Today, Melissa Roske chats with kidlit author Britnee Meiser about her upper MG debut, All My Bests, which follows the up-and-down friendship—and burgeoning romance—of two high school freshmen, Immie Meadows and Jack Marshall, best friends since the age of seven. Hailed by Kirkus as “An emotional story that beautifully encompasses many sensitive topics,” the novel is out now from Aladdin.
Interview with Britnee Meiser
Melissa: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Britnee. It’s a pleasure to have you here!
Britnee: Thanks Melissa! It’s an honor to be here.
All My Bests
Melissa: First, congratulations on the publication of All My Bests. It’s not a short book – almost 400 pages – but I gobbled it up in just a few sittings. Can you give our readers a brief summary?
Britnee: All My Bests is about Immie and Jack, who’ve been best friends since childhood, navigating their freshman year of high school and all the changes that come along with it. They’re making new friends, trying new things, and learning that their feelings for each other might run deeper than they thought. But what does that mean for their friendship?
You’re right that it’s not a short book, and would you believe that it was originally even longer? My editor and I cut over fifty pages from the final draft. I’m glad the page count didn’t deter you!
Melissa: On the surface, the main characters of your novel have little in common. Immie is an introverted bookworm who’s obsessed with taxidermy butterflies and dead queens; Jack is a popular soccer player who struggles in school. Yet their similarities outweigh their differences. Can you tell us more about this unlikely pair of BFFs?
Britnee: Absolutely. I think a big part of it is that Immie and Jack have the same sense of humor––quick, dry, at times absurd––and that can bring even the unlikeliest pair together. But on a deeper level, Immie and Jack are each other’s safe space. Each offers what the other feels like they lack in life. For Jack, that’s peace and quiet. For Immie, it’s devotion and companionship. Jack’s home life (not to mention his mind) is chaos, but Immie makes him feel calm. Immie, on the other hand, is used to feeling misunderstood and overlooked, but Jack knows and loves her for exactly who she is. They have so much chemistry, which made their scenes together really fun to write.
It Takes Two
Melissa: As above, All My Bests is told from the perspectives of Immie and Jack, who have been best friends since childhood. What was the impetus behind writing a dual-POV novel? Also, what was your writing process like? Did you write Immie’s section and then Jack’s? The other way around? Or did you alternate?
Britnee: I’ll start by saying that writing dual-POV, particularly in overlapping timelines, is not for the faint of heart. Every single detail in Immie’s section had to match Jack’s section exactly, except for a few purposeful moments of miscommunication. It was tedious! And difficult! I wrote Immie’s section first, then Jack’s, then did several rounds of revisions on Immie’s section only (to iron out the details), and then did a final revision of Jack’s. Immie’s letter was the very first thing I wrote, and Jack’s letter was the last. It felt important to tell both of their stories thoroughly, as opposed to just getting the story from one side, because as the book hopefully illustrates, you never know what someone might be going through––even someone close to you.
The Sound of Music
Melissa: In addition to friendship and romance, music factors heavily into the book— particularly songs from the early aughts, as evidenced by the CDs Immie receives from her mom. What is it about the music from this time period that speaks to you personally and as an author?
Britnee: Indie music from the early aughts shaped the person, and writer, I am today. I spent my formative tween/teen years blogging to the soundtrack of my iTunes library, which was sacred to me. I feel like discovering and listening to music back then was a much more involved experience. We didn’t have Spotify or Apple Music to introduce us to new artists; we had to go out and find them on our own. For me, that meant scouring the depths of Myspace and Tumblr, looking up movie soundtracks, and religiously checking the events calendar at my local music venue––The Chameleon Club, may she rest in peace––to see who was playing. I was fourteen, the same age as Immie and Jack in the novel, when I saw my first show there, and it rewired my brain chemistry.
The Social Currency of Secrets
Melissa: Another important theme in your book is secret keeping. I’ll avoid spoilers, but let’s just say… both Immie and Jack have a lot they’re not telling each other. What were you trying to say about the nature of secrets, and about secret keeping in general?
Britnee: Secrets are social currency, especially for teens and tweens. The more you know someone’s secrets, the stronger your relationship will be–at least, in theory. I think it can be incredibly difficult to reveal your deepest secrets to the people closest to you, because you want them to think the best of you, and you don’t want to feel judged. What if telling your best friend your secret fundamentally changes your relationship? Is honesty always the best policy, or are some things better left unsaid? That’s sort of the question at the core of this novel. I wanted to explore what happens when two people who supposedly know each other very well––and take pride in that––don’t actually know as much as they thought.
The MG/YA Divide
Melissa: With a pair of high school-age protagonists and a hearty dose of romance and other PG-13 behavior (i.e., kissing, unsupervised parties, a veiled reference to drinking), All My Bests straddles the line between MG and YA. Was this your intention or something that happened organically? Also, in these scary times of book banning, have you gotten any pushback from parents and educators?
Britnee: It was definitely intentional. YA is getting more mature, prioritizing older teens and “spice,” and a lot of middle grade veers younger. There seems to be a lack of contemporary stories geared toward tweens and young teens who don’t want super mature themes but have also aged out of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I wanted to write about ninth grade in a way that felt true to the experience, so including certain PG-13 behavior was inevitable. Book-banning puritans might want to pretend that fourteen-year-olds aren’t kissing each other, or that they’ve never even heard of alcohol, but they would be wrong. I haven’t gotten any pushback yet, but if it happens, I’ll be ready to fight against censorship and defend kids’ rights to access stories that might make them feel seen and understood.
Witches of Peculiar
Melissa: Although All My Bests is your MG debut, you’re also the author of the popular chapter book series, Witches of Peculiar, written under the pseudonym Luna Graves. First, can you tell us a bit about the series? And second, what prompted your decision not to use a pseudonym this time?
Britnee: Witches of Peculiar follows the (mis)adventures of eleven-year-old twin witches Bella and Donna Maleficent as they navigate their first year at Y.I.K.E.S.S.S. (Yvette I. Koffin’s Exceptional School for Supernatural Students). They live in Peculiar, Pennsylvania, where their suburban monster community hides in plain sight––a tricky situation for Bella and Dee, who don’t quite have a handle on their witchcraft yet. The series is such a blast to write! It’s equal parts spooky and silly, and I love leaning into the little details that make the world come alive. For example, Bella and Dee’s vampire friend Charlie wears “sunscream,” a special, ultra-powerful sunscreen that allows vampires to walk in the sun. I chose to write Witches under a pseudonym because I wanted it to exist in its own universe, like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Age Is Just a Number
Melissa: I read in your bio that you graduated college in 2017 and published your first children’s novel just five years later. What’s it like to have experienced publishing success at such a young age? (I’m not asking out of jealousy, I swear! 🙂)
Britnee: This question is really validating for me, because, thanks to social media, I see people getting book deals at 20, 21, 22, and I feel like I, at 29, am late to the game! So it’s a nice reminder that everybody’s timeline is different, especially in publishing. Whenever I want to compare myself, all I have to do is think about the stuff I was writing in college––more specifically, how much I thought I knew about writing and life––and I remember how glad I am most of it never saw the light of day. I’m growing and learning all the time, and I’m grateful for the experiences that led me here, because they have undoubtedly shaped the kind of stories I want to tell.
Britnee’s Writing Life
Melissa: What does your writing routine look like, Britnee? Do you have any particular rituals?
Britnee: Strangely enough, my process is different for every book I write. All My Bests was mostly written between the hours of 7 p.m. and 2 a.m., when everyone around me was asleep. I had a detailed, chapter-by-chapter outline that I worked from, but I ended up scrapping a lot of it as I moved from draft to draft. Also, I had the show Modern Family on in the background a lot of the time, because it’s my comfort show, and I need to write to noise!
In general, when I’m working on a deadline (either one from my publisher or one I set for myself), I calculate approximately how many pages I’ll need to write per day to meet the deadline, and I mostly stick to it. As far as rituals go, I start every day with a long walk, because I have a dog, and she demands it. I usually listen to an audiobook while I walk, which helps clear my mind.
Melissa: What are you working on now? Enquiring Mixed-Up minds want to know!
Britnee: I’m in the middle of edits for my next upper-MG novel, Jane Stays Dreaming. I’ve been saying it’s a bit like if the protagonist in Jane Austen’s Emma was a fifteen-year-old girl on Tumblr in the early 2010s. It’s fun, it’s full of complicated relationship dynamics, and it will be out next fall from Aladdin!
Lightning Round!
And finally, no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…
Preferred writing snack? Seltzer water and kettle chips. Hal’s sea salt and cracked pepper is a recent favorite.
Coffee or tea? To quote Lorelai Gilmore: coffee coffee coffee!
Favorite band from the early aughts? Death Cab for Cutie. Emo forever ❤️
Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Nay. I am realistic about my chances of survival.
Superpower? Controlling plants and manipulating nature, like Layla from Sky High.
Favorite place on earth? Sag Harbor, New York, especially in the winter.
If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be? My dog; Memory & Dream by Charles de Lint; and a magic microwave that produces the perfect bowl of mac and cheese whenever I opened it.
MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Britnee—and congratulations on the publication of All My Bests. I’m sure Mixed-Up readers will enjoy it as much as I did!
Britnee: Thanks so much Melissa! I had a blast, and I really appreciate you asking such thoughtful questions.
All About Britnee
Britnee Meiser is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Her chapter book series, WITCHES OF PECULIAR, is published under a pseudonym by Simon & Schuster/Aladdin. The series has been featured in Forbes, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal. Previously, Britnee’s work has been featured in i-D Magazine, shop TODAY, and The Wild Honey Pie, among other publications. Britnee is a 2017 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Fiction Writing and Communication. She also holds a publishing certificate from NYU. Learn more about Britnee on her website and find her on Instagram, Tiktok, and Twitter.
I recently went on an impromptu trip to Colorado that changed the way I think of the word “adventure.”
A buddy of mine has had a rough summer full of the kind of life that starts to get to you after a while, and really wanted to head out to the mountains and spend a few days recuperating in the great outdoors. So we packed up a couple tents, a few sleeping bags, and headed out. And while we were out there hiking backwoods and swinging in hammocks and sitting around campfires, I started thinking about the whole genre of middle grade adventure. How it’s like that unplanned, unexpected trip into the unknown, and what makes that special. Why the books I remember so fondly from my youth books contained stories of expansive journeys and daring-dos, and why, after all these years, I came back to take kids on similar adventures.
On our little excursion, I too had some things niggling at the back of my mind, coloring the world around me. Questions about how to handle things of life, worries about what to do in situations that were waiting for me back home. But it was the color of those lenses that affected my thinking, my experience. This was true of my friend, as well. The new experiences of our short adventure—though far more limited in scope than the stories of, say, Fablehaven, Keeper of the Lost Cities, or Peasprout Chen—helped me process and make decisions I was avoiding. It was clarifying, and made our trip all the sweeter.
This is the power of fiction: to take us on an unexpected, uncertain journey, to change our hearts and introduce us to new friends. Kids need those adventures. And middle grade fiction is specially positioned to 