An Inside Look with Amanda Rawson Hill
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Cass?
Very, very slowly. Cass first showed up as a voice in my head, whispering the very first few lines of the book. "My dad gets cancer in all the odd years of my life." And I realized very quickly that she was speaking in verse. But there's a whole lot more to Cass than just her poetic style, and that took a lot of time for me to uncover. Much of the bones of the plot stayed the same from about the second draft on, but Cass really had to become a full-fledged character and that took many, many drafts. In the beginning, she was far too perfect, stoic, and understanding. It was work to allow her to be vulnerable, selfish, angry, and secretive, in short, to let her be a child. Any child who lives through what Cass has will be mature for her age, but she's still only 12, and finding that balance was hard. It wasn't until I put her on a baseball team, in one of the last drafts before it sold to my editor, that I finally really started to SEE Cass and understand her.
What do you think is her most admirable quality?
That's a tough question, but in the end, I think it's her ability to see people and notice small things about them so she understands them better. It allows her to empathize with her dad, with Jayla, with Alex, with the elephant at the zoo, and even with her mom when they're not really understanding each other at all.
Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?
I wish she would have let her mom into her thoughts and her life more. Her mom wants so much to do everything right and be the support Cass needs all while juggling a million other things. As a mom, I feel for her. I think Cass needed her mom's viewpoint on things too, even if it was too rosy sometimes. She could have used that support.
What do you think Cass can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
I think just the knowledge that they aren't alone. In a broader sense, I also hope that it allows children in Cass' situation to feel seen. So few people know about LFS and I really hope this book brings more attention to the mutation and accompanying challenges they face.
How did you research Cass and the circumstances she found himself in?
I watched my sister and her family live through them. My brother-in-law had LFS and Osteosarcoma and my niece has LFS. So I've seen how Cancer progresses and how hard it is on a family. I've seen the way the anxiety that comes from LFS never disappears all the way.
Do you and Cass share any similarities?
Cass is like me in that she has big dreams but is also a realist. It can be an exhausting combination lol.
What was the hardest scene to write about her?
I think the hardest scene to write for Cass were the scenes when she was angry. It felt like a fine line to keep it from getting melodramatic because the book was already so emotional.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
I'd say her dad. He's the person most able to understand and relate to her, I think.
Why do you think some people would want to know their future and if anything horrible might happen to them, while others are content to live their life day by day, and not know what the future holds?
That's a great question. Some of it is personality, for sure. But I think some of it also just what you have experienced. Going through cancer of someone close to you having cancer can really change your answer to this question. While some of us enjoy the thought experiment, some of us didn't have a choice and know what is waiting somewhere in the future. I think going through something like that helps you appreciate both answers but probably lean very heavily toward one or the other. I personally would want to know.
What do you think Cass is doing at the present time?
I think she is planning a trip to Yellowstone with Jayla and saving her favorite poems her dad is reading to her. He doesn't have much time left, so he's reading her all of his favorites. They're her favorites too now.
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)
Interview #222 with Louise Hawes (Author of Big Rig)
Interview #223 with Paul Acampora (Author of In Honor of Broken Things)
Interview #224 with Shannon Doleski (Author of Gabe in the After)
Interview #225 with Jennifer Ziegler (Author of Worser)
Interview #226 with Natalie Lloyd (Author of Hummingbird)
SEASON #FOURTEEN (Fall 2022)
Interview #227 with Celia C. Perez (Author of Tumble
Interview #228 with Greg Howard (Author of The Visitors)
Interview #229 with Rob Buyea (Author of The Daredevils)
Interview #230 with Sashi Kaufman (Author of Sardines)
Interview #231 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of The Real Deal)
Interview #233 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of New Kids and Underdogs)
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