Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Monday, March 28, 2022

An Inside Look #210 (Author Interview)


     An Inside Look with Brenda Woods

(Author of When Winter Robeson Came)


Welcome to my favorite feature of my blog...

*Season #ONE (June of 2016 to March of 2017)

*Season #TWO (Summer of 2017)

*Season #THREE (School Year 2017/2018)

*
Season #FOUR
 (Summer/fall of 2018)

*Season #FIVE (School Year 2018/2019)

*Season #SIX (Summer 2019) 

*Season #SEVEN (Fall 2019) 

*Season #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)

*Season #NINE (Fall 2020)

*Season #TEN (Winter/Spring 2021)

*Season #ELEVEN (Fall 2021)


*I'm excited to present season #TWELVE with brand new interviews/authors.  


*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.

*This is the TWELVTH interview in which I'm calling Season #TWELVE.  

*Thank you to Brenda Woods for being the Two Hundred Tenth author I've had the pleasure of interviewing.  I truly appreciate it.  



Winter Robeson Came
by Brenda Woods

(January 11, 2022)


How did you come to know Winter?

Creating Winter was like gathering favorite foods and spices to create a brand new recipe. In other words, he had to be an original. Growing up with   four brothers, each of  whom share bits of Winter's essence, gave me a boatload of resource material.



What do you think is Winter's most admirable quality?
What I admire most about Winter is  that he is a dreamer.

Is there anything you wish he would have changed or done differently in his story?

No, I think I love him exactly the  way he is.



What do you think he can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through?

Winter is a young man who is missing something very important - his   father but he hasn't let that derail him. Yes, it has brought him sadness but he refuses to be defeated. Missing something that feels so essential
might present you with a series of speed bumps and detours but it doesn't have
to be a permanent roadblock.




How did you research Winter and the circumstances he found himself in?

I never knew my father and grew up with this sense that something huge was missing from my life.  Feeling that loss was something I poured into Winter.  I didn't have to do   any research regarding this because  it  was right there in my mind and 
soul.  Like Winter, I did search for my father but by the time I found him he was deceased.




Do you and Winter share any similarities?

Winter and I are both dreamers and  we have both experienced what

it's like to be fatherless. Also, like Winter, I can be determined.
What was the hardest scene to write about Winter?

The hardest scene was when he was walking with Eden to the Watts Towers and he disclosed that his mother refers to his father as the supposed to man.  His sadness at that   moment is palpable.

Who do you think was his biggest supporter and why?

Eden, of course, is his biggest supporter. Part of it is because she is a kind soul who is willing to partner with Winter as he searches for his pot of  gold at the end of the rainbow-his father. The other reason is because there is a little detective inside of her.


Why do you think young people have the courage to follow their dreams, goals, or what they set out to accomplish? Young people tend to look toward  t he future with the belief that it belongs to them, which it does, and that they possess the power to bring change. Adults, however, have so much of the past to look at that they

sometimes ignore the future. Perhaps  this is what makes young people willing and able to  trudge forward more courageously.

What do you think Winter is doing as the present time?  

In my mind, Winter became an astronaut. Of course, he travelled the world and led a very adventurous life. I'm not sure if he managed to accomplish and experience everything    on his ever-growing list but I have a feeling he got pretty close.




*Here are links to the Two Hundred-Nine interviews...

SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)

























SEASON #FOUR (Summer 2018)






















SEASON #FIVE (2018/2019)













SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)







SEASON #SEVEN (Fall 2019)




















SEASON #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)

Interview #121 with Melissa Savage (Author of Nessie Quest)

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)




SEASON #NINE (Fall 2020)














SEASON #TEN (Winter/Spring 2021)

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)

Interview #175 with Chris Grabenstein (Author of The Smartest Kid in the Universe)

Interview #176 with Ali Standish (Author of The Mending Summer)

Interview #177 with Holly Goldberg Sloan (Author of The Elephant in the Room)

Interview #178 with Jeff Zentner (Author of In the Wild Light)


SEASON #ELEVEN (Fall/Winter 2021)

Interview #179 with Katherine Applegate (Author of Willow) 

Interview #180 with Padma Venkatraman (Author of Born Behind Bars)

Interview #181 with R.J. Palacio (Author of Pony)

Interview #182 with Kyle Lukoff (Author of Too Bright to See)

Interview #183 with Barbara Dee (Author of Violets are Blue)

Interview #184 with Anne Ursu (Author of The Troubled Girls of Dragonmir Academy) 

Interview #185 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of We Could Be Heroes)

Interview #186 with Jasmine Warga (Author of Shape of Thunder)

Interview #187 with Joseph Bruchac (Author of Rez Dogs)

Interview #188 with Kathryn Erskine (Author of Lily's Promise)

Interview #189 with Elly Swartz (Author of Dear Student)

Interview #190 with Heather Clark (Author of Lemon Drop Falls)

Interview #191 with Veera Hiranandani (Author of How to Find What You're Not Looking For)

Interview #192 with Elizabeth Eulberg (Author of The Best Worst Summer)

Interview #193 with Cathy Carr (Author of 365 Days to Alaska)

Interview #194 with Carol Cujec and Peyton Goddard (Authors of REAL)

Interview #195 with Gillian McDunn (Author of These Lucky Stars)

Interview #196 with Alyssa Colman (Author of The Gilded Girl) 

Interview #197 with E.L. Chen (Author of The Comeback)

Interview #198 with J.M.M. Nuanez (Author of Birdie and Me) 


SEASON #TWELVE (Winter 2022)

Interview #199 with Jamie Sumner (Author of One Kid's Trash)

Interview #200 with Chad Lucas (Author of Thanks a Lot, Universe) 

Interview #201 with Jenn Bishop (Author of Where We Used to Roam)

Interview #202 with Rebecca Caprara (Author of Worst-Case Collin) 

Interview #203 with Leslie Connor (Author of Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?)

Interview #204 with Caroline Gertler (Author of Many Points of Me)

Interview #205 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of Susie B. Won't Back Down) 

Interview #206 with Shawn Peters (Author of The Unforgettable Logan Foster)

Interview #207 with Aisha Saeed (Author of Omar Rising)

Interview #208 with Adrianna Cuevas (Author of Cuba in my Pocket)

Interview #209 with Jennifer Swender (Author of Stuck)

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