by Kate Messner (Released September 12, 2017)
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.
by Kate Messner (New Paperback cover released September 12, 2017)
How did you come to know Zig?
Zig is a
character in my 2009 debut novel, THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. He’s Gianna’s
best friend and by her side as she struggles to finish her leaf collection
project and deals with her grandmother’s dementia. I hadn’t planned on a sequel
or companion book for this novel, but I finished writing Gianna’s story, I
still heard Zig’s voice in my head. So I started brainstorming, and THE EXACT
LOCATION OF HOME is the story of what happens to Zig in eighth grade, the year
after the leaf project.
What do you
think is Zig's most admirable quality?
Zig has a lot of
qualities that I love. Among them are loyalty as a friend, creativity, and
determination (sometimes to a fault!).
Is there
anything you wish Zig would have changed or done differently in his story?
The lovely thing
about this story is that I wrote my first draft back in 2009, even though it’s
coming out now, in 2017. I’ve read and revised it so many times that this is
one where I really don’t have any regrets. Zig’s story plays out just as I
imagine it would if he were a real kid (and of course, he still feels that way
to me!)
How did
you research Zig and the circumstances he found himself in?
I used to belong
to a church that offered temporary emergency housing in its basement, and
obviously, I also did a lot of reading about homelessness and shelters and
talked with a shelter director. But most of the Truth of Zig’s story comes from
the students I taught in my fifteen years in a middle school, the readers I
talk with when I visit schools and libraries, and the kids who write me
letters. Zig’s story is many of their stories, too.
What do
you think Zig can offer to other young people that are experiencing similar
situations to what he went through?
I think when
kids are experiencing something difficult in their lives – whether that’s a
parental separation or temporary homelessness or a family member struggling
with addiction – there tends to be a feeling of loneliness. There’s a sense
that they’re the only ones going through this, so they feel different from
everyone else and sometimes ashamed. Nothing could be further from the truth,
though, and I think talking about issues like this helps to show kids they’re
not alone, especially when it’s being experienced by a beloved character like
Zig. (In the mail I get from kids about THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, so many
identify Zig as their favorite!)
Do you and
Zig share any similarities?
Only that we
both have big hearts and sometimes struggle asking for help when we need it.
Zig’s other personality traits – particularly his love of electronics – were
inspired by my son. He was in middle school when I was writing this book but is
now all grown up, studying electrical engineering and interning at Apple at the
moment. But when he was younger, he was always messing around with things like
broken toasters and rigging up buzzers and alarms, just like Zig.
What was
the hardest scene to write about Zig?
Well…without
giving any spoilers, probably the water tower scene. When you love a character,
it’s tough to let them fail, to let things not work out. But that’s also
essential for characters to grow (and the rest of us, too).
Who do you
think was Zig's biggest supporter and why?
Even though they
were kept in the dark about his situation, I still think Gianna and Ruby were
amazing friends to Zig throughout the story. Those are the kinds of loving,
supportive friendships I always loved to see when I was teaching middle school.
Why do you
think young children like Zig want to believe the best in an adult when the
adult hasn’t shown much in return?
I don’t think
that’s exclusive to kids at all. It’s human nature to want to believe the best
about the people we love, even when the evidence shows otherwise. But I think
for kids, being let down can feel especially difficult because your parents are
the people who are supposed to be there, no matter what. It’s their job. That’s
the rule. So when things fall apart, I think young people can feel especially
lost.
What do
you think Zig is doing at the present time?
I can’t really
answer this one for you. My characters exist in a sort of frozen-in-time world
in my imagination, so I always picture Zig riding his bike to the park,
skipping stones with Ruby and Gianna. Kids ask this question a lot. “What
happens to Zig after the story ends?” And I always tell them the truth – that
my story about Zig ended with the last page you turned. Anything past that is
up to readers to imagine.
