Interview with Author Tina Athaide

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Southern California author Tina Athaide’s middle-grade debut was the critically acclaimed novel Orange for the Sunsets (2019, Katherine Tegen). Her latest publication is picture book Meena’s Mindful Moment (2021, Page Street Kids).

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your historical fiction, middle-grade book, Orange for the Sunsets, about two friends (an Indian girl and a Ugandan boy) is set in 1972 Uganda when President Idi Amin announced all Indians with British citizenship had 90 days to leave Uganda—a story that is close to your heart. Did the span of decades help give this life-altering event perspective?

TINA ATHAIDE: Time is exactly what this story needed. The decades in between gave me a broader perspective, which allowed for the space to present two alternating points of view. When I first set out to write the story, it was in the late 1990s, and I had a singular vision—telling the story from an Asian Indian POV. Now when I look at the story, I cannot imagine it without Yesofu, the Ugandan boy. Time healed to look past the loss and pain of the Asian Indian experience so I could give a voice to the Ugandan experiences during that time, so the story had balance.

Interview with YA Cowriters Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz

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Alyssa Embree Schwartz, author, character development, cowriting, Fade into the Bright, interview, Jessica Koosed Etting

Jessica Koosed Etting, a Los Angeles native, and Alyssa Embree Schwartz have been BFFs and cowriters for about twenty years. In addition to their TV and film career, their four-book YA series, Georgetown Academy, has over 1.4 million downloads online.

In their recent YA book, Fade into the Bright (2021, Delacorte Press), eighteen-year-old Abby and her older sister Brooke receive a brief letter from their estranged father, telling them he’s tested positive for Huntington’s disease. Both sisters decide to undergo the required six-month pre-testing genetic counseling, then learn whether they have this fatal gene. Abby does; Brooke does not. Trying to process this information, Abby escapes to Catalina Island to spend the summer after high-school graduation with her little-known aunt.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Fade into the Bright is amazing! What made you choose to write about Huntington’s?

Interview with Author Moni Ritchie Hadley

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Moni Ritchie Hadley is the author of the picture book, The Star Festival (2021, Albert Whitman). A half-Japanese military brat, she bounced back and forth from the USA to Japan as a child. Daydreaming was a favorite pastime. She received a BA in Psychology at UCLA and later became a home/hospital teacher for the LAUSD, where she taught students with medical needs. Also published in Highlights magazine, The Star Festival is her picture book debut.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! The first printing of your debut picture book, The Star Festival, sold out almost immediately—wow! Were you expecting that?

MONI RITCHIE HADLEY: I wasn’t even aware of this until I noticed that my publisher’s site (Albert Whitman) listed my book as “sold out.” My book released on April 1st; the second run was ordered on April 2nd. “Sold out” is relative to size of printing, and that can vary greatly between publishers, but it was a pleasant surprise that my book exceeded expectations!

An Interview with STEM Author, Kristen Nordstrom

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by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Kristen Nordstrom is the debut STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) author of Mimic Makers: Biomimicry Inventors Inspired by Nature, illustrated by Paul Boston (Charlesbridge Publishing, July 2021). The picture book profiles ten real-life scientists, engineers, and designers who copy nature to create amazing new technology. Thank you, Mother Nature!

Kristen teaches biomimicry and other topics to elementary-school students in a gifted science program, and is a member of NSTA, the National Science Teaching Association. She has written innovative curriculum, and has been honored with two writing awards from SCBWI for outstanding STEM manuscripts. Kristen took a moment from her busy schedule to answer some questions for the Kite Tales blog.

An Interview with Karen Jameson, Picture Book Author

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by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Karen Jameson is the author of Moon Babies, illustrated by Amy Hevron (Putnam, 2019). Her most recent book is Woodland Dreams, illustrated by Marc Boutavant (Chronicle, 2020). More stories are in the works. She was awarded the Sue Alexander Grant for the Working Writers Retreat (SCBWI-L.A.) for her lyrical picture book Woodland Dreams. Karen has retired from teaching to write full-time. She took a moment to answer some questions for the Kite Tales blog.

Hope in the Mail: An Interview with Wendelin Van Draanen

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fiction, Flipped, Hope In The Mail, inspiration, interview, nonfiction, Sammy Keyes, Wendlin Van Draanen, Writing Life

by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Wendelin Van Draanen, a member of the SCBWI Central-Coastal California region, has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens. She is the author of the 18-book Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes series, and wrote Flipped, which was named a Top 100 Children’s Novel for the 21^st Century by SLJ, and became a Rob Reiner directed Warner Brothers feature film.

Her first non-fiction book, Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life, is part memoir, part writing guide, and part publishing insight.

ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Congratulations on your newest book Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life! You have written many novels, why a non-fiction book, why now?

Interview with Best-Selling Middle Grade Author Robert Beatty

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Robert Beatty is the successful author of the New York Times best-selling Serafina series and of Willa of the Wood. His fourth Serafina book, Serafina and the Seven Stars (Disney-Hyperion) was released on July 9, 2019. I met up with him when he stopped in Los Angeles for the opening-day book event at the Grove’s Barnes & Noble.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to LA! Serafina and Willa are some of my favorite middle grade characters. Your books spin fantasy and historical fiction together seamlessly. Much of Serafina takes place at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, and includes real-life characters such as the Vanderbilts. How did you choose this location?

Interview with Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat

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In April, I had the pleasure of watching funny men AARON REYNOLDS and DAN SANTAT dazzle elementary school kids by acting out their new one-word picture book, Dude! Afterward, they graciously shared their wisdom and expertise.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: What advice do you have for prepublished writers and illustrators?

Emma Chichester Clark’s TOTO Illustration Process and Her Muse—Her Dog, Plum

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Emma Chichester Clark is the illustrator of the beautiful middle-grade chapter book, Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz. Its 250+ full-color images showcase Chichester Clark’s signature style.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! In Toto, you collaborate once again with author, Michael Morpurgo. How does illustrating well-known stories differ from working on new fiction? Does having a dog as the narrator change your focus when you work on the art?

EMMA CHICHESTER CLARK: In fact, it’s my sixth collaboration with Michael. We have also done versions of Pinocchio, Aesop’s Fables, Hansel and Gretel, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and a Christmas story called The Best of Times. Almost all of them were about well-known characters and I had to find my own ideas about that. This is a challenge because the images we all already know so well are imprinted in our heads. With each character, I have to draw and redraw them, over and over again, until I find someone that belongs to me but who is, at the same time, true to the character I’m representing. [In Toto], having a dog as the narrator was the most fun of all because I adore dogs. I have one, Plum, who is not unlike Toto in appearance and I spend a lot of my time trying to interpret what is going on in her doggy brain.

CVZ: You are also an author. Please give us some insight into your process, both as an illustrator and an author-illustrator.

Author Michael Morpurgo on His New Book, TOTO, and Writing From an Animal’s Perspective

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Today, we feature Michael Morpurgo, author of the middle-grade chapter book, Toto: The Dog-gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz. This retelling of the classic is from Toto’s point of view. Each chapter begins as he tells his tale to his puppies—only one of which usually stays awake until the end.

A former Children’s Laureate, Morpurgo has published over 150 books. His novel, War Horse, was successfully adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway play and a Golden Globe-nominated film by Steven Spielberg. Morpurgo’s books include retellings such as Pinocchio by Pinocchio (told from Pinocchio’s viewpoint), also a collaboration with illustrator, Emma Chichester Clark.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! What influenced your decision to rewrite The Wizard of Oz?

MICHAEL MORPURGO: We all know the original story from the film and perhaps less from the L Frank Baum book. It is a wonderful and magical tale—funny, frightening—and strange and a wonderful film, but I always felt that there was one character who had little part to play in the story. Dorothy we know and love, but her little dog, Toto, does little more than accompany her on her adventures, providing her with comfort and company, but we never know what he thinks of all that is going on. He just gets carried around a lot. So, I thought why not tell the story again, but through Toto’s eyes. But it was really my friend, the illustrator of Toto, Emma Chichester Clark, who originally had the idea of a retelling the story with her own beloved dog, Plum, as the inspiration for Toto.

CVZ: Please tell us about your writing process.