Posts Tagged Author Interview

Middle-Grade Mysteries, Spy, & Sci-fi stories featuring South Asian Characters: Interview and Giveaway with Sheela Chari

By Suma Subramaniam on October 7, 2020 / Author Interviews, Diversity, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Writing

Hello Mixed-Up Filers! I’m pleased to welcome Sheela Chari, author of the new mystery series, The Unexplainable Disappearance Of Mars Patel, for an interview at Mixed-Up Files today.

Hi Sheela, thanks for joining us today at Mixed-Up Files.

Thank you for having me—it’s great to be back! Years ago, I was one of the original members, and I loved interviewing other writers! These days, writing, teaching, and being a parent has taken over much of my time. But it’s definitely fun to be in this familiar space again.

About THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel follows Mars Patel and his pals on their quest to find their missing friend, Aurora, who might be part of a chain of other disappearances around the world leading back to billionaire inventor, Oliver Pruitt. It’s a story filled with conspiracy theories, deceptive adults, and enterprising kids who know how to rely on technology and each other to solve problems.

Mars Patel was originally produced as a podcast mystery drama series for kids by Gen-Z Media.

Now, it’s also a middle-grade novel and series written by me!

When I was invited to write the novelization, I was asked to take an audio-drama and re-envision it in written form. I had to really think about who Mars, Caddie, JP, Toothpick and the rest of the characters were, and the stories of their lives not captured in the podcast. It was a lesson in character study and plotting, and even rethinking everything I knew about dialogue. In the book, you will find a traditional story littered with emails, texts, podcast transcripts, and other asides to capture the same chatty dynamic of the podcast. It was really my wish to reflect the very interesting, funny way that young people talk to each other today both online and IRL (that’s “in real life” for the uninitiated).

On Mars Patel identifying as an Indian-American spy kid

Representation have always been important for me. It’s the reason that I wrote my mystery novels, Vanished and Finding Mighty, which both feature Indian-American detectives, and are rooted in my experience of growing up Indian-American. I also make an effort for the other supporting characters in all my books to reflect the diversity and inclusiveness I see and cherish as a part of being an American immigrant. The Mars Patel series is a perfect representation of these ideals. Not only that, Mars gets to do those very things that ALL kids should be seen doing in novels: sleuthing, pranking, laughing, messing up, apologizing, doing better, taking risks, and growing up.

On how reading mysteries was an integral part of your childhood

When I was young, I would pore over Nancy Drew books in my library and at home. Not just the stories themselves, but also those wonderful interior illustrations and cover art, observing how Nancy Drew, and her loyal friends, Beth and George, transformed from book to book. To me, they were heroes and old friends, and even the way I met my own best friend (we found each other in the Nancy Drew aisle of the Iowa City Public Library). From then on I would graduate to other mysteries and spooky stories (Lois Duncan comes to mind!). But I do believe this idea of mystery-solving and friendship finds it roots in those Nancy Drew mysteries and a shared love for them with a close friend.

On drawing inspiration from your own life when writing this book

The original podcast hints at a story set in the Northwest. I went a step further and set the book in Washington State, where I lived when I was in middle school and high school. Mars’s fictitious town of Port Elizabeth is based on all the trips I made to Seattle and the Puget Sound as a young person. So writing the book was truly a trip down memory lane for me. I also went on a recent vacation to visit an old friend in the Puget Sound, and it was very inspiring. I used all kinds of details — taking the ferry across the water to Seattle, that particular quality of rain, clouds, and occasional sun, the up-and-down hills, the inky waters of the Sound —to help me describe Port Elizabeth. It was so much fun!

On immersing yourself in a MG sci-fi with corporate conspiracies

Yes, in this story there are bad guys, surveillance, and a conspiracy to hoodwink kids. Even so, for me, Mars Patel is about looking to the future, where anything is possible, even a chance to start over as a society. It’s a book that celebrates technology, space travel, and innovation. Not to say there aren’t threats — Book 1 starts with a Code Red scene in school. Later books in the series take on the urgency of climate change. Even so, the story has always given me a surprising and upbeat way of looking ahead, of knowing that kids growing up now will have the mindset to invent and think differently. Thank goodness.

Sheela Chari is the author of FINDING MIGHTY and VANISHED, which was nominated for an Edgar Award. Her latest middle-grade novel, THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL, based on the Peabody-award winning podcast, is out this October from Walker Books US, an imprint of Candlewick Press. Sheela teaches creative writing at Mercy College and lives in New York.

Want to own your very own signed copy of The Unexplainable Disappearance Of Mars Patel? Enter our giveaway by leaving a comment below!

You may earn extra entries by blogging/tweeting/facebooking the interview and letting us know. The winner will be announced here on October 16, 2020 and will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (US only) to receive a signed, personalized book.

Interview with Anika Fajardo, author of What if a Fish plus a GIVEAWAY!

By Aixa Perez-Prado on October 5, 2020 / Author Interviews

Hello Mixed-Up Readers,

I recently I had the privilege of interviewing Colombian-American author Anika Fajardo, author of What if a Fish. Anika’s story is sure to speak to diverse middle grade readers who might see themselves in some of the experiences and uncertainties that are faced by her protagonist.

APP: Tell me a little bit about yourself as a Latinx storyteller. What makes you, you?

AF: I was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota after my parents divorced when I was two. From the time my family began reading to me, I wanted to be a writer. My memoir, Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family, was released last year after almost a decade of work. Even though it took me a while to become a writer, I have always worked with words in some way. I’ve been a fifth-grade teacher, a librarian, a communications manager, an editor, and a professor. My debut middle-grade book is called What If a Fish.

APP: I really enjoyed What if a Fish! Tell us a little bit about your story.

AF: What If a Fish features 11-year-old, half-Colombian Eddie Aguado. When his older half-brother’s trip to visit Eddie in Minnesota is canceled, Eddie is sent to spend the summer in Colombia instead. What follows is a generational story of family, identity, and all the things you might find at the end of a fishing line.

APP: What was your inspiration for this particular story?

AF: This book started with names. Eddie, known as Little Eddie, and his older brother, known as Big Eddie. I have a half-brother who is named after our father and nearly all the men in our family. I suppose that if I had been born a boy, my brother and I would have had the same name. And I wanted to know what that would be like. How do you separate yourself from someone else who has the same name? How does what we call ourselves inform who we are?

APP: That is so interesting, but this story is not only about identity, it is also about perseverance and grief.

AF: I didn’t set out to tell a story about grief, but my grandmother passed away while I was writing this book. I had already created the character of Abuela. And I felt like the best way to honor my grandmother, while also processing my own grief, was to write it into the story. I think the idea of letting go turned out to be an important theme whether talking about letting go of a loved one or letting go of a fish.

APP: Abuelas are so important in so many of our lives as Latinx people! Water is another important element in your story. Tell me about that.

AF: Water is both necessary to life and yet dangerous. It can reveal and it can hide. I wanted to center the story on water in order to contrast Minnesota—land of 10,000 lakes—with coastal Colombia. The two places that Eddie calls home are very distinct, but they have commonalities, much like people from different places might.

APP: So true! There is something magical about water and about all of the female characters in this story, don’t you think?

AF: I love this idea of the females in the story being magical. The women and girls around Eddie help to ground him, make him brave, help him to see love, and connect him to family. It takes all of them to help Eddie fulfill his destiny.

APP: I was particularly fascinated by the character of Cameron. I want a whole book about her. Tell me about how you decided on the role she would play in the story.

AF: I read somewhere that Kate DiCamillo was told to add more kid characters to Because of Winn-Dixie, that a child protagonist can’t spend all their time with adults. So I knew that, because Eddie’s brother is 19, I needed another child character. Cameron is partly based on my own daughter (who started campaigning to dye her hair purple after I wrote that part). In many ways, Cameron is the opposite of Eddie. She’s brave, fierce, and doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks of her. It’s nice to see the two of them interact and learn from each other.

APP: Team Cameron, love her! And I support your daughter’s quest for purple hair. But I’m wondering why you chose to have your main character be a boy?

AF: Eddie was a character that came to me many years before I started writing this book. For some reason, the idea of this boy wandering the neighborhood in search of something took hold. I think that a girl character might have required more dialogue, more interior complexities. In some ways, a boy character is a stripped-down story with action at its center. But I also wanted the character to be a boy because I wanted to show that boys can be introspective and quiet and vulnerable. There isn’t one way to be a boy or a girl.

APP: Absolutely, and as the mother of many daughters and several sons, I agree. I feel that you perfectly captured the feeling of child immigrants like me, as well as children of immigrants. We can feel like we don’t really belong anywhere. Did that come from your own childhood experience?

AF: Although I’m not technically a child of immigrants (my Colombian father never immigrated to the US and lives in Colombia still), I definitely felt the pull from coming from two cultures, two countries. Now it’s hard to believe, but when I was a child in Minnesota in the 1980s, my Colombian background was extremely unusual. Where I grew up, there were hardly any non-whites. I was constantly asked where I was from or what I was. I never had a good answer for that. When I was a young adult, I went to Colombia and found that I also felt out of place there. For anyone straddling two cultures, it’s as if you don’t fit in either place. The number of children in the US that come from mixed backgrounds or from immigrant families is going to continue to increase and those children need to see themselves reflected in stories.

APP: Yes! Another way that I connected with this story is as a person who only has half siblings myself. I was annoyed at first when Little Eddie kept referring to Big Eddie as his half-brother. I wanted him to just say ‘brother’ like I do to my own brother. He will never have a full sibling and I wanted him to just embrace the one he had. Did you do that intentionally? If so, why?

AF: I have a half-brother and it’s true that, too, generally refer to him as my “brother.” But I think Eddie calls his brother his “half-brother” because he’s trying to make sense of the relationship. He’s trying to name things. Obviously, names play an important role in Eddie’s world. He also loves facts (he reads his encyclopedia regularly), so I also think it’s important to him to be factual. And the fact is that his brother is, technically, his half-brother.

APP: Yes, I love the way he took an encyclopedia with him on the trip! I was surprised that Little Eddie had never visited Colombia before. Why would he not have visited as a small child, and why did he speak no Spanish at all? I wanted to complain about that.

AF: Your complaint has been registered! The truth is, the reason is simply because I modeled Eddie’s experiences on my own life. Colombia was always quite mysterious and distant to me as a child. I didn’t visit Colombia until I was an adult. Part of the reason for that divide in my own was personal and familial. But part of it was also that Colombia was, and in many ways still is, a dangerous place for visitors. So I used that as my excuse.

APP: That explains it! On another topic, I really hated those bullies who were rude to Little Eddie. Do you feel that it is important for Latinx writers to portray how kids can be treated at schools and in neighborhoods?

AF: I often felt like an outsider, like I was different. And when you’re a kid, being different is often seen as a bad thing. While I never had an experience like the one of the bullies in the book, I’ve felt the sting of people’s prejudice. Outside of my own experience, I also wanted to reflect my brother’s experiences growing up. Based on the stories he’s told me, I think it can be harder for boys in terms of outright bullying.

APP: What do you feel are some of the most important challenges for Latinx writers trying to get published today?

There is a perception that “everyone” wants to publish diverse books by diverse authors. But that can manifest itself in a call for a specific type of story—stories that perpetuate the stereotypes of racial/ethnic groups. For Latinx authors, that often means stories that reflect certain, specific aspects of the Latinx experience (immigration, assimilation, language, etc). Although the industry is changing, I still think it’s a challenge for Latinx writers who want to write about other topics.

APP: Yes, it is a challenge. What advice do you have for authors interested in writing magical realism for middle grade audiences?

Magical realism is sometimes confused with fantasy. But magical realism is about magical things happening in otherwise realistic fiction. It has its roots in Latin American literature and is a reflection of colonization and diverse representations of reality. Middle-grade readers demand that stories make sense, so I think that magical realism in books for this age group needs to be thoroughly woven into the reality of the narrative. In What If a Fish, I used magical realism elements sparingly to make them pop. I also made them a little dream-like so that a reader who isn’t sure they believe in the magic can imagine an alternate reason behind the magic.

APP: Thank you so much for this interview Anika!

For a chance to win a copy of What if a Fish enter the rafflecopter below! NOTE: US entries only please!

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Author Spotlight: Andrea Davis Pinkney… plus a GIVEAWAY!

By Melissa Roske on September 30, 2020 / Author Interviews, Editor / Agent Spotlight

Today, I’m beyond thrilled to welcome acclaimed children’s author Andrea Davis Pinkney to the Mixed-Up Files!

Andrea is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of nearly 60 books for young readers, among them The Red Pencil and A Poem for Peter, as well as several collaborations with her husband Brian Pinkney, including Sit-In and Hand in Hand, which received the Coretta Scott King Book Award.

Her latest book, Loretta Little Looks Back: Three Voices Go Tell It, is a series of dramatic monologues narrated by three members of the Little family, Loretta, Roly, and Aggie. B. The novel has received four starred reviews to date – from Kirkus, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist. Entertainment Weekly called the book “prescient” and a must for your anti-racist reading list. The book is illustrated by Brian Pinkney and available from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

A glimpse into Loretta Little Looks Back:

“Right here, I’m sharing the honest-to-goodness.” — Loretta

“I’m gon’ reach back, and tell how it all went. I’m gon’ speak on it. My way.”— Roly

“I got more nerve than a bad tooth. But there’s nothing bad about being bold.” — Aggie B.

Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B., members of the Little family, each present the vivid story of their young lives, spanning three generations. Their separate stories–beginning in a cotton field in 1927 and ending at the presidential election of 1968–come together to create one unforgettable journey.

Through an evocative mix of fictional first-person narratives, spoken-word poems, folk myths, gospel rhythms and blues influences, Loretta Little Looks Back weaves an immersive tapestry that illuminates the dignity of sharecroppers in the rural South.

Inspired by storytelling’s oral tradition, stirring vignettes are presented in a series of theatrical monologues that paint a gripping, multidimensional portrait of America’s struggle for civil rights as seen through the eyes of the children who lived it.

Q&A with Andrea Davis Pinkney

MR: A hearty welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Andrea! First and foremost, I must tell you how much I adored Loretta Little. Not only was the format highly original, each of the three narrators—Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B.—has a remarkably distinctive voice. As a writer, this is no mean feat. What’s your secret for getting inside a character’s head?

So happy to be here, Mixed-Up Files! Thank you for inviting me to your party. I’m glad you enjoyed Loretta Little Looks Back. Actually, I don’t get inside characters’ heads – they inhabit my thoughts. And they bury themselves in my heart, too. I feel like Loretta Little Looks Back wrote itself. These kids just started talking to me, each in their own brassy ways. One by one, they walked up, stared me down, and spoke. And they wouldn’t stop! That’s when the writing began. Roly, Loretta, and Aggie B. compelled me to share their stories with other kids like them who are passionate about what they believe is right.

Balancing fact and fiction

MR: Speaking of Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B., I read in your author’s note that the characters are based on members of your family. Aggie B., for instance, is a composite of your aunt Katherine and your mother, Gwen. Real-life historical figures are featured in your novel, too, including civil-rights activists James Forman, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Charles McLaurin. The rural setting—Ruleville, Mississippi—is also real. What is the biggest challenge of blending—and balancing—fact and fiction?

Yes, this book’s branches come from the roots of my family tree. They spring from the lives and times of the kinfolk who raised me. I come from a long line of grass-roots civil rights organizers. When I was growing up, I heard my family’s stories on porches and at the supper table. Many of these ended up on the pages of this book. My late father marched with Dr. King, and my mom was one of the first Black members of the League of Women Voters, so blending fact and fiction came naturally.

Historical ground

MR: In this novel, you cover life-changing historical ground—particularly, the struggle for Black Americans to secure the right to vote. To point out one example, young social activist Aggie B. becomes one of the youngest members of SNCC (the student wing of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, organized by Ella Baker and SCLC’s founder, Martin Luther King, Jr.), and she later sustains a brutal beating as a result of her activism. What parallels do you see between the events you describe in Loretta Little Looks Back and the current call for racial equity via the Black Lives Matter movement?

One of my favorite scenes in Loretta Little Looks Back happens in 1964, when young Aggie B. accompanies her Aunt ‘Retta to a local SNCC meeting that is seeking volunteers to register to vote. It’s the Jim Crow south, so folks are reluctant. When they ask for a show of hands, nobody is brave enough – except Aggie. She says: My hand had a mind of its own. It raised itself so far, I thought my palm and fingers would fly off the top of my wrist! I knew that being only twelve years old, I was too young to register to vote. But my hand didn’t care about the age a person needed to be to help make things better.

This scene is punctuated by a painting of Aggie B. with an exaggerated hand that reaches its way off the page to bring visual power, affirming that the future is the hands of our kids. This is exactly what kids are doing today. They’re raising their hands to becoming change-agents. It’s young people who are out there right now on the sidewalks and streets, letting the world know their voices are important. These are the voters of tomorrow. It’s up to us adults to pull up a chair, and let them talk to us – and to listen!

Trust, hope, and stars

MR: Loss is an important theme in Loretta Little. The loss of a parent, of a spouse, of land, of basic human dignity, of hope… As Aggie B. says, “You can only see stars when the sky is the darkest.” What is the message you are trying to convey?

The Little family endures so much injustice. They transcend and triumph, too. One of the narrative elements that appears throughout their stories is the concept of “can’t see,” which refers to the dark hours right before the sun rises, when there are still stars in the sky, reminding us of hope. Daybreak always comes. Trusting in that is what hope and stars are all about.

Brian Pinkney and “the three C’s”

MR: As most kidlit afficionados know, you and your husband, illustrator Brian Pinkney, have published nearly 60 books between the two of you — Brian is you collaborator in art, and in life. [The Pinkneys have been together for 30 years and have been dubbed a “Picture Book Perfect Author-Illustrator Couple” by NPR.] How do you maintain a work/life balance? Also, how do you and Brian decide which projects to tackle? I’m guessing arm-wrestling is not involved. 🙂

Working with the one you love can be a beautiful experience — or a fast track to disaster! Brian and I have come up with some great strategies for making books while staying happily married. We have a weekly “meeting” each Saturday at our dining room table to review our projects, and to sit down together to talk about them.

Before and after the meeting, we don’t discuss work at all. Our weekly meetings are when we brainstorm project ideas. We have a running list. The ones that keep bubbling to the top are those we work on first. Others can linger for as long as a decade, and then, suddenly, something happens and we move ahead with one or two of those. At every stage of the creative process, we abide by “the three C’s” – Courtesy, Communication, Commitment. These simple words have been the key to keeping our love at the center of our creative lives together. We steer clear of arm-wrestling!

Andrea’s many hats

MR: In addition to writing children’s books, you are the Vice President and Executive Editor at Scholastic. This is a tricky balancing act as well. How do you separate “Andrea the Editor” from “Andrea the Writer”?

I like accessories, which is why I enjoy wearing a few different hats — author, editor, and publisher. These “hats” are all completely different. I’m seldom wearing more than one at the same time. As an early riser, I start writing when it’s dark outside around four in the morning, until around six, when the sun starts to rise. By full daylight, the “writer hat” comes off, and I slip into publisher/editor mode.

Writing is a solitary discipline that’s very introspective. As an editor and publisher, my primary purpose is to serve other writers. I’m the one who holds the flashlight while they do the digging. As a graduate school professor who teaches writing, I’ve become very accustomed to working with students, helping them tell their stories. The same rules apply with authors. I’m like the midwife. They’re the ones doing the hard work.

MR: And finally, I’m curious: There are three narrators in Loretta Little Looks Back. Why did you choose to single out Loretta in the title?

Loretta is the family griot, the storytelling presence that ignites the story, and keeps the narrative threads moving forward – she’s a powerful root of the Little family tree. Since the book is written as a series of theatrical monologues, Loretta is the first to present herself to the audience of readers. And she was the first to introduce herself to me on a cold early morning when she stepped up to my consciousness and said, “This is me, talking to you.”

MR: Oh! Last thing, Andrea. No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack? A Red Delicious apple.

Coffee or tea? Scalding water with lemon.

Favorite song? This Little Light of Mine.

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Big NAY!

Favorite word. Love!

Favorite place on earth? London, England.

You’re stranded on a desert island, with only three items in your possession. What are they? My husband and our two kids (who are neither “items” on “in my possession” but we have so much fun together, especially in island settings).

MR: Thank you for chatting with me, Andrea—and congratulations on the publication of Loretta Little Looks Back. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I know MUF readers will too!

Thank YOU, and happy reading!

And now… a fabulous

GIVEAWAY!!!

For a copy of Loretta Little Looks Back, comment on the blog–and, if you’re on Twitter, on the Mixed-Up Files Twitter account–for a chance to win!

Andrea’s bio

ANDREA DAVIS PINKNEY is the New York Times bestselling an award-winning author of numerous books for children and young adults. Her work has received multiple Coretta Scott King Book Award citations. She is a four-time nominee for the NAACP Image Award, and has been inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. Andrea is the recipient of both the Regina Medal and the Arbuthnot Honor Award for her distinguished and singular contribution to the field of children’s literature. She has been named among the “25 Most Influential People in our Children’s Lives” by Children’s Health magazine, and is listed among the “25 Most Influential Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal.

Andrea is the librettist for the Houston Grand Opera’s The Snowy Day, an opera based on the beloved bestselling children’s picture book classic The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. She has served on the creative teams for several theatrical and audio productions based on works for young people, including those drawn from her acclaimed books, Martin Rising: Requiem for a King, The Red Pencil, and Rhythm Ride: A Trip through the Motown Sound. Andrea lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and frequent collaborator, illustrator Brian Pinkney, and their two children. You can find Andrea on Twitter and Facebook.