up to Eugenia Nobati?

RH: I’m so glad you like it! The design was a part of the book concept from the beginning. When I pitched the idea to editor Shaina Olmainson, who was formerly at Zest Books at Lerner Publishing, she immediately got on board with my vision for the book having a creepy gothic vibe. Lerner’s design team also got behind the idea in a big way.

The Lerner team brought on Eugenia Nobati to illustrate. She had previously illustrated picture books for Lerner, but Eugenia also had experience creating darker, creepier art. Eugenia dove enthusiastically into the project. Her illustrations look like they had come out of an ancient laboratory notebook, with coffee rings and dark stains marking the pages.

 

AD:Do you have a favorite poison? (Not to use, but to learn about!) What is it and why?

RH: Mandrake was a lot of fun to write about. I had to force myself to stop working on that chapter and move on because I was so enchanted by that plant. It has such a rich and twisted folklore. In ancient and medieval times, people thought mandrake root resembled a naked body. They associated the plant with sexual potency and imagined that it had all sorts of magical powers.

 

AD: Did you find yourself being more careful about what you ate while writing this book?

RH: Truthfully, I’ve long been careful about what I eat. When I was a kid, I played outside an awful lot, and my parents impressed upon me never to nibble anything unfamiliar outdoors. When I was a teenager, I developed terrible food allergies, so that made me even more cautious. Alas, the chapter on allergies was written with a lot of firsthand experience.
I tried to pass along a sense of caution to my readers. Just because a plant is pretty or its berries look inviting, that does not mean it is safe to eat.

Rebecca Hircsh is an award-winning author of more than 90 books for young readers. Her books have been honored with a Riverby Award for Excellence in Nature Writing, a Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, a Green Earth Book Honor, and spots on many state reading lists. She studied biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts and molecular & cellular biology at the University of Wisconsin. She’s a member of the National Association of Science Writers, SCBWI, and The Poet’s Garage, a collective of professional children’s poets. Rebecca lives in Pennsylvania, where she regularly visit schools, sharing my love of science and the craft of writing.

 

Andi Diehn has written over 20 children’s science books, plus a picture book on mental health called MAMA’S DAYS from Reycraft Books. She works as a children’s book editor and marketer at Nomad Press and visits schools and libraries around the country to talk about science, poetry, mental wellness, and anything else kids want to know! Andi also works as a bookseller at her local indie in Vermont – The Norwich Bookstore – and lives in rural New Hampshire with her husband, three sons, and too many pets.

Back to Top

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

By on July 21, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

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

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

Book cover of THE LIBRARY OF UNRULY TREASURES by Jeanne Birdsall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Author photo of Jeanne Birdsall

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

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

Back to Top

Author Spotlight: Barbara Carroll Roberts + a GIVEAWAY

By on July 17, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

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

 

Book Summary:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interview with Barbara Carroll Roberts

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

BR: Thank you so much for having me.

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

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

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

Gardens and Pollinators

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

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

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

Favorite Scene

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

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

Favorite Character

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

Riley

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

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

 

Cover Art

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

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

To the Heart of Bunny

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

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

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

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

On Writing

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

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

Lightning Round

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

Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

Sunrise or sunset?

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

Favorite city (besides the one you live in):

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

Favorite childhood television show:

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

Favorite ice cream:

Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia

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

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

Favorite book from childhood:

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

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

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

How to win!

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

About the Author 

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

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

Back to Top