| Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty Alan Gratz is the author of many highly acclaimed middle-grade novels which discuss topics not often seen in books for this readership. Refugee, which tells the story of three refugees from different countries, in different times, spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and received numerous awards. Ban this Book, which we interviewed him especially about, is about fourth grader Amy Anne Ollinger’s plan to fight back when her favorite book is banned from the school library. We were thrilled to get the chance to interview him about his books for this month’s feature. RapunzelReads: What inspired Ban this Book? Alan Gratz: A lot of people ask me if I've ever had one of my books challenged or banned, if perhaps that's why I wrote this book. My answer is no, I haven't had a book banned--that I know of! That's the thing--the American Library Association says that something like 350 books were challenged or banned last year, but that's only the challenges they know about. They estimate another 95% of book challenges and bannings go UNreported. That's thousands of books that disappear off library shelves every year! Is one of my books one of those? Perhaps! Regardless, that's why I wanted to write this book--to call attention to the book challenges and bannings that still happen every year. |   |
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 Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Jasmine Warga is the author of three acclaimed novels, as well as the upcoming novel The Shape of Thunder. Other Words for Home (one of our favorites from 2020), which centers around Jude’s journey to finding a new home in an unfamiliar country, is the recipient of many starred reviews and awards, including the John Newbery Honor. We were thrilled to interview her for this month’s post! RapunzelReads: Other Words for Home is written in (gorgeous!) free verse—what made you choose that style of writing? Jasmine Warga: Thank you! Initially, the book was written in prose, but I didn't feel like Jude's voice felt right. Verse helped me to capture the immediacy and rawness that I wanted her narration to have. RR: Jude is both inspiring and deeply relatable—what inspired her character? JW: She is loosely based upon my own cousin who is also named Jude! I borrowed my cousin's love of American movies, specifically, and her large heart. That said, Jude is an entirely fictional character, and I built her the way I build all my characters--through lots of brainstorming and daydreaming. RR: Who is your favorite character in Other Words for Home, and why?  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Jennifer Swender is the author of several picture books and early readers. Her debut novel, Solving for M, tells the story of Mika, a girl whose new math class helps her deal with her mother’s cancer diagnosis. We loved this book for its elements of realism and the unique, sympathetic characters. We were thrilled to interview Jennifer Swender about Solving for M for this month’s feature. RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in Solving for M, and why? Jennifer Swender: Hmmm. That's a tough one. My favorite character can change depending on how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking about, and I like them all for so many different reasons. I like Mika's honesty and willingness to grapple with tough ideas. I enjoy Mr. Vann's wackiness, but also his quiet understanding of how best to reach his students. I love Dee Dee's confidence and Chelsea's thoughtfulness. I like Mika's mom's quiet logic and her friend Jeannie's flair for the dramatic. I love the way illustrator Jennifer Naalchigar drew Mika's Math Journal #22 where we see how the various people in Mika's life would approach a “real life problem.” They are all different. They are all right. They are all necessary. RR: What inspired you to write Solving for M?  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Hayley Chewins writes books about magical girls with secrets. We read and loved her debut, The Turnaway Girls (one of our favorites from 2020), for its lyrical writing and vivid worldbuilding. Her second novel, The Sisters of Straygarden Place, will be released in September 2020. Her books are outstanding for their beautiful prose and interesting characters. We were thrilled to get the chance to interview her for this month’s post. RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in The Turnaway Girls, and why? Hayley Chewins: I adore Linna. She’s just so full of joy and light. And she’s kind. I like kind. RR: The Turnaway Girls takes place in a vivid, detailed world—what inspired it? HC: It was mostly inspired by language. What I mean by that is: I didn’t think up a place, and then find words to describe it. I wrote, and the world sprang up. RR: What is your favorite part of the world of The Turnaway Girls? HC: I love the cloister, even though it’s a dark, scary place. I just love the idea of a  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Sarah Marie A. Jette is the award-winning author of What the Wind Can Tell You, which tells the story of seventh-grader Isabelle Perez and her older brother Julian, who has epilepsy. We love her strong, relatable characters and lyrical writing. We’re thrilled to present our interview with her, where she discusses her inspiration for What the Wind Can Tell You, her tips for aspiring writers, and more! RapunzelReads: What inspired you to write What the Wind Can Tell You from Isabelle’s perspective? Sarah Marie A. Jette: Many years ago, I nannied for a friend of mine whose son was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. He was only a few months old and seemed to be startling himself when he was falling asleep. His parents soon learned that he was having small seizures. His parents asked me to babysit him on Sundays and I did so for about two years. I fed him with a bottle, administered medication, suctioned him when he had too many fluids, and soothed him through seizures. When swallowing became difficult, I learned how to use a feeding tube. A few years later, he became a big brother. I raced over as soon as I could to meet the new baby. I started imagining  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Kate Messner is the author of dozens of books for kids, from picture books to novels. She’s won numerous awards and garnered starred reviews. Her middle-grade novel Breakout is the recipient of many of these, a book told entirely in documents about a rural town and a prison break which talks about many hard-to-discuss modern-day issues. We were thrilled to interview her about Breakout and her writing in general for this month’s feature! RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in Breakout, and why? Kate Messner: Originally, I think I would have told you that it was Nora. She's the character with whom I have the most in common. Like Nora, I grew up in a small town. My dad was the school superintendent rather than a prison superintendent, though. And like Nora, I was a journalist. That's what I studied at Syracuse University, and I worked in TV news for seven years before going back to school for my teaching degree. But as I wrote and rewrote the book, I think Elidee came to be my favorite. I love how she stands up for herself and ends up finding her voice. RR: What books inspired you when you were growing up? KM: I loved everything by Beverly Cleary, especially the Ramona books! And I also  Stacy McAnulty is the author of numerous picture books, chapter books, and novels. Her novel The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, which centers around a girl who was struck by lightning and became a math genius, has received numerous acclaim and awards, and was a fun read particularly for people (like Piranha T.) who love math as well as reading. We were thrilled to get the opportunity to interview Stacy McAnulty about this book.
RapunzelReads: Who are your favorite characters in The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, and why? Stacy McAnulty: Lucy has to be a favorite character because we know her best. The book is in her perspective. We see and feel everything through her. She makes the story work. (As a dog person, I also love Pi.) RR: I love both math and reading, but it isn’t a combination I come across in many books. I loved how The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl incorporated both! What inspired you to write that kind of book? SM: I’m a former mechanical engineer, so in college, I took a lot of math classes (and no Language Arts classes for a grade). When my children ask for help with homework, I always hope it’s math homework they’re struggling with. I enjoy doing math and I’m good at it (not at Lucy’s level, but still good). It made sense for me to write about a character who also loves math. And you’re right, we don’t see it a lot of  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Jennifer Richard Jacobson is the author of numerous books, including the novel Paper Things, a book about a homeless brother and sister living in Portland, Maine, which has received acclaim in the forms of starred reviews and awards. We found this book to be a realistic and thought-provoking read. We were thrilled to interview Jennifer Richard Jacobson for this month’s feature! RapunzelReads: Paper Things has a premise that’s not common in Middle Grade books—what inspired you to write a story for kids about homelessness? Jennifer Richard Jacobson: The idea for Paper Things came from my own childhood. I spent hours cutting out people and objects from catalogs. I created large families who lived in wonderful homes. Then I would give my “characters” problems! (In fact, I think it was this game that gave me lots of practice in creating stories.) I wanted to write about a girl like me. I wondered though, what girl in modern times would still play this game? After all, kids can play similar games on computers. Ah, I  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Kali Wallace is the author of several books for teens and the middle-grade novel City of Islands, which stuck out to us particularly because of its incredible plot and world building. We’re thrilled to get the chance to feature her as this month’s interview! RapunzelReads: City of Islands has an interesting world, with unusual magic. How did you go about creating that world? Kali Wallace: I always start by imagining a world I would really, truly want to visit. If I'm going to expect readers to go on a journey in my invented world, it has to be one that appeals to them, right? So when I was imagining the City of Islands, I was thinking about foggy, beautiful, ancient, and mysterious islands. A place where people from all over the world travel and trade and live. A place where people live crowded on steep, rocky islands, all in a tumbling, scrambling, vibrant, lively symphony of life and noise and light. I wanted it to have a rich, long history, one full of stories and myths--and those were some of the most fun aspects of the world to invent! Making of myths and stories for an imaginary world is always a delight. I have always been fascinated with tales of lost worlds or underwater cities, and I wanted to create a world in which those stories were true. But I also wanted it to be a place with deep unfairness and inequality. There are rich people and poor people, masters and servants, and magic is one way that people like  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Laurie Graves is the author of Maya and the Book of Everything and the sequel, Library Lost, fantasy novels for teens and tweens. We love her books for their amazing worlds and great characters. We were so excited to interview her about her books, particularly Maya and the Book of Everything, this month. RapunzelReads: What books inspired you when you were growing up? Laurie Graves: The books that inspired me were Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. When I read A Wrinkle in Time, in the late 1960s, I had never encountered such a wild, thrilling story that incorporated science, time travel, and fantasy with vivid characters. It almost felt as though an electrical charge was coming to me from the book. Then there was The Lord of the Rings, which pulled me right into Middle Earth. I was there with Frodo and Sam as they made their way to Mordor, and there seemed to be no veil between me, the reader, and Tolkien’s story. Last but certainly not least is Shakespeare. I fell in love with him when I was in seventh grade, and that love continues to this day. When I first started reading Shakespeare, there was a lot I didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. I was completely dazzled by the way he used language, and I could hardly believe that anyone could write so brilliantly. Even now, I am still in awe. RR: What was your inspiration for Maya and the Book of Everything? LG: Years ago, my husband and I published a magazine called Wolf Moon Journal. To help with editing, I used a book called The Chicago Manual of Style. It’s like a giant  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Emma Biggs is the author of Gardening with Emma, a book for kids about how to start your own garden. Cooler still, she’s only fourteen years old! Emma has a blog, has spoken at gardening conferences, and, of course, has a garden of her own. We were thrilled to get the opportunity to talk to her about her garden and Gardening with Emma. RapunzelReads: What’s your favourite thing about gardening? Emma Biggs: Probably my favourite thing about gardening is the people. Gardeners seem to be the nicest people in the world— people who love sharing ideas, having fun, and making the world a better place. I love hanging out with these people and learning from them, and sharing my knowledge with them, and sharing seeds and ideas too. I have been inspired by so many incredible gardeners, and many of them have become great friends too! RR: What was the most challenging part of writing a book? EB: The most challenging part was definitely re-reading my writing over, and over, and over again. After writing it out, than I’d have to go back and edit my work. I got  Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty
Natasha Lowe is the award-winning author of several middle-grade fantasy and realistic fiction novels, including Lucy Castor Finds Her Sparkle and the Poppy Pendle series: The Power of Poppy Pendle, The Courage of Cat Campbell, The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel, and the forthcoming novel The Daring of Della Dupree. We love her books because of their strong, sympathetic characters and engaging plots (not to mention the delicious recipes…). We’re thrilled to have her as our inaugural interview! RapunzelReads: The Poppy Pendle books are set in a world similar to this one, but where magic is an accepted fact of life. What was your favorite part of creating that world? Natasha Lowe: Potts Bottom is loosely based on one of the small Lancashire villages near where my grandmother lived. There was a canal close by where we used to take walks, pretty stone cottages surrounded by flowers, narrow twisty streets and a little bakery where my gran would buy fresh from the oven bilberry pies. It was also where, 400 years ago, the Pendle witches were supposed to have lived, a group of girls and women who people claimed had magical powers. I remember my time there vividly and it was great fun to create a fictional world based on this real and wonderful place, but the best part about writing the Poppy Pendle books was weaving through all the magical elements. As a child, whenever I visited my grandmother I would spend many hours trying to fly on a broomstick and brew up my own spells, so it was really satisfying creating a world in which magic actually exists! I loved On September 5, 2019, RapunzelReads will celebrate its fifth anniversary. Thanks to everyone who reads our blog, has sent us reviews, or commented—we really appreciate you!
To celebrate, we’ll begin posting interviews with our favorite authors. Stay tuned for next week’s post! --Piranha T. and Super Kitty |
Book Reviews By & For KidsEveryone knows that Rapunzel spent her early years locked up in a tower. We’d like to think she had plenty of books to while away the time, and that she’d appreciate our own favorites. Tweet, tweet!Get notified via Twitter every time we post a review! Follow: @RapunzelReads New Reviews:
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