Posts Tagged New Releases

Author Spotlight: Chris Lynch

By on March 6, 2024   /   Author Interviews  

Best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning YA novels, including Freewill, a Printz Honor Book, and Iceman, Gypsy Davey, Shadow Boxer—all ALA Best Books for Young Adults—as well as Killing Time in Crystal City, Little Blue Lies, Pieces, Kill Switch, Angry Young Man, and Inexcusable, which was a National Book Award finalist, author Chris Lynch has ventured into the brave world of middle grade! His new middle grade novel, Walkin’ the Dog (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), bounds into the world on March 12. So, SIT back, relax… and STAY for this treat-worthy interview!

But first…

A Summary

In a family of strong personalities with very strong points of view, Louis is what his mother lovingly calls “The Inactivist”–someone who’d rather kick back than stand out. He only hopes he can stay under the radar when he starts high school in the fall, his first experience with public school after years of homeschooling. But when a favor for a neighbor and his stinky canine companion unexpectedly turns into a bustling dog-walking business, Louis finds himself meeting an unprecedented number of new friends–both human and canine. But is Louis ready to learn the lesson he needs most: how to stop being a lone wolf and become part of a pack?

Interview with Chris Lynch

MR: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Chris—and huge congratulations on your first middle-grade novel!

CL: Thank you very much. I should probably clarify, some of my earliest young adult titles from the 90s might be considered MG by today’s standards as well. But fair enough, I think YA would rightly be considered my wheelhouse for much of my career. As I tell my own students, I generally have one of two protagonists in my head when a story occurs to me. One is 13, and the other is 17. I mostly let those two fight it out for ownership of the story.

Walkin’ the Dog: Inspiration

MR: Could you tell MUF readers a bit about Walkin’ the Dog as well as the inspiration behind it?

CL: Walkin’ The Dog went through countless transformations since I signed the book up way back in 2015. At one point I shifted to wanting to tell the story of a kid who was merely a bystander in life, wanting to keep to himself. Obviously, that would make for a fairly dull storyline. My editor, Kendra Levin, was rather insistent that the book also have a vehicle for delivering my ideas and the character’s journey to eventually being a citizen of the world. As it happens, I have long held the notion that dog walkers make the world go round (“…the dead body/crime scene/burning vehicle/stranded swimmer etc was found by dog walkers early this morning…”) and thought I might build a narrative on that. So, what better way to get a guy out of the house, interacting with people and society and adventures and canines, than that?

Meet The Inactivist

MR: Louis, the main character of your novel, is a risk-averse, self-described bystander. Because of this, his mom—an advocate at a women’s shelter—has nicknamed him “The Inactivist.” At first glance, this would make Louis an unlikable protagonist—but he’s not. How did you pull this off?

CL: Did I pull it off? Thanks. I suppose it has to do with the fact that I recognize Louis’ approach to life, having never been much of an activist type myself. But also, I think he is more broadly identifiable than that. He knows his flaws and weaknesses, acknowledges them to other characters and readers, and even tries to rationalize them as much as he can before we see the tide of human existence (and dogs) drawing him irresistibly outward. We can see that his resistance and isolationism are doomed.

MR: Louis has a lot going on in his life, including worries about his mom. When we first meet her, she’s receiving in-patient treatment for an addiction to pain pills, brought on by an injury she sustained during an altercation at her workplace. This would be disturbing for any child, but it’s particularly hard on Louis. Can you tell us more about that?

CL: While Louis has largely been in retreat from the world and his mother has been much the opposite (she is the one who gave him the nickname, The Inactivist), he has always admired and counted on her activism. Her getting knocked down, and knocked back by events is deeply unsettling to his own sense of security and confidence.

Understanding Addiction

MR: As a follow-up, what kind of research did you do to better understand the impact of addiction on children and families?

CL: Even casual students of the human condition cannot help to see the variety and intensity of addictions tormenting our kind. I feel as if I have been writing about this in various forms for much of my professional life. I find it hard to imagine any novelist not being pulled right in by this topic. Murder stories have their obvious fascination, but for me they don’t have the same power as the drive of addiction, the need for us to get outside of ourselves, get away from ourselves somehow, by any means necessary. Gambling, cigarettes, opioids, all have that same skeleton inside them.

Sibling Rivalry

MR: Louis has two siblings with whom he often butts heads: his younger-but-acts-middle-aged sister, Faye, and his tough-guy older brother, Ike. Like Louis, both characters are flawed but endearing. What were you trying to say about the nature of sibling relationships in general—and this one in particular?

CL: I loved Faye from the start. Just felt I knew her, her hard outer shell and soft inside, her humor most of all. Ike was a tougher sell, to myself. I think it’s a mistake to attempt to write a character you completely dislike, and with Ike I came dangerously close. But in revision I looked for more of Ike’s humanity, of his own frailty, and of Louis’ appreciation of that. That is reality. That is the nuance of human relationships, and a novelist must never lose that. Also, I am one of seven siblings.

Doggy Love

MR: Let’s turn our attention to the co-stars of this novel… dogs! Clearly, you have a strong affection for our four-legged (and in one case, three-legged) friends. What is it about dogs that makes the human heart go mushy? And what prompted you to explore the theme of human-canine attachment? Are you a dog parent yourself?

CL: This one is hard. I am a dog parent. Dexter, my close pal of 13-plus years, who is in the book’s author photo with me, had to be put down a week ago. I feel like I can remember every minute of his whole life. So this human heart is pretty mushy. I have a theory that the reason, generally, why we are such saps for them is that they utterly convince us that they adore and need us unconditionally. They are brilliant at it. Even if the reality is that it’s a wholly treats-and-comforts based relationship on their part, they are geniuses at making us believe in this entirely. And you know, it’s my theory, after all, and I still fall for it over and over and over, every day.

MR: I’m so sorry about Dexter, Chris. Would you indulge me another dog-related question?According to Louis’s sister, Faye, “All dogs are guide dogs in the end.” What did she (okay, you) mean by this?

CL: Dexter and his main predecessor, Chunk, guided us on an almost unbroken twenty-eight-year journey through these lives. Chunk was originally acquired to help my kids with the transition from one country to another. She shepherded us from the kids’ first weeks in Irish primary school, all the way through to Scottish university, the empty nest, the first grandchild. One month into the new reality for all of us, Chunk slipped away, mission accomplished.

Three months later I shocked myself—and everybody else—by concluding that I needed a dog beside me through the days. I needed the rhythm of the walks, the warmth, goofiness, fun of it all. So Dexter signed on and saw me through everything the next decade plus brought—car accidents, eye operations, heart failure, and what might be considered a professional period in the wilderness. Whenever I reached, I found Dex. He earned that spot in the author photo, on the book with all the dogs in it. I’m not going to say that it’s a shame he died a month too early to see it. He was far too modest to have cared about all that. And he didn’t much like dogs the last few years, either.

Middle Grade: The Journey

MR: As stated in the intro, you are best known for your critically acclaimed, award-winning YA novels. With that in mind, what made you decide to try your hand at middle grade? What’s biggest challenge when writing for a younger readership? The greatest reward?

 CL: I suppose I have been doing both all along—such is the fluid nature of categories, I suppose. As I tell my students, the greatest challenge with MG is to be able to touch and move young readers just as deeply as adults, while working with a much more limited linguistic palette. Otherwise, you’re cheating. The greatest reward is that the young readers who are willing to come along on the journey care so much about your story. It is a great motivator, not wanting to let them down.

Write this Way

MR: What does your writing routine look like? Do you have any particular rituals?

CL: I lost the most structured of my rituals when I became an empty nester. I used to write strictly around the kids’ school days. That was seriously helpful to my mental discipline. I drifted for a solid two years trying to adjust after that. My wife is a teacher, so I can sort of simulate that, still. But I’m onto my tricks. Even so, I have a lot of time and space to structure things to my liking, with dog walks and gym trips vital to keeping things ticking over. The early part of the day (my former strength) can be meandering now. But the odd nap is quite the tonic, after which I am newly charged. Between lunch and dinner hours are far and away my best these days.

Next Up…

MR: What are you working on now, Chris? Enquiring Mixed-Up Files readers want to know…

 CL: Working on an adult novel which I cannot discuss too much because if it’s too early I tend to feel talking it out is the same as writing it out.

But I can talk about my next middle grade, since that’s more advanced. It’s called Badges, and it’s with Kendra Levin and Simon & Schuster again. It’s about a wild tearaway kid who finds himself in front of a judge who offers him an alternative sentence that requires him to achieve a certain number of Scout badges, directly related to the many offenses he has piled up.

Lightning Round!

And finally, no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack?

Corn cakes and hot salsa.

Favorite breed of dog?

So many, honestly. I’m all over the place on that, because so many breeds appeal in so many different ways. But since my remaining pal, Selkie, is a Lurcher (Greyhound/Saluki cross), and she’s always looking over my shoulder, I’m going to say, Lurcher.

Superpower?

Depends on whether you mean, 1) superpower I possess, or 2) superpower I would opt for if given the choice.

  1. I’m a good listener.
  2. Every writer would benefit from invisibility.

Favorite place on earth?

Anyplace with a dog and a deserted seashore. Also, Edinburgh.

 Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay?

Yea, bring it on. Humanity needs a start-over.

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be?

A solar powered radio with satellite or longwave or whatever I’d need for decent reception; a loaded eReader, likewise solar; a pizza.

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Chris. It was a pleasure, and I’m sure MUF readers will agree!

 CL: And thank you. It was tougher going than most of these things, but no less rewarding for that.

Bio:

Chris Lynch (pictured here with his dearly missed pal, Dexter) is the award–winning author of highly acclaimed young adult novels, including Printz Honor Book Freewill, Iceman, Gypsy Davey, and Shadow Boxer—all ALA Best Books for Young Adults—as well as Killing Time in Crystal City, Little Blue Lies, Pieces, Kill Switch, Angry Young Man, and Inexcusable, which was a National Book Award finalist and the recipient of six starred reviews. Walkin’ the Dog is his new middle-grade novel. Chris holds an MA from the writing program at Emerson College and teaches in the creative writing MFA program at Lesley University. He lives in Boston and in Scotland.

 

Melissa Roske is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, she interviewed real ones as a journalist in Europe. In London she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine. Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines, selected jokes for Reader’s Digest (just the funny ones), and received certification as a life coach from NYU. In addition to her debut novel Kat Greene Comes Clean (Charlesbridge), Melissa’s short story “Grandma Merle’s Last Wish” appears in the Jewish middle-grade anthology, Coming of Age: 13 B’Nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman). Learn more about Melissa on her Website and follow her on  Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Interview with author Linda Williams Jackson

By on February 29, 2024   /   Author Interviews  

As a huge fan of Linda Williams Jackson’s previous middle-grade novels (The Lucky Ones, Midnight without a Moon, A Sky Full of Stars), her latest book, Saving Jimmy, met—and exceeded—my expectations. With a flawed-but-endearing protagonist and a cast of memorable characters, both living and dead, the story won my heart from page one.

But before we chat with Linda, first…

Saving Jimmy: A Summary

Life isn’t easy for 12-year-old Jimmy Lee Easton. People are constantly mistaking her for a boy, and her mama hovers over her like the Secret Service. Her great-aunt Millie constantly hounds her to “get it right with Jesus before it’s everlastingly and eternally too late,” and Jimmy’s not sure whether her best friend really likes her or simply lets her tag along out of pity. But when Jimmy Lee suddenly finds herself facing eternity with a life-or-death choice to make, she questions whether her life on earth was so bad after all.

MR: Welcome back to the Mixed-Up Files, Linda. I’m so glad you could join us again!

LWJ: Thanks, Melissa! It’s always a pleasure!

The Story Behind the Story

MR: As stated above, Saving Jimmy is about a young girl’s journey to the afterlife. What was the inspiration behind the book?

LWJ:  In 2012, I had a friend die from cancer. She was a mother of three. One of her children was in elementary school, and another was in preschool. We prayed diligently that she would be healed from her cancer, and when she wasn’t, I was devastated. I remember having a conversation with her one very cold winter day, and she said that she thought about how much easier it would be to just go outside in the cold and freeze to death rather than keep fighting to live.

Then, right after she seemed to be getting better, she took a turn for the worse. After she died, I couldn’t help but wonder whether she had gotten an early glimpse of an afterlife and chosen that life instead of the one she was living: “What if” people on the brink of life or death get to choose which way to go? And “what if” if they choose the afterlife rather than the current life regardless of how much they know their loved ones will miss them? I know it’s farfetched, but isn’t that what fiction is all about—imagining the “what ifs”?

All About Jimmy Lee

MR: Can you tell us about the protagonist, Jimmy Lee Easton?

LWJ: I love writing (and reading) fiction from the perspective of middle-grade children, so I chose a 12-year-old girl as the storyteller. I also chose to give her a name that was a little offbeat because I have a friend with an offbeat name, and people often get her name wrong. In Jimmy Lee’s case, people assume she’s a boy, which doesn’t really bother her since she is named after her daddy—a fact that she is quite proud of—until she isn’t (no spoilers).

MR: A related question: What drives Jimmy Lee to make the choices she makes?

LWJ: For starters, Jimmy Lee wants so badly to be like her friend Danielle; to have a cool mama who lets her wear makeup, go to movies, and hang out with friends. In general, just be a kid. But she can’t because her mama is ruled by their aunt Millie, a religious zealot. Her mama is also ruled by fear that Jimmy Lee will make the same “mistake” she made and ruin her life. So, in the opening pages, Jimmy Lee is thrilled to finally have the chance to go on a school field trip without her mama tagging along. Of course, things don’t go as smoothly as she hoped, and Jimmy Lee finds herself in a predicament that she has to grapple with throughout the story.

Character Creation

MR: Speaking of Jimmy Lee, at the beginning of the story she’s not particularly likeable; she thinks her classmate A.J. is as ugly as a “twenty-year-old bulldog,” and refers to another classmate as “Poop Boy,” due to his rancid breath. As the novel progresses, though, Jimmy Lee transforms into a kinder, gentler person. How did you accomplish this writerly feat? 

LWJ: What? You didn’t like Jimmy Lee??? Fair enough. I didn’t like Gilly Hopkins either, but I loved the story told about her. Nor did I like Katniss Everdeen, but I read all three of The Hunger Games books. But I digress. About Jimmy Lee…

Hurt people hurt people. Although Jimmy Lee thinks that A. J. looks like a twenty-year-old bulldog, she never actually says it. A. J., on the other hand, doesn’t hold back her contempt for Jimmy Lee, and she insults her figure, which is a bit on the round side. So, Jimmy Lee is only responding to the antagonism directed toward her, and in her thoughts only.

The story of Poop Boy

As for Poop Boy, well, she could have been nicer. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Poop Boy was actually supposed to smell like bacon. One day I left my laptop open while I went to take a break from writing (I don’t usually do that), and my daughter began reading what was on the page and decided to change “bacon” to “poop.” When I saw it, I burst out laughing and said, “I can’t have her say that!” Then I thought, “Why not?” So that’s why Leonard is Poop Boy instead of Bacon Boy. Besides, I doubt someone smelling like bacon would have the same impact on the reader as someone smelling like poop. Sorry!

Going back to the saying, “Hurt people hurt people,” Jimmy Lee is frustrated by the close relationship that her best friend Danielle has with A. J. Plus, A. J. had tricked her. So how did she respond to being hurt? She dished out pain to someone else. This is not a good response, unfortunately, but she does learn her lesson. I am constantly around children of this age group. Some of them wear a permanent frown and are not friendly toward anyone. My first thought about these children is, “Who (or what) is hurting them?”

Imperfect but Lovable

MR: As a follow-up, is there a secret to creating flawed-but-lovable characters?

LWJ: How do you make a flawed character lovable? Why do we like Gilly Hopkins even though she’s meaner than a rattlesnake? Because Gilly Hopkins has been hurt. Why do we like Katniss Everdeen even though she treats her own mom with contempt? Because Katniss has been hurt. A flawed character has to have a reason for the flaws, and that reason is usually that they’ve been hurt by someone close to them, or by society as a whole.

MR: A central character in the book is Aunt Evangeline, Jimmy Lee’s flamboyant, Shakespeare-quoting guide in Paradise. Can you tell us about the significance of this character? What purpose does Aunt Evangeline serve in Jimmy Lee’s journey?

LWJ: Aunt Evangeline is the antithesis of Aunt Millie. Her purpose—besides ushering Jimmy Lee to Eternity—is to show Jimmy Lee that not every woman in her family is a lost cause. Aunt Evangeline had lived a fabulous life—unlike Aunt Millie and Jimmy Lee’s mama, Darlynn—and she gives Jimmy Lee hope that she can have a fabulous life too, if she chooses.

Shakespeare in Love

MR: In addition to Aunt Evangeline’s penchant for quoting Shakespeare, each chapter in the book begins with a Shakespeare quote from such plays as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, As You Like It, King Lear, and more. What was your thinking behind this? Why Shakespeare? And why these particular plays?

LWJ: The story opens with Jimmy Lee telling the reader how she got her name. The “What’s in a name?” quote suddenly popped in my head as I was writing the chapter, and from there the idea formulated and stuck. After I knew what each chapter would entail, I searched for a Shakespeare quote to match. And, of course, Jimmy Lee’s parents almost have a Romeo and Juliet kind of thing going on. I wasn’t really choosing particular plays. I chose quotes to match the story. I found it interesting that there was a Shakespeare quote to match every situation each chapter presented. It was also a lot of fun, especially when the characters themselves began quoting Shakespeare.

Matters of Life and Death

MR: Let’s talk about the main theme of the book: life versus death. Death is a heavy topic for most adults, and perhaps more so for children. What was your approach when handling the subject with a young audience in mind? Also, what were you trying to say about death? About life?

LWJ: To quote Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life, “You may feel it’s morbid to think about death, but actually it’s unhealthy to live in denial of death and not consider what is inevitable.” I’m not saying you, in particular, Melissa; I’m speaking generally. We don’t like to talk about, nor think about, death. And we are especially shaken when someone dies suddenly. But children seem to be more resilient.

From a very young age I thought about death often. I remember at age five or six when I received the news that my grandfather had died. It didn’t bother me much because he was old, and it seemed natural that old people should die. But when I told my brother (who is two years older than I), he began to cry. I didn’t understand why he cried. To me it felt normal. Papa was old. Papa died. The end.

Live, Laugh, Love

Then a few years later, my neighbor—a young mother in her twenties—died suddenly. I bawled, because that was a death that wasn’t supposed to happen. I was also about the age my brother was when our grandfather died. I now understood death a bit more. But I also come from an environment where people believe strongly in an afterlife, and they claim to have been visited by deceased relatives. So belief in an afterlife feels as natural to me as death. It also feels hopeful. In fact, I have had my own experiences with deceased loved ones, which definitely gives me hope that life goes on and that what’s on the other side of death is a beautiful place. I want readers of Saving Jimmy to have that same hope. But I also want readers to take responsibility for their own happiness while living. Live, laugh, and love!

Indie Inspiration

MR: Turning our attention to the publishing side of things, unlike your previous MG novels, Saving Jimmy was published independently. What was the impetus behind going indie?

LWJ: Saving Jimmy is not my first self-published novel. I got into the self-publishing game twenty-two years ago, so I already knew the ups and downs of going that route. The choice to self-publish Saving Jimmy was for multiple reasons. One, I honestly wanted to create a book from start to finish—writing, formatting, and publishing it myself (minus printing and distribution, of course). Two, I was between literary agents, so I felt like I had the freedom to try something different after having been traditionally published for nearly seven years. I considered my completed manuscripts and chose this one because I felt like it didn’t fit neatly into a kidlit publishing box.

Surprisingly, I’ve been getting feedback from readers who, even though they own my other books, have never read them—and yet here they are, having conversations with me about this one. Also, I did it to supplement my meager author income. It’s my side gig, so to speak. 😊

MR: As a follow-up, what advice would you give to authors—established and newbies alike—who are thinking about going indie? What did you do right? And what do you wish you had done differently?

LWJ: To go indie, you need a thick skin. Since you will have to do your own marketing and publicity, you will have to be a shameless self-promoter. You’ll have to knock on doors and ask for reviews and support. Also, some of the doors that were open to you as a traditionally published author will be closed to you as a self-published author. To that I say, “Grin and bear it.” That’s just how the ball bounces. But there are still a few doors open to self-publishers. Walk through those doors instead of lamenting the ones that are closed. If you plan to go indie, go indie proudly or you won’t have the guts to promote your book.

It’s All in the Research

As far as doing it right or “wrong,” I say do your research and find indie authors (like Darcy Pattison) who are blogging about it and take their advice. I jumped back into the waters after more than twenty years, so I might not be the best person to take advice from. 😊

MR: What are you working on now, Linda? Enquiring Mixed-Up Files readers want to know!

LWJ: I don’t want to jinx myself, so I’ll keep quiet about that for now. Whenever I speak publicly about what I’m currently working on, I always seem to switch gears and work on something else. ☹

Lightning Round!

MR: No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Coffee or tea?

Coffee, but occasionally tea

Heaven or Earth?

Heaven, when it’s time 😊

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay?

Yea. Haven’t you noticed? We’re already in it.

Superpower?

X-ray vision. I can see right through most people. 😊

Favorite place on earth?

My house.

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be?

A magic coffee maker, an endless supply of coffee, and a cup

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Linda—and congratulations on the publication of Saving Jimmy. I absolutely loved it, and I know MUF readers will too!

LWJ: You’re welcome, Melissa! And thank you for reading Saving Jimmy!

Bio: Linda Williams Jackson

Linda Williams Jackson is the author of award-winning middle grade novels centered around some of Mississippi’s most important historical moments. Her first book, Midnight Without a Moon, which is centered around the Emmett Till murder, was an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book, a Jane Addams Honor Book for Peace and Social Justice, and a Washington Post Summer Book Club Selection. Her second book, A Sky Full of Stars, the sequel to Midnight Without a Moon, received a Malka Penn Honor for an outstanding children’s book addressing human rights issues and was a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year.

Linda’s most recent novel, The Lucky Ones, was inspired by Robert Kennedy’s 1967 Poverty Tour of the Mississippi Delta and is loosely based on her own family’s experiences. The Lucky Ones was recently recognized by Good Housekeeping magazine as one of the best 50 kids’ books of all time. Additional accolades for The Lucky Ones include Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Youth Book Award Winner, Foreword Reviews Indies Award Winner, New-York Historical Society Children’s History Book Prize Finalist, Common Sense Media’s Best Six Kids’ Books of 2022, Week Junior Magazine Best Seven Kids’ Books of 2022, Cooperative Children’s Book Center Best Books of the Year, and a Bank Street College Best Books of the Year. Linda Williams Jackson is proud to still call Mississippi home. To connect with her online, visit her website at www.lindajacksonwrites.blogspot.com.

(For more on Linda Williams Jackson, check out my previous Mixed-Up Files interview here.)

Melissa Roske is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, she interviewed real ones as a journalist in Europe. In London she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine. Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines, selected jokes for Reader’s Digest (just the funny ones), and received certification as a life coach from NYU. In addition to her debut novel Kat Greene Comes Clean (Charlesbridge), Melissa’s short story “Grandma Merle’s Last Wish” appears in the Jewish middle-grade anthology, Coming of Age: 13 B’Nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman). Learn more about Melissa on her Website and follow her on  Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Interview with Author Cathy Carr and Book Giveaway!

By on February 26, 2024   /   Author Interviews  

Cathy Carr is the author of the award-winning novel, 365 Days to Alaska, which is a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bank Street Best Children’s Books of 2021.

Readers will fall in love with Cathy’s latest book, Lost Kites and Other Treasures (Amulet Books), just released on February 6.  The main character,  Franny, is passionate about making artwork out of collected scraps and various objects. Franny’s creativity serves as an outlet as she navigates challenges with friendships, and her relationship with her grandmother, Franny’s legal guardian. At the heart of the story are hidden secrets about Franny’s mother, who abandoned her years before. It was a joy to enter Franny’s world, as she pulls together scraps of hope throughout her journey.

When she is not writing, Cathy loves to cook, garden and take hikes in nature, all the while collecting found materials for art projects. Cathy lives in New Jersey with her husband, son and “scrappy” cats, Nutmeg and Ginger. Cathy took time away from her busy writing schedule to offer a bit of background on Lost Kites and Other Treasures.

 

Please share your inspiration for creating Franny (Frances), the main character.

When I was in my late twenties, some friends of mine had a little girl who was an absolute hellion. I loved her, but she was a handful. She had a hair-trigger temper, she cussed, she had a habit of trying to kick men in the crotch (I left that out of my book), and she had flyaway white-blonde hair—which is the reason why Franny is blonde. She grew up to be a completely reasonable, healthy adult. She was my most direct inspiration for Franny, but many other bits and pieces inspired me too—my father’s troubled childhood, for one.

You explore a variety of aspects of mental illness, and specifically, bipolar disorder, from stigma to symptoms to effect on loved ones, What prompted you to write about this important topic?

It’s common. And for many people, it’s still a taboo subject. People are often startled when I speak about it openly. And, man, do a lot of them have their own tales to share. I have a clear memory of standing on our side porch while the guy who came to read the meter told me all about his schizophrenic daughter. He and I are still friends on Facebook. The mother with OCD, the cousin with bipolar, the uncle who had serious problems but would never see a psychiatrist because that would mean he was “crazy” —I’ve heard so many stories over the years. I didn’t see that common experience reflected in the fiction I was reading for kids, and I thought it should be reflected.

Franny is an artist, using found objects to create her work. Some of the characters appreciate her creativity, others, not so much, initially. What do you hope readers will take away from her artistry?

If Franny’s example inspires kids, or adults, to start a creative habit, or restart one that they’ve put by or neglected, that would make me happy. One thing I love about Franny’s artistry is that she just keeps on making because it gives her pleasure and purpose; she doesn’t stress too much about whether it’s good. This reminds me of something one of my friends said when my first book came out and I was fretting about sales or reviews or something, one of those stressful things writers have no control over. She said something along the lines of, “You wrote this book. It’s a good book. There’s a lot of you in it. It’s out in the world now, so get busy and start working on the next one.” Such excellent advice.

Throughout your story, Franny is faced with challenges to her friendships, including both physical separation and emotional separation due to betrayal of trust. You’ve portrayed relationships realistically, including the fact that Franny is also human and makes some mistakes along the way, which she admits to. Could you offer what you wanted to relay to young readers through these relationships?

Perfection is an unrealistic standard. We all mess up. And no one can be everything to everyone. If your toilet is overflowing, Franny’s friend Ruben is the guy to call. In other circumstances, not so much yet. He still has a lot of growing up to do. So, it’s important to give each other some grace. It’s also important to give people room to grow. People really can change. Sometimes I think we lose sight of this, especially under the influence of social media, which encourages us to form ruthless judgments of people based on 280-character tweets. Not a lot of room for nuance there.

Lost Kites and Other Treasures explores dysfunction within family relationships as well, from Nana’s secrecy about Franny’s mother’s illness, to the impact on Franny’s uncle of his sister’s illness and his response to the situation. Franny asks Ruben and friends whether their families ever fight, and what the outcome of those arguments are. Please offer insights into these relationships and situations in your story.

Life is complicated. Human relationships are complicated. I think both Nana and Uncle Gabe have been sort of worn out and worn down by the problems of Franny’s mom. What can help us under those circumstances, I believe, is community. Once Nana has that, she can start figuring out a better way to deal with her daughter’s troubled history. This is why Franny asks Ruben whether his family ever fights. If it’s just something that happens in your family, it feels awful and shaming. To know that it happens in pretty much everyone’s family lets you know you’re not alone. As for Tate’s claim that his parents never fight, some people need to portray themselves and their families as innately superior. This is often because of insecurity, but it can really be annoying to the rest of us.

I believe your story offers hope and personal growth as themes, from Franny’s hope that Nana will change in some of her stubborn ways, to Nana’s admission that even as an adult, she can be wrong in how she has behaved, in what she has communicated and, often, not. Could you please elaborate on these themes?

I think hope is important in middle-grade fiction. It’s important to communicate to our readers that a mistake isn’t the end of the world, that people’s characters aren’t set in stone, and that sometimes people behave the way they do because of circumstances you’re not aware of.

I loved how Miss Midori helped Franny’s artistic light shine, and how as an educator, she was a champion for Franny. Sadly, Franny didn’t feel that way about one of her other teachers. Care to expand on this?

It’s a common part of the school experience—the teacher you just don’t like! You don’t get them. They don’t get you either. Often it’s just two personalities that aren’t in very good sync. It’s such a common part of the middle-grade years I think it’s important to reflect that reality. On the other hand, a good teacher is a real gift, and that’s a common experience too. Mr. Burns is actually based on a math teacher I once had. I never heard him raise his voice. To this day, I have clear memories of how kind he was, especially to us geeky kids who weren’t the most socially successful.

Without giving away the ending, I loved how you didn’t tie everything up with a tight, shiny bow, but rather, true to Franny’s nature, wrapped the story up in scraps of hope. Did you consider ending the story otherwise?

“Scraps of hope”: I love that expression. No, I wasn’t tempted to write a sweet ending. Bittersweet is more my style. I try to emphasize hope and positivity in my writing for middle-schoolers, but I also work to be realistic. New problems and trials will arise, the way they always do. Nana and Franny are on the verge of having a new home at the end of the book, but there will be toilets to unclog and kitten pictures to sort through, because that’s life.

Lost Kites and Other Treasures is your second middle-grade novel, Can we look forward to other MG titles? What are you working on now?

Yes! Right now I’m working on my third novel, about a middle-grade girl in North Carolina. It’s still a rough draft, but there will be more complicated friendships, more struggles toward empathy, more family fights, and at least one pet chicken.

Thank you, Cathy, for offering insights into Franny and her world in Lost Kites and Other Treasures. To learn more about author Cathy Carr, visit her website here. For any questions or comments, feel free to reach Cathy at cathycarrwrites@gmail.com.

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