An Inside Look with Jamie Sumner
(Author of Roll With It)
*The first season of interviews ran from June of 2016 to March of 2017.
*Season #two ran during the summer of 2017.
*Season #three ran during the school year of 2017-2018.
*Season #five ran during the 2018/2019 school year.
*During summer 2019, the sixth season ran.
*The seventh season of interviews ran during the fall of 2019.
*I'm excited to be back for season #EIGHT with brand new interviews/authors.
*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.
*This is the FIFTH interview in which I'm calling Season #EIGHT.
*Thank you to Jamie Sumner for being the One-Hundred Twenty-Fifth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.
*Here are links to the One Hundred Twenty-Four interviews…
SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)
SEASON #TWO (Summer 2017)
SEASON #FOUR (Summer 2018)
SEASON #FIVE (2018/2019)
SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)
SEASON #SEVEN (Fall 2019)
SEASON #EIGHT (Winter 2020)
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)
Roll with It
by Jamie Sumner
(October 1, 2019)
How did you come to know Ellie?
Ellie came to me in one sentence: “Everybody who sees a girl in a wheelchair thinks she’s all sunshine and cuddles.” I loved her ferocity and sass so much I had to tell her story. There would be no Roll with It without her untamable spirit. She is the pin that holds her family circle and her friend circle together.
What do you think is her most admirable quality?
You see Ellie’s soft side in her interactions with her grandfather as she worries over his health. But ultimately, Ellie is a fighter. She fights for what she wants: to be the world’s best baker, to take care of her grandfather, to look out for her friends, to be seen for something other than her wheelchair. I wish I were as brave and tough as her.
Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?
I think if Ellie and her mom had an all-out-no-holding-back fight over what they each wanted for their lives in the beginning, it would have saved them both a world of worry and angst. Of course, if they had, there would have been no book.
What do you think Ellie can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
Ellie makes kids feel seen who have never been seen before. She’s a strong female protagonist who knows how to advocate for herself. And she does it all in a wheelchair. I’ve received emails from second graders all the way through to adults who are appreciative of the portrayal of an experience that is normal to them, but often seen as “other” by the rest of the world. I hope this story helps increase understanding and empathy for those with a disability.
How did you research Ellie and the circumstances she found herself in?
Like Ellie, my son, Charlie, has cerebral palsy. Much of my research came from personal experience as his mom. I have also had the pleasure of meeting many kids through Charlie’s various therapies and special needs programs who shared their stories with me so that I could make Ellie’s experience authentic and accurate. As for the setting—I spent my summers in Oklahoma in a trailer by a lake with my grandparents. Roll with It is also a love letter to them and the grit and determination they instilled in me.
Do you and Ellie share any similarities?
I hope to be Ellie when I grow up. She speaks her mind more easily than I do. However, we absolutely share our singlemindedness. Ellie wants to be a famous baker and she probably will. She got her intense focus from me. Give me a project, any project, from writing a book to growing tomatoes, and I will work harder than anyone to make it flourish.
What was the hardest scene to write about Ellie?
All the scenes with Ellie’s grandfather were hard. His Alzheimer’s worsens as the story proceeds and it broke my heart to break Ellie’s heart as she witnessed his decline.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
This is a hard question, because there were so many people! Her mom is her number one advocate for sure, but Coralee challenged her in different ways and made her stronger for it and Bert was the calm voice of reason that kept her grounded and Mema has such toughness. I would consider them all part of her superhero group.
Why do think some young people, like Ellie, are able to be their true selves despite having some differences when others do everything they can to “fit” in and be like everyone else?
When you have something so obviously different, like a physical disability, it’s almost impossible to “fit in” in the expected ways. You ride a different bus. You sit in a different spot in class. You participate in different activities in gym. When you can’t blend in, you either try to disappear, or you do what Ellie did and stand out for what you want to stand out for – in her case, her mad baking skills. I think the thing to remember is that nobody is normal. Everybody is weird and wonderful in their own ways.
What do you think Ellie is doing as the present time?
She is for sure winning Kids Baking Championship as we speak.
Ellie came to me in one sentence: “Everybody who sees a girl in a wheelchair thinks she’s all sunshine and cuddles.” I loved her ferocity and sass so much I had to tell her story. There would be no Roll with It without her untamable spirit. She is the pin that holds her family circle and her friend circle together.
What do you think is her most admirable quality?
You see Ellie’s soft side in her interactions with her grandfather as she worries over his health. But ultimately, Ellie is a fighter. She fights for what she wants: to be the world’s best baker, to take care of her grandfather, to look out for her friends, to be seen for something other than her wheelchair. I wish I were as brave and tough as her.
Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?
I think if Ellie and her mom had an all-out-no-holding-back fight over what they each wanted for their lives in the beginning, it would have saved them both a world of worry and angst. Of course, if they had, there would have been no book.
What do you think Ellie can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
Ellie makes kids feel seen who have never been seen before. She’s a strong female protagonist who knows how to advocate for herself. And she does it all in a wheelchair. I’ve received emails from second graders all the way through to adults who are appreciative of the portrayal of an experience that is normal to them, but often seen as “other” by the rest of the world. I hope this story helps increase understanding and empathy for those with a disability.
How did you research Ellie and the circumstances she found herself in?
Like Ellie, my son, Charlie, has cerebral palsy. Much of my research came from personal experience as his mom. I have also had the pleasure of meeting many kids through Charlie’s various therapies and special needs programs who shared their stories with me so that I could make Ellie’s experience authentic and accurate. As for the setting—I spent my summers in Oklahoma in a trailer by a lake with my grandparents. Roll with It is also a love letter to them and the grit and determination they instilled in me.
Do you and Ellie share any similarities?
I hope to be Ellie when I grow up. She speaks her mind more easily than I do. However, we absolutely share our singlemindedness. Ellie wants to be a famous baker and she probably will. She got her intense focus from me. Give me a project, any project, from writing a book to growing tomatoes, and I will work harder than anyone to make it flourish.
What was the hardest scene to write about Ellie?
All the scenes with Ellie’s grandfather were hard. His Alzheimer’s worsens as the story proceeds and it broke my heart to break Ellie’s heart as she witnessed his decline.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
This is a hard question, because there were so many people! Her mom is her number one advocate for sure, but Coralee challenged her in different ways and made her stronger for it and Bert was the calm voice of reason that kept her grounded and Mema has such toughness. I would consider them all part of her superhero group.
Why do think some young people, like Ellie, are able to be their true selves despite having some differences when others do everything they can to “fit” in and be like everyone else?
When you have something so obviously different, like a physical disability, it’s almost impossible to “fit in” in the expected ways. You ride a different bus. You sit in a different spot in class. You participate in different activities in gym. When you can’t blend in, you either try to disappear, or you do what Ellie did and stand out for what you want to stand out for – in her case, her mad baking skills. I think the thing to remember is that nobody is normal. Everybody is weird and wonderful in their own ways.
What do you think Ellie is doing as the present time?
She is for sure winning Kids Baking Championship as we speak.
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