An Inside Look with Elly Swartz
(Author of Same Page)
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Bess?
I wanted to share a story that centered on this time in our history. And I wanted Bess to tell it. According to Pen America, there were over 10,000 book bans in 2023-24 school year, almost three times that in the preceding one. https://pen.org/memo-on-school-book-bans-2023-2024-school-year/ Book bans are happening to kids. I wanted Bess to share how it feels to have your right to read, your right to choose, taken away. How it feels to have your history erased. Your lived experiences deemed too harmful or divisive or inappropriate to read about. I wanted Bess to embrace her sense of justice and allyship. Her sense of empowerment and agency. After all, kids can change the world! All we need to do is listen, respect, and honor them.
What do you think is her most admirable quality?
There is so much to love about Bess. But I think her most admirable quality is her giant heart. Kindness. Love. Compassion. That’s Bess. Friend and ally. Speaking out for all. And taking care of her little brother Avi who has anxiety he calls the fishes. Letting him know that he is brave even if he’s worried and even if he cries sometimes. She reminds him that bravery can look a lot of different ways and assures him that he is his own Superman.
But Bess’s heart doesn’t just wrap itself around her brother and her friends. Bess loves her 4 legged family with that same big heart. Meet Lola her milk-shake brown horse who loves apples, and Barnaby, her dog with the pointy ears. Bess shows us all the true meaning of a giant heart!
Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?
Listening. While Bess has fortitude, determination, and passion, she is not the best listener. When June tells her that her mom isn’t like most moms, that her mom is strict and unforgiving, Bess doesn’t hear her. Not really. Bess hears what she thinks June is saying, instead of what June is actually saying. Bess is listening with assumption. Bringing only her experience and perspective to the conversation. And truly, June is doing the same thing. It is not until the last scene that they both learn to listen with empathy, compassion, and an open heart that they truly begin to fully understand each other. Bess is learning. Like all of us.
What do you think Bess can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
I think Bess embodies the idea that kids can change the world. And that bravery is not about never feeling scared! It’s about doing things even when you are! Bess hates public speaking. To her, standing on stage in front of everyone is like a palm sweating, heart pumping, words stuck in the back of her throat kind of moment. But when the books she loves are being challenged, she agrees to speak up for what she believes in at the school board meeting. In front of everyone! She does this not because she’s overcome her pit in the stomach. But because she’s brave. “Being brave isn’t about doing stuff when you’re not scared; it’s about doing stuff when you are.” (p. 130) I want kids to know that we all get scared. And that’s okay. But if something is important to you. Tugs at your heart. You can act. Speak up. Take action. Be an ally. Even if you’re scared.
How did you research Bess and the circumstances she found herself in?
So much research, Patrick! Like with all my stories, I feel authenticity is at the heart of any great story. And that means fact finding. I dove in and researched all of it. I talked with one of the founders of the FReadom Fighters – Becky Calzada – an ardent advocate and champion for kids and books who is doing incredible work to support the right to read. I met with the students and founders of VHS Banned Book Club to ask how this time in history is impacting them and how they are empowering change. I met with a person who runs Red, Wine, and Blue – an organization working to protect the right to read. I spoke with a Holocaust survivor who so graciously shared the stories from her very difficult past. I toured and interviewed the founder of an equine therapy program - Love Lane Equine Therapy in Lincoln, MA. Talk about a very special community! I even met with the owner of a café to understand the inner workings for Bess’s dad’s café in the story. And, lastly, I talked with someone who is getting her Phd in fruit flies to be sure all of Avi’s fruit fly facts were accurate. I honestly love research, and the new perspective and understanding it brings.
Do you and Bess share any similarities?
I think we do. We both love big, have a strong sense of justice, and believe that allyship is the cornerstone of understanding and compassion.
What was the hardest scene to write about her?
There were many really difficult scenes for me to write in this book. And many scenes I wrote with tears streaming down my cheeks. But here, I will share 2. One was the school board meeting scene. From the moment in the girls’ locker room when June asks Bess, “Does loving someone who does bad things make you a bad person?” (p. 178) to Bess, Mr. Jasper, and then June’s mom speaking at the school board meeting. I had so many big feelings while writing these events. I was proud of Bess, but I was also worried, scared, hurt, and mad. I wanted people to come together. To work together. To listen, understand, and empathize. But that’s not what happened. The other scene that was difficult to write was the bathroom scene where Bess overheard the mean girls making fun of her name, her religion, her. This hurt my heart deeply. I have never understood this kind of hatred or hatred cloaked as “humor.” It wasn’t funny when I was growing up and it’s not funny now. Not to Bess, not to me. It is when we, as a society, allow people to say mean things, or hide them as jokes, that we lose our humanity. My hope is that Bess and June and the Book Warriors can show readers the importance of being kind to each other and ourselves.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
Mr. Jasper. He saw Bess’s strength and conviction and courage, long before she did. He knew that she had the agency, strength, and commitment to make the change she wanted to see in the world.
Why do you think some young people can show such resilience, strength, and courage during difficult life situations; sometimes even more than the adults in their lives?
I believe that hope drives resilience, strength, and courage. The hope that we can make a difference in the world, the hope that we can instill change, the hope we can do better. And it is that special ingredient that I think some adults lose. But kids show us that hope is never truly lost. It can always be rekindled. And it can always lead us back to the resilience, strength, and courage we need.
What do you think Bess is doing at the present time?
Speaking up for what is important to her.
Bio...
Elly Swartz is the award-winning author of six middle grade novels. Swartz’s books reflect her commitment to raising awareness about mental health and neurodiversity. Same Page, her newest novel, was named a Kids’ Indie Next List. Publishers Weekly said "...Swartz skillfully incorporates sensitive depictions of Bess’s anxiety and the comfort she finds in her Jewish faith and her dog, Barnaby, to tackle tween friendship drama and growing pains with nuance." And Booklist noted, “... Swartz has written a timely and powerfully emotive story that is a perfect read for a budding reformer or activist.” Hidden Truths, was called "realistic fiction at its best" in a starred review by SLJ. Swartz is also the author of Dear Student, Finding Perfect, Smart Cookie, and Give and Take, novels for middle-grade readers.
Swartz lives in Massachusetts and is happily married with two grown sons, a grandson, and two pups. Connect with her at ellyswartz.com, on Twitter @ellyswartz, and on Instagram, Bluesky, and Threads @ellyswartzbooks.
Buy links for Same Page
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/727437/same-page-by-elly-swartz/
https://bookshop.org/p/books/same-page-elly-swartz/21477907?ean=9780593705605
Buy links for signed copies of Same Pagehttps://www.eightcousins.com/item/ZoOPMvNQhqYm5t6kmc28AA
https://www.wellesleybooks.com/book/9780593705605
Social media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellyswartzbooks/?hl=en
Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/ellyswartzbooks.bsky.social
Twitter: https://x.com/notifications
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elly.pitaskyswartz
Elly’s website
Same Page Teacher’s Guide
https://ellyswartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Same-Page-Curriculum-Guide-.pdf
Same Page Book Club Guide
https://ellyswartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Same-Page-Book-Club-Discussion-Guide.pdf
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Interview #126 with Hena Khan (Author of More to the Story)
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Interview#129 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Queen Bee and Me)
Interview #130 with Jody J. Little (Author of Worse Than Weird)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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Interview #179 with Katherine Applegate (Author of Willow)
Interview #180 with Padma Venkatraman (Author of Born Behind Bars)
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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)
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Interview #200 with Chad Lucas (Author of Thanks a Lot, Universe)
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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)
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Interview #218 with Dan Gemeinhart (Author of The Midnight Children)
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Interview #230 with Sashi Kaufman (Author of Sardines)
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Interview #250 with Sally J. Pla (Author of The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn)
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