An Inside Look with Paul Acampora
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
Oscar, Riley, and Noah began from the true stories that one of my best friends, a high school art teacher, enjoyed telling me about the fantastic students in his own clay classes. From there, I started wondering… What if? What if? What if? What if a kid discovers an unexpected talent for making pottery? What if an experience with art provided an unexpected path to friendship? To seeing the world? To healing? Who would need that? How would a person become open to it? What if, despite what we are generally taught, a person understands and accepts that breaking things can be just as rewarding and fun as making things? Who is the person that knows this? Also, broken things are much more common than things (and people) that are whole. How does a young person learn to survive that truth? With those questions in mind, I started hearing the voices of Oscar, Riley, and Noah. Of course, those characters are also informed by my own experiences, adventures, misadventures, opinions, and assumptions about art, football, faith, hospitals, family, small towns, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, among other things.
What do you think are their most admirable qualities?
Kindness. In their heart of hearts, Oscar, Riley, and Noah are all deeply kind. That’s how and why they are able to repair the world just a little bit.
Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their stories?
I don’t think so. I hope every choice made by Oscar, Riley, and Noah is driven by who they are, who they hope to be, and what they know in any particular moment. Their actions should all feel kind of necessary and even inevitable. That said, I’m sure I could go back and find opportunities to improve and revise every single scene.
What do you think the three of them can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
Sometimes I tell people that reading fiction is an opportunity to prepare for the real world, but I don’t know if I really believe that. The actual experience of losing a loved one or making something beautiful or scoring the game-winning touchdown or being the new kid on the first day of school… it’s all so much bigger and scarier and more awesome than any novel can really contain or get us ready for. I think it’s enough that reading – whether fiction or nonfiction – offers us a chance to walk with other people through good times and bad for a little while.
How did you research Oscar, Riley, and Noah and the circumstances they found themselves in?
I believe that people are shaped by places, by history, by neighborhoods, and by neighbors. For that reason, I spent a lot of time visiting the Pennsylvania coal towns in the region where the story takes place. It’s not too far from where I live now so I was able to walk the streets, tour coal mines, visit churches, and check out historical documents. I chatted with cashiers, students, librarians, teachers, priests and different people in and around places like Minersville, Ashland, Frackville, Mahanoy City, Tamaqua, Lansford, Centralia, St. Clair, and Shenandoah. On the football side of things, I have memories of being a terrible high school linebacker. Fortunately, I am acquainted with a handful of younger and older men who played the game at a high level, so I learned a lot from them. For clay, I read books and checked out websites and watched tons of videos to get a sense of how the process actually works. I also visited the classroom of my art teacher friend so I could learn more about the practice, the vocabulary, and the physical layout of a clay studio. Most importantly, I got to hear directly from students. They really loved and hated and struggled and succeeded in the art room. Those students plus their teacher tried to teach me a little bit, but I couldn’t make a single thing. The pottery wheel was an especially frustrating exercise. My own failure in the clay classroom definitely informed Riley’s experience!
Here are a few notes and photos from my research:
In Ashland, PA, they are still extremely proud of the state football championship won by the Ashland High School Black Diamonds in 1935:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8em2vh7bfcmly9/Ashland.jpg?dl=0
Coal mining families going to Mass in Minersville, PA would walk past this mural of St. Barbara, patron Saint of Miners, as she prayed over dying miners.
Here’s the “Good American Hose Company,” in Mahanoy City, PA, where Molly Maguire Historic Park includes the statue of a hooded miner on a gallows about to be hanged. Hose companies were volunteer fire companies originally organized by immigrant communities in coal mining towns to fight fires and to prove that they were good Americans.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gfao4ltqr37fg64/Hose%20Company.jpg?dl=0
My favorite guide, Father Tom Orsulak, led me through the #9 Coal Mine more than once:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/px5ap9rk0swumd5/CoalMine.jpg?dl=0
My high school football glory days:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mq8w9z9djr48gph/football.webp?dl=0
A couple of very patient young pottery artists:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/167m1sdb6nim303/Clay%20Teachers.jpg?dl=0
Do you and these characters share any similarities?
Oscar, Riley, and Noah are all really curious people. Whether it’s working with clay or looking at saints on stained glass windows or wrangling a balloon in the Macy’s parade or trying chocolate-covered pickles on a stick… they feel compelled to check stuff out. That’s definitely me.
What was the hardest scene to write about them?
There is a scene in which Riley and Noah are sitting on the porch at Oscar’s house while the adults are inside discussing events that happened earlier in the day. That was especially difficult to write because the situation requires the characters to remain seated in one place while they don’t do much except talk, worry, and feel guilty. I really wanted Riley and Noah to have this somewhat quiet and confused moment together. Without much motion or action, it was difficult to create a scene that would be as interesting and engaging as possible for readers and for the characters. My solution was to introduce yodeling, donuts, and Dolly Parton into the conversation.
Who do you think were their biggest supporters and why?
The biggest supporters of Oscar, Riley, and Noah are really Oscar, Riley, and Noah. Even before they become good friends, they each have the capacity to see real heartbreak in one another. As young people, they have not developed an adult ability to turn away from that.
Why do you think some young people who are completely different from each other can form a special bond, when others can only be friends with people who are just like them?
I think Oscar Hammerstein had it right when he wrote, “You’ve got to be carefully taught.”
What do you think Oscar, Riley, and Noah are doing at the present time?
At school, Oscar, Riley, and Noah have expanded their circle of friends. Now, they are with a large and varied group of classmates at their cafeteria table. They probably have to shove two or three tables together! Outside of school, they are helping Noah’s mom with the pottery business. Riley’s given up on clay, but she is successfully figuring out how to increase online mug sales. Both Riley and Noah have promised to join Oscar as a balloon wrangler at next year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Riley is excited, but Noah is concerned that he might get swept into the atmosphere by a rogue, inflatable sock monkey. Finally, Riley and Noah are going to insist that Oscar face a new fear: he has to ask Isabelia out on a date!
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)
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/Spring 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)
Interview #210 with Brenda Woods (Author of When Winter Robeson Came)
Interview #211 with Danya Lorentz (Author of the Book Of a Feather)
Interview #212 with Saadia Faruqi (Author of Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero)
Interview #213 with Ellen Hopkins (Author of What About Will)
SEASON #THIRTEEN (Summer 2022)
Interview #214 with Nora Raleigh Baskin and Gae Polisner (Authors of What About the Octopus)
Interview #215 with Lauren Wolk (Author of My Own Lightning)
Interview #216 with Rebekah Lowell (Author of the Road to After)
Interview #217 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Honestly Elliott)
Interview #218 with Dan Gemeinhart (Author of The Midnight Children)
Interview #219 with Melanie Conklin (Author of A Perfect Mistake)
Interview #220 with Kyle Lukoff (Author of Different Kinds of Fruit)
Interview #221 with Tracy Edward Wymer (Author of The Great and Mighty Benjamin Teller)
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