Posts Tagged Book Giveaway

South Asian Storytelling: Author Interview with Rajani Narasimhan LaRocca, and Giveaway

By on February 3, 2021   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Diversity  

              

Today, I am delighted to welcome Rajani Narasimhan LaRocca to Mixed-Up Files to talk about her experience writing RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE ( Harper Collins, 2021).

  1. Tell us about your latest book, “Red, White, and Whole”. What inspired you to write this book?

Red, White, and Whole is set in 1983 and is about 13-year-old Reha, the child of Indian immigrants, who is torn between the worlds of her parents and immigrant community and her friends at school and 80s pop culture. But then her mother becomes seriously ill, and Reha is torn in a different way. The book involves the interplay between heritage and fitting in, science and poetry, 80s pop music and Hindu mythology. It’s about being caught between here and there, before and after, and finding a way to be whole.

The idea for Red, White, and Whole came to me as a metaphor: blood, and all that it means in terms of biology, heredity, and community bonds. I wanted to explore the immigrant experience from the inside—especially the personally resonant feeling of wondering whether you truly belong anywhere. The title refers to red and white blood cells and whole blood; the connotations of the colors red and white in Indian and American culture; and the colors of the American flag.

  

  1. How does your professional experience as a doctor inform you in your own writing?

Because of my background in science, I love incorporating STEM topics into my writing. My debut picture book, Seven Golden Rings (Lee & Low, 2020), features a math puzzle and an explanation of binary numbers. My second picture book, Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers (Charlesbridge, April 2021), involves very early math—pattern making. Another forthcoming picture book, The Secret Code Inside You (Little Bee Books, September 2021), explains the basics of DNA. And my third middle grade novel, Much Ado About Baseball (Yellow Jacket/Little Bee Books, June 2021), features kids who must solve math puzzles that may or may not be magical.

As I’ve already mentioned, the concept of blood is a major element in Red, White, and Whole. In the story, Reha’s mother is diagnosed with a blood cancer—acute myeloid leukemia, or AML. I did a lot of research into the disease and the treatments available in 1983, and I worked hard to make sure the medical aspects of the book were understandable to non-medical people. But the story doesn’t only explore illness. It also considers the normal functions of blood—to nourish, to heal, to protect—as a metaphor for Reha’s relationship with her mother.

  1. What was your writing process like for this story?

The writing process for this book was different from any of my other novels. I knew the general outline early on. I wanted to write this story in verse because that format, with its layers of imagery, sparse language, and use of metaphor, would allow me to tackle emotional topics without being too heavy-handed. I hoped that leaving more white space on the page would allow more room for readers to process what happens.

I had never written a novel in verse, so I read every verse novel for young readers that I could get my hands on. And in February 2019, I was lucky enough to attend a novel in verse workshop taught by Elizabeth Acevedo at the NY SCBWI conference. She gave the attendees some great tips, and we spent time analyzing excerpts from verse novels and doing a writing exercise. And a line from that exercise made it into the final version of my book!

Red, White, and Whole spent a long time in my head before I really got down to writing it. It became my “Friday night date” when I allowed myself to think about it while I worked on finishing another other novel.

Once I started writing Red, White, and Whole in December 2019, the story poured out of me in about six weeks. I was obsessed: I woke up thinking about it, and got flashes of inspiration in the middle of the night or when I was driving and had to dictate into my phone before the ideas disappeared. I had some topics that I knew would be poems from the beginning, and then I thought of other images and ideas that I wanted to explore, so I made a big list and wrote the poems as inspiration took me. Over time, I went back and put them in an order that made sense and filled in spots as needed. I asked a few trusted readers give me feedback. And then in mid-February 2020, I felt the novel was done and sent it to my agent.

  1. You have written for many different age levels from picture books to middle grade. Is there any age group you have most enjoyed working on the most? If so, why?

I’ve always been an omnivorous reader—even as a kid, I loved novels, nonfiction, comic books, comic strips . . . nearly everything. So it’s no surprise that now I’m an omnivorous writer, writing fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, poetry and prose.

I particularly love middle grade because the books I read from those years are the ones that have stayed in my heart. Middle grade readers are at such an important point in their lives: they seek connection with family and friends, strive to make a difference in the world, and care deeply about fairness and justice.

But I also love writing picture books—which are for children, of course, but also for the adults who read to them. And the final product, when a gifted artist illustrates your words, is nothing short of magical.

  1. What has writing this story taught you about yourself?

I knew Red, White and Whole was an ambitious project, and there were times when I was full of doubts. Did I know how to write a story in verse? Was it okay to set the novel in the 1980s? I’d put my heart and soul into this book, but would anyone else be interested in reading it?

But I couldn’t help myself—I had to write this story. And so I persevered through my doubts and allowed myself to be more vulnerable than ever before in my writing. Reha’s story is fictional, but some of the situations and many of the emotions in this book came straight from my own life.

And when I sent this book to my agent and we then sent it to editors, it became clear that this story did resonate with others—even those who don’t share my background or experiences. At its heart, this story is about love and family, friendship and belonging, and feeling pulled in different directions—and these are universal feelings, especially during adolescence.

So what did writing this book teach me? That it’s okay to be ambitious about a project. That I have the right to tell stories that are deeply meaningful to me. That baring my heart on the page can translate so that others feel it, too.

  1. What would you like to say to writers who are reading this interview and wondering if they’re good enough, or if their voices and stories matter?

There are stories that only you—you, with your own experiences, perspective, and skills—can write. So write them. Write them first for yourself, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Because the more specific and emotionally true a story is, the more universal it can become. And there are people who need your stories, even if they don’t know it yet.

 

Enter the giveaway for a copy of RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE by leaving a comment below.  You may earn extra entries by blogging/tweeting/facebooking the interview and letting us know. The winner will be determined on Monday, February 8th, 2021, and will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (US/Canada only) to receive the book.

Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning novels and picture books. She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, prose and poetry. She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks. To connect with Rajani and learn more about her and her books visit her at https://www.rajanilarocca.com/ or Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin

 

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GROUND ZERO –Interview and Giveaway with Author Alan Gratz

By on January 27, 2021   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways, New Releases  

I was thrilled to be able to read Alan Gratz’ new book, Ground Zero.  His books are so awesome! Such fun and exciting reads. And this one is no different. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to read about 9/11. Yes, it’s been 20 years, but like most of us, there are a lot of emotions tied up in that very difficult day. But Alan did a fantastic job with this book! He did a great job of handling the facts of the event, while masterfully weaving together two different action-packed stories. He kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. Of course, if you read Alan’s other books, you’ve seen this type of heart-pounding action before.

 

In time for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, master storyteller Alan Gratz (Refugee) delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear — and the stunning links between the past and present.

September 11, 2001, New York City: Brandon is visiting his dad at work, on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. Out of nowhere, an airplane slams into the tower, creating a fiery nightmare of terror and confusion. And Brandon is in the middle of it all. Can he survive — and escape?

September 11, 2019, Afghanistan: Reshmina has grown up in the shadow of war, but she dreams of peace and progress. When a battle erupts in her village, Reshmina stumbles upon a wounded American soldier named Taz. Should she help Taz — and put herself and her family in mortal danger?

Two kids. One devastating day. Nothing will ever be the same.

 

 

Reviews! 

“The pace is quick (don’t blink or you’ll miss something!), its emotions deeply authentic, and the highly visual settings resonate with accuracy. With a moving author’s note, pertinent back matter, and a surprise twist which brings the book full circle, Gratz delivers another winning read.” — Booklist, starred review

“Gratz’s deeply moving writing paints vivid images of the loss and fear of those who lived through the trauma of 9/11.” — Kirkus Reviews

 

Alan was gracious enough to answer a few of my questions about this amazing book:

Ground Zero was an amazing read, but a bit difficult for us who remember so vividly that very dark day. Was it hard to do the research for this book? To relive 9/11 all over again?

Yes. I thought, “Oh, twenty years have passed. This won’t be any harder than anything else I’ve written about.” But I was wrong. It was very difficult, emotionally, for me to research and write this book. 9/11 is still such a raw nerve for me, it turns out–and for many of us who lived through it. And I wasn’t even in New York or Pennsylvania or the Pentagon, and didn’t have my own personal connection to it! But like so many Americans, I felt like part of me had been carved out by the events of that day, and it took a long time to fill that hollowness back in. It turns out, it still hadn’t entirely been filled in. At the same time, I knew that for today’s middle schoolers, 9/11 is ancient history. It happened before they were born. They don’t have that same visceral reaction to reading about it or thinking about it as adults do. And it was important to try to show them how that feels for me and so many other adults, especially as many of us still have trouble talking about it.

I love how you weave two different storylines with their own characters together. You keep the suspense going in both at the same time. Do you write each storyline by itself first? Or do the two stories come to you at the same time?

When I’m writing multiple, parallel POVs, I start by researching and thinking about the story for each. I haven’t figured out every beat of the stories at this point; I don’t know every chapter. But I’ll figure out what the larger story is for each kid. I’m definitely looking for parallels throughout. “Oh, here they both see a helicopter. Oh, here they’re both trapped in a dark place underground. Oh, here they see their world come tumbling down.” Little parallels too. “Oh, here Brandon mentions toy Wolverine gloves, and here Reshmina puts sticks in between her fingers and pretends to attack her brother like a giant cat.” Then I’ll put together the individual chapter outline for one of the stories–often the first of the stories we’ll read in the book. In Refugee, that’s Josef’s story. In Grenade, it’s Hideki’s. In Ground Zero, it’s Brandon’s. I plot that story out all the way. Then I go back and start plotting the details of the next story. That way I can build in parallels and connections to the first, but with an idea already where I want to go overall. I think if I were building two or more stories at once, simultaneously, I might be too tempted to pull off in different directions that then don’t connect in the end. It’s tricky, but researching and having a strong idea of each story first and then building each one separately seems to work best for me. When I write the actual book though, I write it straight through, jumping from character to character, because I want the whole book to feel like one story. One novel. Not two or three separate stories I mashed together.

The storyline of the girl in Afghanistan is so vivid and real. Where did you find the research on Afghanistan? Did you contact people who lived there?

Thanks. For the Afghanistan War side of the story, I relied heavily on the amazing reporting that’s still being done by newspapers and magazines and radio and TV networks around the world. That war’s been going on so long that there are already lots of books about it too. And thanks to contacts I’ve made at UNICEF due to my work with Refugee, I was also able to speak via Zoom with the UNICEF team on the ground in Afghanistan to get a better idea about the situation there now. The World Trade Center side of the story has of course been covered extensively here in the United States. I read a number of books that went into great detail about what happened before, during, and after that day, but it was the first hand accounts from survivors that were the most important part of my research. Everything that happens in my story really happened to people inside the Twin Towers that day.

You write about some amazing places in the world, not just in this book, but in all of your books. How do you learn so much about them to give such distinct details? Are you able to visit them?

I almost never get to visit the places I write about, unless it’s after the fact! Which I regret. But my deadlines are often such that I don’t have a lot of time to travel as a part of my research, and of course there’s the cost of visiting far-flung places. I wish I could! In the case of Afghanistan, of course, that’s not a place I would visit now even if I could. The 2020 Global Peace Index ranks Afghanistan as the most dangerous country in the world. I hope Afghanistan is one day peaceful again, and that I’m able to visit. To make up for not visiting, I try to learn as much about a place and a people as possible through books and interviews and other media. Not just the historical events I’m writing about, but everything from the food they eat to the religion they practice to the music they make and the stories they tell. And more, of course. Not all of that will make it into the book, of course. It can’t. But I want to get to know a place and a people as much as possible before I write about them. Most importantly, that includes how they think. It’s a terrible mistake to assume that another culture shares the same attitudes and beliefs and values that you do–and worse, to assume that YOUR attitudes and beliefs and values are the “right” ones. In everything I read and learn about a place and a people, I’m trying to empathize with them as much as possible, and see life through their eyes, not mine. That is, after all, what I’m hoping to help my young readers see too.

I have read that you use a storyboard to brainstorm ideas and write extensive outlines for your books before you even start writing. How does that help you to see the story?

Outlining helps me see the larger path a story is taking. It helps me see the plot twists and emotional beats in a story from high above, and make sure I have those well-paced throughout the story. Outlining helps me see if I’ve taken too long to move from Act One to Act Two, if I’m spending too long (or too short a time) in Act Two, and if Act Three is too quick or too slow. I can see the parallels I build into my multiple POV stories. Outlining also helps me keep track of secondary characters and storylines, and make sure I haven’t gone too long without returning to them. My outline board helps me save time too. I don’t end up doing as much wholesale rewriting when I have taken the time to hammer out plot decisions in advance. I still do a LOT of rewriting, of course. And some of the outlined plot will change in revisions. But I can generally get most of the big problems figured out before I ever write the first word of the actual book.

Do you have any tips to give writers who might like to write books like yours?

I like the way you ask that: “writers who might like to write books like mine.” Because there are as many different ways to write books as there are authors, of course, and no one way is the right way. But if you’re looking to write books like I do… Get to the action early and often. Be accurate where it matters, but don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. Make your story more about the individual characters than the moment in history. And perhaps most importantly, have something to say. Don’t just tell an action-packed story. Have a theme. A message beyond the action and the thrills. Refugee challenges young readers to see the plight of otherwise invisible refugees and open their hearts and communities to them. Grenade says, “Hey, war isn’t all fun and games, and look what happens to the people caught in the middle.” Allies says we’re stronger when we work together. And similarly, Ground Zero says “It’s not us against the world. It has to be everyone, working together. That’s how we survive.” What is your story about? Answer that, and make sure you return to that question or idea or theme throughout your book. Then you’ll have a book your readers really can’t put down.

 Excellent interview, Alan! Thanks so much. Alan’s publisher, Scholastic Press is offering a giveaway of 1 copy of the book. To enter, leave a comment below and/or tag @mixedupfiles on Twitter. 

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Interview with Anne O’Brien Carelli on Brave Girls in History + Giveaway

By on December 21, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

I’m thrilled to share an interview with the fantastic middle-grade author Anne O’Brien Carelli. Anne’s debut novel, SKYLARK AND WALLCREEPER, came out the same year as my debut novel, THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, and I fell in love with the book’s characters. In the book, Anne brilliantly parallels the story of a girl helping the resistance during World War II and a girl trying to help her grandmother during Hurricane Sandy in New York. Anne has continued to write books about young girls in historical times, with two more released this year, ONE LIGHT and BENEATH THE HEART. I asked Anne about her new books and her writing choices.

Hey Anne! Welcome to From the Mixed Up Files.

Skylark and Wallcreeper by Anne O'Brien CarelliYou once told me that your brand has become “brave girls in danger (and spying!)” and that’s so true! What draws you to writing historical MG fiction and especially these types of stories with spying and brave girls?

Thank you, Samantha. I had not intended for that to be my brand, but it appears that I tend to write about courageous girls who are in the midst of challenging historical events like the French Resistance or the Revolutionary War. I have always loved history and have had a lifelong fascination with the WWII Resistance, plus my favorite museum is the International Spy Museum, so I guess it was inevitable that I write about those things!

ONE LIGHT and SKYLARK AND WALLCREEPER are set during WWII and your latest novel, BENEATH THE HEART, is set during the Revolutionary War. Why did you choose these wars to be the backdrop for these stories?

SKYLARK AND WALLCREEPER is about a girl who is helping to evacuate her grandmother during Hurricane Sandy in New York City and discovers that her granny was a spy in WWII. The story came from a conversation with a nurse who was responsible for relocating 400 elderly residents during the hurricane. I combined that event with the French Resistance in a story that goes back and forth between 2011 and 1945. ONE LIGHT is a companion Resistance novel with a young girl who helps Jewish refugee children who are hiding in the cellar of a monastery. All of these stories are based on the actual involvement of children in the Resistance. I don’t think kids get enough credit for how brave they can be!

BENEATH THE HEARTOne Light by Anne O'Brien Carelli came from the amazing discovery that my ancestors owned the house and barn that were used as the American headquarters on the Saratoga battlefield during the Revolutionary War. That fact is especially remarkable because I’m originally from Michigan and moved to the Saratoga area before I knew of my family history! When I walked that land, I wondered what it would be like to be a twelve-year-old girl living in that house, and a story was born.

These books must need a lot of research. What’s your biggest tip on researching?

Primary sources are the best, and fascinating to read. I always try to dig out journals, patents, newspapers, maps, and other publications of the time period. Plenty of them are online now, but museum curators, reference librarians, and college professors are always happy to help you do some digging. (But be careful not to exclaim, “Wow!” when you discover something surprising while conducting research in a quiet library.) My favorite “deep dive” was when a curator and I unearthed the black lace coat of the suffragist Susan B. Anthony in the Seneca Falls Historical Society attic. Very cool.

Historical fiction has its own challenges in that you’re still fictionalizing real historical events. How do you figure out what kind of fictional story you want to layer over the real history?

My stories are always based on historical facts, including references to clothing, transportation, language, food, and other details. I like to put children in the middle of historical events and provide them with problems to solve. Since I rarely outline my books in advance, my characters generally take over the story and off we go!

Beneath the Heart by Anne O'Brien CarelliSKYLARK AND WALLCREEPER, your debut novel, was published in 2018 through Little Bee Book’s Yellow Jacket imprint. For your next two novels, you chose to self-publish. Could you tell us about that decision and the differences between the two?

This was a big decision and the pandemic clinched it. I had worked with traditional publishers when I was writing nonfiction for adults but entered the world of children’s literature at a late age. I was thrilled when Little Bee published SKYLARK, but the publishing world operates at a slow pace and I’m not a spring chicken, so after a long discussion with my wonderful, supportive agent I decided to publish books myself. It has been challenging to handle the details and marketing, but I love the freedom of publishing according to my schedule. I could never have pursued this route if I hadn’t met so many incredible writers, teachers, librarians, and readers when I first started this journey.

I know you’re always working on a number of projects. What can we look forward to seeing from you next?

I just finished THE SKELETON’S GOLD, which is a story told by a fourteen-year-old boy in the Civil War. It’s based on a little-known robbery in 1864 and it was so much fun to write! It will be released in the spring of 2021. (There are brave girls in that one, too.) A new middle grade book that is about two friends who bond over experiences with the tragedy of September 11th and a refugee’s journey, will be published after that. A lot of the story is based on personal experience and my years of working with refugee children. And there are many other works in progress!

These sound wonderful. Thank you, Anne!

Check out Anne O’Brien Carelli’s books on her website, and click the links in this interview purchase copies. Plus, make sure you enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a paperback copy of ONE LIGHT and BENEATH THE HEART. Ends Dec. 31. U.S. and Canada only.

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