Rapunzel Reads
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Who We Are
  • For Older Readers
  • Submit a Review
  • Author Interviews
  • Books of the Year
    • 2022 Books of the Year
    • 2021 Books of the Year
    • 2020 Books of the Year
    • 2019 Books of the Year
  • Audiobooks
  • Picture Books
  • Book Group Reads
  • Booklists

Author Interview: Aimee Lucido

12/7/2020

0 Comments

 
Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
 

Aimee Lucido is the author of the award-winning novel Emmy in the Key of Code (which received a 2020 Rapunzel Reads Book of the Year award) and the upcoming Recipe for Disaster, which will be released in Fall 2021. Emmy in the Key of Code follows the story of Emmy’s journey as she discovers coding as well as her old passion for music and navigates new friendships and a new school. We love it for its sympathetic characters and beautiful free verse, and we were thrilled to interview her for this month’s feature!

 
RapunzelReads: What inspired you to write Emmy in the Key of Code, particularly the combination of elements of music and coding?
 
Aimee Lucido: I had the idea to write Emmy in the Key of Code in a combination of poetry, music, and code, when I was reading a novel in verse by Andrea Davis Pinkney called The Red Pencil. The Red Pencil is a beautiful novel in verse that has absolutely nothing to do with computers, and yet somehow, while I was reading the book, I was struck by how similar Pinkney's verse was to the coding language Python. Both use colons, newlines, and tabs very intentionally in order to convey meaning, and that's when I realized that I could potentially tell
Picture
Picture
Author photo credit: Nina Pomeroy
a  story  that  used  code  as  a  poetic  form.  And when I think of poetry, I instantly think of music. So I wondered: what would it look like to write a book about a musician learning to code? I could tell it in poetry to mirror how she thinks in music, and then I could slowly incorporate aspects of code into that poetry, to show that music and code aren't as different as people tend to think.
 
 
RR: What was your favorite part about writing Emmy in the Key of Code?
 
AL: My favorite part of writing Emmy in the Key of Code was coming up with all the music metaphors! I have always loved music. I started playing piano at six, began singing in middle school, and dove into the more mathematical world of music theory in college. And after being around music for so long, my brain began to think in musical terms. That's why music pops up so much in my work, I think, because I can't escape it. But with Emmy I was able to really dive deep into the world of music. I could tell readers that Emmy felt like a "diminished fifth" instead simply that she felt left out. I could call Abigail's friends the "string quartet" and throw in some facts about atonal music, just for fun. Writing the book felt like speaking in a secret language, and knowing that someday people would read my book and maybe laugh at some of my jokes made them all the more fun to write.
 
 
RR: In addition to Emmy in the Key of Code’s beautiful free verse, pieces of the book are written in a prose/code format, which manages to be accessible to both seasoned coders and those who know little of the subject, and perfectly relays the layers of the story. What inspired you to write in this style?

AL: People tend to think of code and poetry as exact opposites. Poetry is often considered flowery and frivolous, while code is often considered robotic and practical. But I think the two formats have more in common than people think: they're both formats that can be intimidating to people who are inexperienced with them, they both ascribe meaning to every single bit of punctuation and whitespace, and they are both built out of language. I thought writing a story using code could show people that code can be beautiful and poetic, and that poetry can be simple and practical. Plus, if I did my job right, I could tell a story that anybody could understand, and also teach a bit of coding in the process.


RR: Do you have any tips for an aspiring writer?
 
AL: My biggest tip is that you're not an “aspiring” writer if you're writing. You're just a writer! To put it a little more bluntly: WRITE! Whenever I'm feeling something I don't understand, I write about it. I encourage you to do the same! 
 
 
RR: Emmy is a deep and multilayered protagonist who we couldn’t help but fall in love with. What were the best (and hardest) parts of writing about her?

AL: Well, first of all, I'm so glad you felt this way about Emmy. I actually find it super hard to write characters people root for because in early drafts, my characters tend to start out too passive. With Emmy, I originally had the book starting six months after where it begins now, with Emmy already halfway through her year as the new kid, and still with no friends. It made Emmy come off WAY too sad. I had a bit of a breakthrough when I pulled the book back to start on the first day of school, and another one when I wrote the "attempted duets" poems. In them, Emmy is trying to make friends, and even though she's failing, the reader (hopefully) roots for her to succeed because at least she's trying. That's a lot more fun to read than someone who has no friends and is just kinda sad about it. 


RR: What books inspired you when you were growing up? 
 
AL: When I was little I loved fantasy. My favorites were The Golden Compass, Matilda, and Harry Potter. Now I tend to gravitate more towards contemporary stories, but I won't say no to a book with a tiny bit of magic: A Long Way Down, All The Impossible Things, Like Water For Chocolate, Coo, and so so many more. 
 
 
RR: There aren’t many books about women and girls in STEM—what are your thoughts on this subject, and did this dearth influence why you chose to write Emmy? 
 
AL: I worked as a software engineer until about a year and a half ago, and because I was a woman in a STEM field and also an author, for years I would get asked questions along the lines of when I was going to write a book about girls in STEM. And I had tried to write stories about STEM before, but none of them stuck, and I think it was because none of them were MY stories. I was trying to tell stories I had read before, but nothing felt like it had come from my own heart. And I think that's because my heart isn't just a STEM heart, it's a STEAM heart. The A stands for art, and the art is critical. For me, code was never just a way to dive into robots and app development (though robots and app development are awesome) it was a tool for me to tell stories. In fact, when I learned to code way back in sixth grade, it was so I could make video games. And what is a video game, but an interactive story? I never *actually* ended up making video games, but the desire to tell stories using code has been a recurring theme throughout my life. And when I had the idea for Emmy, I realized I had stumbled upon an idea that could show the artistic, story-side of code. I could use this book to paint a different picture of what STEM looks like, when the art is baked right in. And yes, my character would be a girl, and if that encouraged girls to get into coding, then that would be awesome, but I hoped to show the artistic side of coding to everyone! I hoped that maybe, if I showed how code could be used as a storytelling tool, I could maybe encourage some kids who wouldn't have given coding a chance to maybe sign up for that coding elective. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Book Reviews By & For Kids

    Everyone knows that Rapunzel spent her early years locked up in a tower. We’d like to think she read plenty of books to while away the time, and that she’d appreciate our own favorites.

    Founded in 2014, our reviews focus on great books for middle grade (MG) readers. Beginning in 2018, we began adding selected Young Adult (YA) books as well, but only if we really love them and think Rapunzel Reads followers will too. Favorite picture books have their own page.


    Rapunzel Reads Profile Photo

    Follow us on Instagram!

    Follow us for book reviews and recommendations, including whenever we post a review! 

    Instagram: 
    @RapunzelReadsBooks

    Note: we're no longer going to update our Twitter account--if you followed us there, please follow us on Instagram instead! 

    Picture

    Check out our favorite books of 2022! 

    Read all about the 10 best books we read in 2022!

    Click here to read what we loved most about our top books. 

    Young Adult Reviews! 

    We're now featuring reviews for YA (ages 12+) books alongside our middle-grade reviews on our main page! (If you're not sure if a book is young adult, check the age range--if it's 12, 13, or 14+, it's YA.)

    ​Looking for more YA recommendations? Until 2022, we had a separate For Older Readers page, where we highlighted over two dozen awesome YA books. Check it out here! 


    Categories

    All
    Adventure
    Ages 10+
    Ages 11+
    Ages 12+
    Ages 14+
    Ages 5+
    Ages 6+
    Ages 7+
    Ages 8+
    Ages 9+
    Animal Stories
    Audiobook
    Author Interviews
    Bookgroup Pick
    Booklists
    Books Of The Year
    Classic
    Diversity
    Fairy Tales
    Family
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Friends
    Futuristic
    Graphic Novel
    Historical Fantasy
    Historical Fiction
    Horses
    Humorous
    In Verse
    LGBTQ+
    Magic
    Mystery
    Myths & Legends
    Realistic Fiction
    Science Fiction
    Sequels
    Series
    Short Stories
    Siblings
    Sisters
    Superheroes
    Young Adult

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.