Ride all the Waves with Wave by Diana Farid

Hey Eager Readers!!

Its been a very long time since our last post on this blog! Today I have my 2nd interview with Diana Farid!! The first one was this linked post about her picture book When You Breathe!  

She will be at Books Inc Palo Alto on Saturday April 30th for Independent Bookstore day in the early afternoon!!

Wave is one of the best all the feels middle grade to Young adult cross over books ever! I will have her introduce the book and herself. Then we will start the rest of the interview! 

 There will be a later interview and blog post with reader questions from Books Inc Palo Alto's Independent Bookstore day celebration on April 30th 2022!!

Please visit any Books Inc in person especially Books Inc Palo Alto all year long and anytime online and on our social media pages!

Now on to the interview with Diana Farid about her new book Wave

Please introduce yourself and your new book Wave!!

Hi. My name is Diana Farid and I am the author of When You Breathe and , my new book, Wave. Wave follows 13 year old Ava, a Southern California surfer girl, as she experiences the ride of her life in the summer of 1987. Through family expectations, prejudice, and a changing relationship with her best friend, she finds the healing power of the waves of the ocean, poetry and music.”

1. In previous interviews, especially the amazing interview by Children’s Book Review, you spoke about how your picture book WHEN YOU BREATHE and your new novel in verse WAVE are related. You spoke of coming from the “same space” — a space rooted in science and captured through your evocative poetry. Why are both told through poetry? How are these fundamentally different works of word art so intricately related? 

The stories in WHEN YOU BREATHE, a picture book, and WAVE, a novel, are both told through poetry for several reasons. Poetry is a natural structure I turn to when I’m exploring. One of the reasons I write is because it is an act of curiosity. And when I can play with words the way poetry allows me to, the way it lets me play with space and structure, I make discoveries about the topic I am exploring in my writing. I love that learning, those surprises that the act of writing can reveal. 

Another reason both WHEN YOU BREATHE and WAVE are told through poetry is that the topics each book explores, the rhythm of breath and the waves of the sea, remind me of the cadence of lines of poetry. In fact, in Wave, many of the poems take the shape of waves, and I wouldn’t have been able to get that visual detail across in prose. 

And then there is song. Songs were my entrance into poetry. They were the first thing I loved to read (the liner notes of song lyrics folded next to my favorite cassette tapes). And for me, both WHEN YOU BREATHE and WAVE are songs — songs ultimately about what we are made of, what moves us, our awesome worth simply for being, recognizing our fundamental connections with each other and the universe. So though both are different in format, yet they are deeply related in fundamental ways.

Wave by Diana Farid cover

When you Breathe Picture book by Diana Farid

2.  What put WAVE in motion originally? What was the moon pull of your writing process like for WAVE? How was it different from the picture book?

Originally, I had a glimpse of Ava and her friendship with Phoenix. I knew I wanted to navigate how music holds us through hardship. I knew Ava was a surfer and that the ocean was her solace. But the story really found its anchor while I was walking at the beach one day and wondered about the waves and what the sea would be like without them, what the world would be like without the waves that carry sound and light, without music and sunset hues. Once I had that wonder, the final scene of WAVE presented itself to me and I wasn’t going to be stopped until the story was out — originally in a spiral bound green Mead notebook. I wrote my first draft by hand, pen to paper. When You Breathe had many revisions over many years until it took its final form. Wave took about 2 years. 

 3. All throughout WAVE, readers enjoy clearly crafted poems that evoke so many therapeutically deep and staggeringly authentic feelings for all readers. I have heard from many readers of all ages crying waves of tears for various feelings throughout the book. Seems you have shared experiences with the main character. How do you connect so well to readers' feelings?

I’ve heard the same, that readers have found deep emotional connections to the characters in WAVE. And, yes, I do have some shared experiences with the main character Ava, especially the cultural and religious background and family structure. That certainly helps authenticity come across. I tried hard to express feelings truthfully. Even if I didn’t ever experience what Ave does in WAVE, I pictured the experience. And I think it would be accurate to describe myself as an empath. So, once I pictured the experience, I always also felt it viscerally. Then, I tried to describe that feeling as accurately as I could.

Author Diana Farid

4. In other interviews you spoke of wondering about what if the world had no waves. How did that influence WAVE? 

On a very fundamental level, WAVE is my answer to that question: “What would the world be like if there were no waves?” 

What other questions did you want to investigate in the book? 

There so many other questions I investigated. Some of them explore the power of poetry and music to heal, what the definition of a meaningful gift is, what it is to be present, and what’s missing from our healthcare system. 

How does your poetry explore these things differently than prose would? Nuances with fewer words??

Exploring these questions with poetry allowed for layered meanings depending on the structure and order of the words and allowed for invitations to sit and think about the implications in the phrases.

Wave cover! 

5. How did you create and craft Ava? She is Clearly a crucial new voice in diverse voices, a non Islamic middle eastern girl. 

Some of my own personal experiences are layered into Ava. I noticed that a lot of “middle eastern” kid lit revolved around characters who identified as Muslim. And while that is a vital need, missing from the landscape was the representation of the diversity of faiths in the middle east. Specifically, Ava’s family identifies as Baha’i, as does mine. Her family experiences religious persecution and had to leave Iran quickly during the revolution. So did mine. Her mom is an immigrant, single mom, and obstetrician/gynecologist. So is mine! These shared experiences were perfect backdrops to explore themes of identity, meaning and worth.

6. Ava's closest friendship with Phoenix is crucial to the story. What makes their relationship so transcendent and unique? How did you create Phoenix?

I love Phoenix and Ava’s friendship so much. It’s transcendent because they see, respect, and understand each other’s deepest aspirations and share a love for the ocean and surfing — which serves as a constant reminder in their lives, and in the book, of the richness we have to be able to experience such grandness, when it’s just tickling the tips of our toes or taking us on our biggest rides. I created Phoenix as one of the catalysts for Ava seeing herself, her worth, and the joy in the ride of life.

From Wave, text© 2022 Diana Farid, Illus © 2022 Gotobean Heavy Industries, LLC. Published by Cameron + Company, a division of Abrams.

7. Ava’s desire to express herself is juxtaposed by doing her best to find a sense of belonging in her community are both universal elements of the experience of children of all ages. How do your own experiences growing up match up with Ava especially in terms of exploring that juxtaposition?

What Ava experiences ring true with emotions I experienced growing up, not being fully one culture or another. And I worked hard to show how that plays out in specific contexts, like family traditions, meals and expectations and how those can contrast with the culture outside of one’s home. Some of the contrasts mentioned in WAVE are ones I actually experienced, especially when it came to food, music, and language.

8. Mixtapes from the 80s and surfing are crucial to the flow of the book . Explain your feelings on mixtapes and surfing and why you chose those two core elements.

This is an easy one. I was obsessed with both growing up. I wouldn’t have been able to write a book set in 1987 without those both being elements of the story. 

                      Playlists from Wave 

From Wave, text© 2022 Diana Farid, Illus © 2022 Gotobean Heavy Industries, LLC. Published by Cameron + Company, a division of Abrams.

9. Rumi is preeminent In the book. How does his spirituality and poetry impact  Ava and Phoenix? How does Rumi impact you?

Rumi’s poem comes to be a solace for Ava. It’s a space where she finds spiritual wisdom that directly reflects an experience she is having, or it comments, almost like an omniscient guardian angel, on how to move forward. Rumi did the same for me as a younger person. I love that some of his verses have made their way into a book accessible to the middle grade and kidlit audience.

From Wave, text© 2022 Diana Farid, Illus © 2022 Gotobean Heavy Industries, LLC. Published by Cameron + Company, a division of Abrams.

10. You speak in a previous interview about creative self expression being the key to real connection, explain? I remember your answer included an elephant. 

I think of the world like that elephant in the south Asian parable about the people or mice who are blind and are each at different parts of a huge elephant arguing about what it is they are feeling. A tree trunk, a snake, a wall, a large floppy leaf — depending on where you examine, different parts of an elephant could be mistaken for each of those things. 

I think of our creative expression as the access we have to describe the world how we see it, where we are. And I think of our sharing it, the space of shared art, museums, fairs, bookshops, galleries, concerts, and the such, as our chances in our lives to see another perspective, and get that much closer to getting to know the reality of the elephant, or our world. Without each other’s stories about the elephant, aka the world, we wouldn’t be able to get the full picture or understand how fundamentally connected all the parts are in making the grand whole.

11. My blog is called the worthy reader in part because reading books like yours connect me to my self worth, if nothing else then I see myself as a witness to great art and how Your words transcend Ava’s story and apply so strongly to what I can do in my own life story. Thank you for all of your art, and your illustrators art!! What’s your response to those truths?

You are, indeed, worthy.

From Wave, text© 2022 Diana Farid, Illus © 2022 Gotobean Heavy Industries, LLC. Published by Cameron + Company, a division of Abrams.

12. What are you reading now? What are you reading with your kids? What are your kids reading?

I am reading this brand new translation of Rumi’s poetry, GOLD, edited and translated from the Farsi by Haleh Liza Gafori. With my kids, I am reading PAX, by Sara Pennypacker.

13. What’s next for you professionally?

I am working on a bunch of picture books. And, I have started my next novel in verse! 

14. What do you want all your readers to gain from Wave? 

How fortunate we are, to breathe, to sing, and to ride, the waves.

Thats all for now. There will be a later interview and blog post with reader questions from Books Inc Palo Alto's Independent Bookstore day celebration on April 30th 2022!!!

Don't forget to buy a copy of Wave at this link from Books Inc

Thank yous listed with hyperlinks!! Endless thanks to Diana Farid  and Cameron Kids and Abrams Publishing, and Books Inc   and Children's Book Review 

My family and I would also like to thank all my viewers and Subscribers to this blog and all my other social media! 

Quit your Kvetching and enjoy life with Gitty and Kvetch!!

    The debut picture book of local author Caroline Kusin Pritchard illustrated by Ariel Landry titled Gitty and Kvetch is a fun story of friendship and Language learning. Pritchard’s fun and heartwarming friend focused words match Landry’s laugh out loud cartoony illustrations perfectly. The use of Yiddish alongside the English in every scene is a creative and fitting use of language for Gitty and Kvetch’s story. 

    The story focuses on a relatable and quirky young girl Gitty and her pessimistic complaining bird friend Kvetch as they travel to a tree house on what starts as a what Gitty declares is a picture perfect day. Kvetch is pessimistic about Gitty’s outlook to start the day. Soon we are shown that stormy weather gathers around them and another storm gathers in Gitty as she goes from excited to sad quickly. Kvetch must help Gitty or the day may be completely and totally ruined. 

    Will Kvetch and Gitty be able to calm the storms before things get worse? Exactly how and why do the emotions of our Yiddish English speaking dynamic duo change from page to page? What role does language play in describing the characters and their storyline? Read this expressive and endearing debut picture book to explore friendship, discover feeling changes and laugh along with the clever language play. Back matter includes a helpful glossary of the Yiddish words used in the book.

Yours Drewly and my son Ryan, Gittty and Kvetch storytime 

Below is my interview with the books creators: Author Caroline Kusin Pritchard illustrated by Ariel Landry, their answers are in bold below!

Please Buy the book from Books Inc at this link!

or in store especially at

BOOKS INC PALO ALTO LINK HERE

1. Please introduce your wonderful newly released work in your own words….

[Caroline] At its heart, I think GITTY AND KVETCH is about connection and the ways we show up for the people we love— with humor, with loyalty, with surprises. And with a whole lotta Yiddish! 

[Ariel] GITTY AND KVETCH is the story of two close friends with very different perspectives on life. Gitty is upbeat and always looking on the bright side, whereas her bird friend, Kvetch, well, he likes to kvetch! Throughout their adventure the characters teach each other that neither perspective is perfect, and in fact, we don’t need to be searching for perfection.  

Gitty and Kvetch Cover! 

2. What was the process from draft to final process? How was this book's creation impacted by Covid?

[Caroline] I drafted the story in the middle of teaching a summer creative writing course to middle schoolers. We were all splayed out across the lawn free writing and Gitty’s character smacked me right in the face! I have pages and pages of me trying to keep up with her effusive ramblings to show for it. About three months and fifty full-blown revisions later, I submitted the manuscript to Atheneum Books for Young Readers and received a revise and submit request from my future editor, Alexa Pastor. Her notes were wildly intimidating… and absolute magic! Once Alexa made an offer and I picked my jaw up off the floor that this was really happening, it was months more of dreaming, revising, and copyediting.  

[Ariel] As the illustrator, I’m given the manuscript by Becca Syracuse, the designer from Atheneum and my contact person throughout the work. Then my favorite part begins: designing the characters. Sometimes it’s a challenging process and I go through many iterations, but for Gitty and Kvetch it was easy! The book gets a lot of positive feedback from readers that they know people just like Gitty and Kvetch and I felt the same way.  The characters felt so real (even though one is a talking bird) and so I came up with the final designs pretty quickly. After I receive feedback on my sketches from the publishers, I create the color palette and paint the final images. My color palette all began with the purple treehouse-- since this is the only color explicitly stated in the manuscript. I wanted bright, joyful colors to reflect Gitty’s perspective of the world, but to have darker undertones to the storm that comes to mirror Kvetch’s perspective. I believe the only major impact that COVID had was that the launch of the book was delayed due to shipping delays. 

3. Please explain how you worked together. Any highlights? Any most problematic moments?

[Caroline]: Ariel’s work is totally and completely irresistible— the Atheneum team knew right away that she was the person for the job. The first time I laid eyes on her expressive character sketches for Gitty and Kvetch I SHRIEKED. Very, very loudly. I felt like I was meeting the characters for the first time! While I never connected with Ariel until after her artwork was complete, the experience was a testament to how picture books are an absolute partnership. She breathed life into our ebullient Gitty and curmudgeonly Kvetch in a way only Ariel could. 

[Ariel] Usually in traditional publishing authors and illustrators do not have any contact until after the book is completed. People are sometimes surprised by this because, when done well, the story and the images should look like they go together effortlessly.  The editorial and design teams are our go-betweens and I think it works well for everyone. However, it was a delight to get to know Caroline afterwards, largely through instagram. She is a dream author to work with because she is incredibly passionate about, not only her work, but the work of others. She uses her platform to push for more inclusive kidlit and to lift up the works of other authors and illustrators doing the same. And she seems genuinely just like Gitty! 

4. Gitty and Kvetch are Characters that are relatable. Please explain their creation and development? 

[Caroline] I kept channeling memories of my siblings and extended family sitting around the dinner table, all of us talking over each other and pushing each other’s buttons with a relentless conviction. Around that table, everyone was given the space to move in and out of a wide range of moods and opinions— caricatures don’t exist in real life, so I wanted to keep them off the page, too. Even Gitty can’t stay permanently upbeat; Kvetch’s eyes do eventually get tired from rolling all day long. The unlock for me was playing with how we push ourselves beyond our comfortable tendencies in the name of showing up for our people. For example, I shared an early manuscript with my endearingly Kvetch-like older brother to get his take. He helped me realize that Kvetch wasn’t a two-dimensional grumpy pessimist at all. Instead, our beloved bird is a practical realist who’s genuinely motivated to protect his loved ones, namely Gitty. This compassion-filled reframe led to me to amp up Kvetch’s loyalty as a key counterbalance to his curmudgeonliness.  

[Ariel] I wanted Gitty’s physical appearance to reflect her buoyant personality, but also to look like the Jewish children that I know. I looked at my friends’ children, photos of my own father when he was little, and I looked at Caroline’s children (sneakily through instagram). The messy, curly mop of dark hair came first. I wanted it to be bouncy and a bit unruly. As for color, since I knew there would be many shades of purple throughout the story, I wanted Gitty to wear a bright, happy color that would pop-- so I put her in the canary-yellow top. Kvetch went through several different bird shapes, but I wanted something that would give him the crotchety-but-loveable, old man vibe that Caroline created through his dialogue. So he got a little round paunch, expressive eyebrows, a long, thin beak for kvelling. And of course the tiny panama hat! 

5. What were the most important influences on the book's creation and what sustained you both through all the revisions?

[Caroline] Let me first say that I’m currently SHRIEKING at the revelation that Ariel based Gitty in part on my children. I’ve always thought Gitty looks just like my oldest son, but now I have cold, hard evidence to back me up! Messy, curly mops of hair for the win!!! Which brings me to my answer for this question: my kiddos and husband offered all kinds of patient, unconditional love throughout the writing process. At any given moment, it was their energy mixed with a combination of green tea, noodle kugel, connecting with friends and family and their gentle reminders not to take myself too seriously that kept the wheels turning. 

[Ariel] A major theme of the book is the fruitlessness of searching for perfection, so I was inspired by artists with a loose, sketchy style. I wanted the art to have a splashy, spontaneous feel, which is why I let some color go outside the lines and didn’t try to fix every little mistake-- which is so tempting to do when working digitally! I don’t struggle too much with making revisions. I like to put trust in my editors and feel like we’re working together to make the best book possible. That being said, I am addicted to matcha lattes and they did get me through the most frustrating part of working digitally-- sending large photoshop files from an incredibly slow internet. My neighborhood dates back to medieval times and the internet speed does too. 

Author Caroline Kusin Pritchard

6. Why use Yiddish as the focus? Amazing back matter seems to add another dimension to the book!

[Caroline] The truth is that Kvetch’s character came to me spouting Yiddish off the bat! His voice sounds exactly like my Dad’s in my head, which is important for me to name whenever reading the book to kids. I initially found myself slipping into a stereotypical New York accent when reading his character, which was a big wake up call. It helped me realize how deeply entrenched that single story is of what it means to be Jewish in America. My mom’s great, great grandparents and my dad’s grandparents immigrated to Texas from Poland and Russia speaking only Yiddish. I grew up hearing Yiddish spoken in a thick Texas drawl and that’s exactly how I hear Kvetch’s voice now. Jews come from every geography, in every color and have wide-ranging, unique stories to share— and they are all critically valid. Exploring my Yiddish roots has cracked open an even deeper personal connection to my family history and Jewish identity. And hearing from adults about their own joyful experiences celebrating Yiddish with their kids through the book? It’s been the most delightful, unexpected gift. For anyone wanting to explore Yiddish as it relates to children’s stories in more depth, I can’t recommend Dr. Miriam Udel’s book more highly: HONEY ON THE PAGE: A TREASURY OF YIDDISH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.  

[Ariel] I can’t speak to why Caroline chose Yiddish as a focus, but I can say how grateful I am that she did! My great-grandparents only spoke Yiddish when they set up their butcher shop in New York City. Words and phrases have passed down from my grandmother to my father to me. They are a cultural bond I share with my mishpocheh (extended family) in New York. Sometimes there is no replacing a good Yiddish word-- and I want them to endure. 

7. Explain how the characters' use of language and visual spacing add to the brilliance of the story?

[Caroline] Gitty and Kvetch’s voices always seemed to talk over one another in my head, which is my favorite chaotic flavor of friendship! I wanted to find a way to share that playful rhythm on the page without confusing or overwhelming the reader. We went big with using the ellipsis to show how their interjections offer contrasting insights that somehow build towards a unified, albeit topsy-turvy, dose of love. 

[Ariel] From the first moment Kvetch agrees to join Gitty on another adventure, he’s by her side. Readers can hopefully see how important their friendship is by how closely Kvetch sticks to Gitty, despite his relentless complaints. At one point he even uses his body to shield her from the rain during the shprits. 

one of Authors favorite book Spreads!

8. What’s your Favorite spread from the book?

[Caroline] Without a DOUBT it’s the “ruined, ruined, ruinedddd” spread where Gitty ends up flat on her face. I can’t share more without giving it away, but Ariel hit this one out of the ballpark. A parent reached out to share that her kid now refers to it as “the ruined book,” which makes my heart burst!

Pritchard's other favorite spread

[Ariel] My favorite spread is when Gitty and Kvetch are skipping (shlepping) through the forest and we get an excellent example of their differing perspectives. Gitty hears a “symphony of buzzes” and Kvetch sees mosquitoes. Also, I got to draw a beautiful, shiny cow poop!

Artist Ariel's favorite Spread from Gitty and Kvetch 

9. What is next for you professionally?

[Caroline] I have two unannounced picture books on their way— I can’t wait to share more! My brilliant agent is in the process of submitting a few more manuscripts, and I’m busy with all kinds of new story ideas filling up my journals and Notes app.

[Ariel] I’m continuing to work on illustrating two chapter books series: GOOD DOG, published by Simon Kids and CLASS CRITTERS, published by Abrams Kids. I’m also illustrating another picture book with a central jewish character. 

10. What is the non spoiler take home message from the book? What would Gitty and Kvetch say to readers today? 

[Caroline] Gitty: “Oh, what a delightful question! But Kvetch, how will we ever come up with just one majestically meaningful message?”
Kvetch: “Oh, come on, Gitty. Just pick one. Heavy-handed messages are didactic, anyway. And besides, you think anyone is still reading this far?”

Gitty: “Okay, let’s see. There’s the message of true friendship, of course...”

Kvetch: “Great. Done.”

Gitty: “... and adventure. And releasing perfectionism. And apologies. And pushing outside your comfort zone. And…’

Kvetch: “Oy vey, here we go again...”

Thank you for reading this big shout out to the creators of Gitty and Kvetch author Caroline Kusin Pritchard (link there) llustrated by Ariel Landry (link there)

Thanks to Atheneum and Simon and Shuster publishing

and above all Thanks Books Inc!

Cooking up lessons with family in Last Super Chef

All my readers!

My Reading trail has reached another home away from home. A new favorite book for 2021! Chris Negron's 2nd book and newest book The Last Super Chef! Master Chef Junior mixes well with ingredients from other kids cooking shows shirt in some new human family Aesops fables and you've got a yummy and moving masterpiece, sure to leave readers with full hearts. This sophomore book is a perfect foodie middle grade focused on family, a recipe of heart lessons and a few no recipe plot twists based in an unscripted quirky cooking competition TV show. The books after taste is exquisite and the story is sure to fill the appetite of readers of all ages.

Please Read DONT SCROLL to the end to get some of the authors favorite, book inspired exclusive Recipes!

Please buy the book at this link https://www.booksinc.net/book/9780062943132

or buy a signed copy at Books Inc Palo Alto https://www.booksinc.net/PaloAlto

While supplies last!

Hannah Walcher and Books Inc and I had an awesome event with him and Debra Green recently and the link is below!

Full Video of Books Inc Event Summer Fun: Reading & Cooking & Writing Middle Grade with CHRIS NEGRON and DEBRA GREEN is here at this link https://youtu.be/RXguIVSuww4

Dated Books Inc Event Poster!!

Don't miss my previous interview with Chris Negron about his debut Dan Unmasked featured on my blog at this link http://worthyreader.blogspot.com/2020/07/dan-unmasking-heros-in-our-midst-today.html

Chis Negon Author photo

Recently I did a follow up interview with Chris Negron about his delicious new book Last Super Chef and more. Read this exclusive interview below as a follow up to the Books Inc exclusive event!

1. Please introduce yourself as a writer in your own words?

I’m Chris Negron and I write contemporary middle grade novels from Atlanta, GA. My work tends to be heartfelt and (mostly!) realistic about friendship or family or both. My first book, Dan Unmasked, came out in 2020 and my second, The Last Super Chef, was just released this month.

 

2. Describe your new book the Last Super Chef in your own words?

The Last Super Chef is a story about Curtis Pith, an eleven-year-old obsessed with cooking and becoming a chef. Curtis has a big secret: the most famous chef on the planet – the fabulous Super Chef himself, Lucas Taylor – is Curtis’s father. So when the Super Chef announces a final competition on his hugely popular show featuring only kid contestants, Curtis knows he must secure one of the slots – not just to win the big prize, but to find out some big truths as well. The competition proves to be a huge challenge to not only Curtis but alll the kid contestants, and they all learn a ton about themselves and the people around them, including each other.

Chris Negrons new book
showing signed copies at Books Inc Palo Alto!

 

3. Dan Unmasked is an amazing debut, Last Super Chef came out not far after Dan Unmasked, how did this happen with all the challenges in publishing?

There was always going to be second book in my contract, and it was scheduled from the beginning to publish the very next year, so I don’t think I had much choice! Seriously, the better answer is that I was able to start working on The Last Super Chef as far back as when Dan Unmasked was on submission with publishers, so I had a real head start by the time that first book sold. It’s also true that Curtis’s – and the Super Chef’s – story was really clear to me right from the beginning, so I suppose that helped me know where I was going and prevented too much rework, though there always seems to be a ton of revision no matter what I do. Probably because my editor has such a sharp eye!

 

4. Describe your writing process for the new book and how that process compares to the process for Dan Unmasked, your debut?

Second books are usually more difficult for authors – for must of us, it’s the first time we’re writing under those kinds of deadlines, plus we have bunches of new tasks we never had before related to the first book coming out. Things like working on marketing efforts, events, interviews, etc. All at the same time! That said, because I did have that head start, I didn’t find the second book as challenging as I’ve heard other authors talk about with theirs. Again I think it was probably partly due to how clear Curtis’s story was for me from the beginning.

 

Find Signed copies of both of Chirs Negron's
books at Books Inc Palo Alto

5. What inspired the characters? What inspired the plot? Why did you write this book in first person?

I keep saying Curtis’s story was really clear for me, but actually the first character I developed for this book was Lucas Taylor, the famous Super Chef. Lucas is connected to me in a personal way – I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease not long before I started writing this book, and though we don’t find out that’s what’s going on with the Super Chef until pretty late in the story, it does turn out that he also has Parkinson’s. Of course that’s no coincidence, and I don’t treat it as a spoiler, either. First off, there are plenty of other secrets in The Last Super Chef, but also I always intended to use this book to expose folks to those early years of Parkinson’s – the confusion and the changes and doubts those of us experiencing it go through – so I do want it to be well-known that this book covers that subject, even if it means readers might see a thing or two coming.

 

As far as characters, Curtis came next, and the important thing about him is how he contrasts and at the same time mirrors the Super Chef’s changing viewpoint on his own future. So I had to have the Super Chef before I could find Curtis, but once I knew what was going on with Lucas Taylor, what was going on in the head of Curtis became clear fairly quickly. I mean, sort of…early drafts didn’t express it as well as I intended, and my editor really helped me zero in on Curtis’s goals and motivations.

 

As far as first person, I think that’s just my POV of choice in most of my work…for now, anyway. I’ve written both Dan Unmasked and The Last Super Chef that way because it’s the closest to the character I can get, and that’s how I want readers to feel when they read these books – as close to these characters as they can get. So hopefully I’ve used my POV choice for its purpose, and achieved that goal.

 

6. Why did you choose food, competition and family matters as the focuses of this book?

I’m a big sports fan, and maybe that’s why I like cooking competition shows so much – they’re almost like another kind of sport. But I’m also aware that it’s more than that, too. I love seeing people excel at an art – whether it be painting or writing or cooking– that forces them to be creative and express their unique voice and individuality. When I wrote Dan Unmasked, I committed myself to writing about things I love or that are important to me, because I feel that expressing those things via story is one of the best ways to be authentic and display my own unique voice. And being authentic is so important in any writing, but particularly with kids, because I think they sense a fake even fastser than adults do. So Dan loves comics and baseball, and Curtis loves cooking, but what I’m expressing there is a little more indirect, because honestly I don’t cook all that much. Yet I love watching these shows and seeing the competitors challenge each other and themselves to be the best they can be, and I think I wanted to see if I could deliver that feel I tend to experience on the page to others.

 

As far as family goes, I think most middle grade books are in some way about the kids trying to find their place in the world, whether that’s amongst their friends or in school, or within whatever family unit they are a part of. In Dan’s case, it was mostly friendship. In Curtis’s, it’s much more the family angle. I don’t remember where I first heard this quote, but it’s always stuck with me: “When thinking about YA and MG, think about your character approaching a lighthouse. In MG, the character’s family is the light in the sky, and the character is moving toward it. In YA, the character’s family is the rocks at the base, and the character is crashing against them.” That may not be accurate in the case of every story in these genres – YMMV, as they say – but that quote has always stuck with me, and I think, at minimum subconsciously, I keep in the back of mind when I work on these projects.

 

7. You have said various times that the Super Chef, Lucas Taylor, the leader of the book titles game show is a mix of Wily Wonka and Gordon Ramsey, how did you make and manage this mix so well?

First off, I re-read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory pretty early in the process, so that I wouldn’t just be relying on my childhood memories of Roald Dahl’s classic, or the movies, either. So I definitely had that story in my head when I was working, especially the early chapters, which are unabashedly a take on the early “golden ticket” motif. But at the same time I didn’t want to reproduce too much – I was definitely writing my own story, not retelling Dahl’s. So I mostly tried to give little hints that might be evocative of the reader experience with that classic story. The result is hopefully clear but subtle at the same time – the astute reader might notice little Easter eggs related to Willy Wonka’s character, like the glass elevator the Super Chef rides in his intro, the way the certificate each kid is handed as they earn their way into the competition is tinged in gold (nudge, nudge, wink, wink…golden ticket). Perhaps more obscurely, even the black-shirted assistants who appear out of nowhere to clear away things during the challenges might be sorta kinda similar to the orange oompa loompas? Is that one only in my head?

 

Gordon Ramsey was perhaps a little easier, because of how closely I was writing to competitive cooking shows, and he’s involved in so many of them – Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, and so on. But really the chef side of Lucas Taylor is an amalgam of the characteristics of a lot of famous chefs – as well as many not so famous people, including a little sprinkle of myself. I’m glad, however, to hear he rings true as the quintessential famous chef so many of us are familiar with from TV.

 

Preview YouTube video Summer Fun: Reading & Cooking & Writing Middle Grade with CHRIS NEGRON and DEBRA GREEN

Summer Fun: Reading & Cooking & Writing Middle Grade with CHRIS NEGRON 

and DEBRA GREEN

8. Super Chef Lucas Taylor goes from celebrity to vulnerable older man in such a moving way, what is the impact of that shift on our first person narrator Curtis Pith?

Wow, thanks for that comment. Of course that’s a big part of what I was hoping to do, but you never known if you’re accomplishing what you set out to convey or not. But yeah, for Curtis, and a lot of the characters in the book – adult and kid characters alike – the word I like to toss around and I’ve seen in some reviews is perspective. I think if there’s one thing this story can convey or make readers think about, I would hope it would be perspective. That would make me happy. And I know perspective can be a pretty broad topic – it can be perspective about the future, or about other people, or about your family, or yourself even. Whichever of these the story might make you think about – or all of them – the conversation about perspective is one I hope The Last Super Chef starts. The impact of what he learns about the Super Chef in Curtis can best be summed up as “perspective” I think as well

 

9. I consider Last Super Chef to be a wild mix of updated Aesop's fables mixed into the chaos of your own flavor of Master junior chef!  Sometimes the lessons are spelled out in the form of themes from cooking competitions other times through out the book there are more teachable moments which are much more subtle. How do you put in so many teachable moments and conversation starters into your books especially the Last Super Chef?

Again that’s so appreciated, but I tend to avoid words like “lessons” when talking about writing for kids. I think one of the worst things a kid-lit writer can be is overly didactic in our work. In my opinion, anyway, what we really want to be doing is asking questions and starting conversations, not providing answers or lessons. Half the time I don't know enough about what I’m writing about to give out answers about it anyway! There’s a quote by Joan Didion that I imagine most writers know but is pretty applicable here: “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” I think about that quote sometimes when I’m writing, and I hope what I’m conveying to young readers is something like, “This is something I think and wonder about a lot. What about you?” Or maybe also, “This is what Curtis went through and how he handled it – maybe sometimes well and sometimes not so well – have you guys ever experienced this or thought about what would you do if you did experience it? Does seeing the mistakes Curtis made or the victories he won help you with that?”

 

Here is an elusive recipe for a yummy treat Chosen and shared by Chris Negron inspired by a specific part of Last Super Chef!

10. What are the most spoiler free important takeaways from the new book?

Perspective, perspective, perspective! I know, I know, I talked about this one earlier. Probably the other thing (which is still perspective related) is expectations of the future, being flexible and understanding that life is a wave we ride, and we’re not always going to be able to predict its flow. So keeping your knees bent and going where that surf takes you – while still having dreams and striving and fighting for them, dreams are so important – can be the happiest way to stay up on the board the whole ride. 

Visit Chris Negrons website!

https://chrisnegron.com/

 

11. What are you working on next? Any parting words?

I’m working on another middle grade novel but it’s very early in the process. It’s about a character who’s very protective of and

involved with his city neighborhood, and I don’t think I want to say much more about it, for fear of jinxing it or pitching it poorly! But I’m really excited about it and hope I can bring it to readers in the near future (which, in the publishing world…might be a year or two, but stay tuned)!

 

I’m just so thankful to you, Drew, for all your support, and likewise to Books Inc. and all the other Indie bookstores and booksellers for everything you do to put our stories into the hands of young readers who might need them or who they might touch.

Gratitude, thanks and appreciation and links are below! Thanks for reading! Keep on your reading adventures!

Thank you to! Books Inc, Chris Negron, Debra Green. Harper Kids Publishing and Holiday House Publishing!