Fourth Grade Journey

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

Monday, November 4, 2019

An Inside Look #113 (Author INTERVIEW)



An Inside Look with Nicole Melleby
(Author of Hurricane Season)

*During the summer of 2016, I added this feature to the blog which was called "Season #ONE".  This first season ran from June of 2016 to March of 2017.  

*I started up the interviews again in June of 2017.  It was great to get back to Season #TWO.  This season ran throughout the summer.  

*Season #THREE ran during the school year of 2017-2018.  



*The next season (season #FOUR) of interviews took place during the summer and fall of 2018.  With each interview I became more and more impressed with the authors I was having interactions with.  

*Season #FIVE ran during the 2018/2019 school year.  I took a little break at the start of June 2019.  

*During my summer 2019 vacation I continued a series of interviews in which I put under the heading of Season #SIX.

*To kick off my 29th year of teaching, I'm adding Season #SEVEN with a whole new season of authors, books, and interviews.  


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

*This is the TENTH interview in which I'm calling Season #SEVEN.  

*Thank you to Nicole Melleby for being the One-Hundred Thirteenth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing.  I truly appreciate it.  

*Here are links to the first One Hundred Twelve interviews…


SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)

























SEASON #FOUR (Summer 2018)






















SEASON #FIVE (2018/2019)










Interview #81 with Tony Abbott (Author of The Great Jeff)

Interview #82 with Susan Ross (Author of Searching for Lottie)

Interview #83 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Caterpillar Summer)

Interview #84 with Rebecca Ansari (Author of The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly)

Interview #85 with Ali Standish (Author of August Isle)

Interview #86 with Shaun David Hutchinson (Author of The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried)

Interview #87 with Greg Howard (Author of The Whispers)

Interview #88 with Lynda Mullaly Hunt (Author of Shouting at the Rain)

Interview #89 with Lynda Mullaly Hunt (Author of One for the Murphys)

Interview #90 with Laurie Morrison (Author of Up for Air)

Interview #91 with Jody J. Little (Author of Mostly the Honest Truth)



SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)

Interview #92 with John David Anderson (Author of Finding Orion)

Interview #93 with Lisa Thompson (Author of The Light Jar)

Interview #94 with Keith Calabrese (Author of A Drop of Hope)

Interview #95 with Alicia D. Williams (Author of Genesis Begins Again)

Interview #96 with Kim Ventrella (Author of Bone Hollow)

Interview #97 with Natalie Lloyd (Author of Over the Moon)

Interview #98 with Cynthia Lord (Author of Because of the Rabbit)

Interview #99 with Tina Athaide (Author of Orange for the Sunsets)

Interview #100 with Elly Swartz (Author of Give and Take)

Interview #101 with Amy Rebecca Tan (Author of A Kind of Paradise)

Interview #102 with Varsha Bajaj (Author of Count Me In)

Interview #103 with Laura Resau (Author of Tree of Dreams)



SEASON #SEVEN (2019/2020)

Interview #104 with Laurel Snyder (Author of My Jasper June)

Interview #105 with Lisa Bunker (Author of Zenobia July)

Interview #106 with Jasmine Warga (Author of Other Words for Home)

Interview #107 with Barbara Dee (Author of Maybe He Just Likes You)

Interview #108 with Graham Salisbury (Author of Banjo)

Interview #109 with Donna Gephart (Author of The Paris Project)

Interview #110 with Jake Burt (Author of The Tornado)

Interview #111 with Jess Redman (Author of The Miraculous)

Interview #112 with Karen Strong (Author of Just South of Home)



*Nicole Melleby was kind, gracious, and giving with her answers to the questions.  It is an honor to post her responses here on the blog. 

*Thank you Nicole for writing this incredible and thought-provoking book.

*Here is my book review...


Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

(May 7, 2019)
How did you come to know Fig?
Before I knew what the story was going to even be about, I knew that I wanted to center it around a daughter and father relationship. So, at the very start, I knew that I wanted to have a father who would do anything for his daughter, and a daughter who would do the same and loved him more than anything. Once I decided that the story was going to be about his mental illness and Fig’s struggle in the face of it, as well as her own struggles in growing up, I knew that I needed to have a character who would fight for her dad, no matter how hard she found it, and that her own needs and wants would take a back seat to the responsibility she put on her own shoulders.
What do you think is Fig's most admirable quality?
How fiercely protective she is. It may put an enormous weight on her that she doesn’t need to hold alone, but Fig loves hard and does everything she can to keep her dad safe and home and healthy. Even when he’s at his worst and she’s mad at him or embarrassed by him, she never falters in knowing that he loves her, he’s trying, he’s sick.
Is there anything you wish Fig would have changed or done differently in her story?
I think, given the circumstances, Fig does everything (and then some) that is in her ability as an eleven-year-old to do. I wish she had the ability to trust easier, though she does come to learn that, which is important for her to learn on her own. I also wish that she didn’t so easily succumb to being ashamed of her dad in front of her classmates, but that’s such typical middle grade behavior. She wants to have friends; she wants to keep her dad safe. It takes a while for her to learn how to reconcile the two.
What do you think she can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
I hope that Fig can offer them a chance to not feel so alone, whether it be dealing with mental illness of a loved one (or themselves) or the beginnings of a new scary crush—and discovering their own sexuality and what that means for them.
How did you research Fig and the circumstances she found herself in?
I drew a lot of Fig’s experiences from my own, but I did a lot of reading—on mental illness, on social services  on Van Gogh (especially Van Gogh!) Mental illness and sexuality both vary from person to person, so I wanted to give Fig her own well-rounded experience based on research and the things that I knew personally.
Do you and Fig share any similarities?
While Fig is much more responsible than I ever was at her age, she and I both have the same ability to spiral over something—such as her spiraling over Van Gogh when she desperately started to research him for her dad. I tend to be the same way about trying to understand something; I search for it until I get deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, to the point where I forget why I dove in to begin with!
What was the hardest scene to write about Fig?
The Halloween party scene! Mostly because I was mortified on Fig’s behalf when her dad showed up and embarrassed her (while also worrying the heck out of her) in front of all these kids she had been so desperately trying to connect with up to this point. I also hated writing her anger at her dad—because I knew she loved him so much, but she couldn’t let go of that kind of anger, either. That entire scene is such a mess for the both of them.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
First and foremost, her dad, hands down. But Fig is lucky in that she has an entire group of supporters, even though it takes her some time to open up and trust that these new people she’s bringing into her and her dad’s life are going to help, rather than hurt. Mark is an obvious answer; he comes into the family and is the third piece they’d been needing all along, but I think the real underdog supporter is Miss Williams. Fig is mad at her for most of the book for calling child services in the first place, but Miss Williams knows and wants Fig and her dad to get the help they need, and she’s always there to listen and talk to Fig when Fig needs it, too. She’s also the reason Fig learns about Van Gogh in the first place.
Why do you think young people, like Fig, attempt to solve their family problems/issues on their own, instead of reaching out and asking for help from the adults around them?
Out of fear, I think. Fig was terrified that by letting someone in to their situation, she would lose her dad for good, and I think it’s difficult to trust people outside of your inner circle when you’ve been constantly let down, and when it’s always just been the two of them. The only thing that Fig knows about her mom is that her mom left, so she doesn’t have any other consistent adults in her life outside of her dad, so she doesn’t know what to expect from anyone, either. I think that the fear is sometimes natural—sometimes necessary, even—but in Fig’s case it was important for her to finally open up and let people in.
What do you think Fig is doing as the present time?
Fig is still in therapy, learning how to cope with her trauma and understand mental illness better, and just learning how to let go and be the kid now that Mark is in her life and her dad is doing better with medication and regular therapy himself.  She’s forging her own relationship with Mark, who seems to be a permanent fixture in her dad’s life. And, she’s sticking around Miss Williams’s art class—because while Fig never admitted to being a good artist, she studied Van Gogh for months! She has a new appreciation of art, of what makes art, of who the person is making the art. I’d like to think if she continued, she’d study art history someday.
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