*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Jake?
Jake's character came to me one day when I was out for a walk here in New York City. School had just let out. I saw an extremely cool middle schooler in the crosswalk of an intersection. He was chatting to one bud on his phone but was able to knock knuckles with another bud going the other way in the crosswalk. That simple incident told me all I needed to get started on building Jake McQuade. A kid who (at first) goes to school to hang with his friends.
What do you think is Jake’s most admirable quality?
I think that he cares so much about not letting his sister or his mother down. He's also a good friend. And, when he gets his super power, he doesn't let it go to his head! There's a lot of Peter Parker in Jake McQuade.
Is there anything you wish he would have changed or done differently in his story?
No. In fact, the one thing we almost changed was Kojo's love of Kojak. It is a late 1970s show, after all. We wondered if kids would care or like it. But, the other day, I was doing a Zoom with a school where all the 3rd-5th graders had just read THE SMARTEST KID IN THE UNIVERSE. I think about ten different classrooms were on the Zoom. When it came time for the last question, all the classrooms went off Mute and shouted, "Who loves ya, baby?" Then they all popped Tootsie Pops into their mouths. I'm glad we didn't cut the Kojak stuff from the book!
What do you think Jake can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through?Well, I don't think many kids are going to become instantly smart thanks to jelly beans. But, all kids are given unique talents. I think it's important to share those talents with kids who may not have the same ones that you do.
How did you research Jake and the circumstances he found himself in?
A lot of it came from a Ted Talk I discovered: "Nicholas Negroponte: A 30-year history of the future."
https://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_negroponte_a_30_year_history_of_the_future?language=en
MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte takes you on a journey through the last 30 years of tech. The consummate predictor highlights interfaces and innovations he foresaw in the 1970s and 1980s that were scoffed at then but are ubiquitous today. And he leaves you with one last (absurd? brilliant?) prediction for the coming 30 years.
That final prediction? Ingestible Information!!!!
Once I had that gem, I dug into how it might work. The key to research is putting just enough in your story to help make it seem believable. You have to leave a lot of research out of your story because you don't want to bore your readers with everything thing you learned.
Do you and Jake share any similarities?
I was always a Straight A student and my parents told us that, if we had a gift (for quick learning), we had to share it with others.
What was the hardest scene to write about him?
Well, in this book, it was the final complex math problem/puzzle. I came across it on-line but didn't totally understand it (because it's been a while since my last math class). Fortunately, several math teachers rushed to my rescue, including a distant Grabenstein cousin!
Who do you think was his biggest supporter and why?
Jake's biggest supporter is probably his best friend Kojo. He's been with Jake through thick and thin and, when Jake gets his super power, helps keep him grounded.
Why do young children, like Jake and his friends, have the strength, motivation, and courage to bond together and fight for what is right, when many adults can’t do the same?
This is a question I ask myself all the time. Where or when does the drift start? When do we start making compromises? Unfortunately, I think it has a lot to do with when we start earning money and worrying about things like paying mortgages.
What do you think Jake is doing as the present time?
Oh, I know. He is currently packing his duffel bag for GENIUS CAMP!
SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)
Interview #122 with Tamara Bundy (Author of Pixie Pushes On)
Interview #123 with Lindsay Lackey (Author of All the Impossible Things)
Interview #124 with Tae Keller (Author of When You Trap a Tiger)
Interview #125 with Jamie Sumner (Author of Roll With It)
Interview #126 with Hena Khan (Author of More to the Story)
Interview #127 with Phil Bildner (Author of A High-Five for Glenn Burke)
Interview #128 with Leslie Connor (Author of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs)
Interview#129 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Queen Bee and Me)
Interview #130 with Jody J. Little (Author of Worse Than Weird)
Interview #131 with Jenn Bishop (Author of Things You Can't Say)
Interview #132 with Kaela Noel (Author of Coo)
Interview #133 with Rebecca Stead (Author of The List of Things That Will Not Change)
Interview #134 with Gae Polisner (Author of Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me)
Interview #135 with Emily Blejwas (Author of Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened)
Interview #136 with Joy McCullough (Author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost)
Interview #137 with Kim Baker (Author of the Water Bears)
Interview #138 with Erin Entrada Kelly (Author of We Dream of Space)
Interview #139 with Jess Redman (Author of Quintessence)
Interview #140 with Melanie Conklin (Author of Every Missing Piece)
Interview #141 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Brave Like That)
Interview #158 with Rebecca Ansari (Author of The In-Between)
Interview #159 with John David Anderson (Author of One Last Shot)
Interview #160 with Tracy Holczer (Author of Brave in the Woods)
Interview #161 with James Bird (Author of The Brave)
Interview #162 with Marcella Pixley (Author of Trowbridge Road)
Interview #163 with Barbara O'Connor (Author of Halfway to Harmony)
Interview #164 with Alan Gratz (Author of Ground Zero)
Interview #165 with Lisa Fipps (Author of Starfish)
Interview #166 with Ann Braden (Author of Flight of the Puffin)
Interview #167 with Kimberly Willis Holt (Author of The Ambassador of NoWhere Texas)
Interview #168 with Elana K. Arnold (Author of The House That Wasn't There)
Interview #169 with Erin Soderberg (Author of The Great Peach Experiment)
Interview #170 with Donna Gephart (Author of Abby, Tried, and True)
Interview #171 with M. Evan Wolkenstein (Author of Turtle Boy)
Interview #172 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Bea is for Blended)
Interview #173 with Jess Redman (Author of The Adventure is Now)
Interview #174 with David Levithan (Author of The Mysterious Disappearance of Aiden)
No comments:
Post a Comment