ReadWonder: An Inside Look #137 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Kim Baker

(Author of The Water Bears)

*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.

*The fourth season ran during the summer/fall of 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 Sixteenth interview in which I'm calling Season #EIGHT.

*Thank you to Kim for being the One-Hundred Thirty-Sixth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.

*Here is my review of the Novel...

The Water Bears REVIEW

The Water Bears

by Kim Baker

(April 21, 2020)

How did you come to know Newt?

I got to know Newt through the writing process. I’ve learned that I’m the type of writer that will start writing one story, and it will morph into something entirely different. I wish I was more efficient, and maybe some day I will be. So far each of my books has started with an entirely different plot but the main characters are static. I have to find their stories through the writing process.

I knew from the first page that Newt would be Latinx, struggling with his identity, and from a working class family. As a kid I didn’t see a lot of kids that shared my circumstances so I try to help feel that gap now. I got to know Newt as I wrote.

What do you think is Newt’s most admirable quality?

I really like the way that Newt sees the world. He loses his perspective a bit when he’s struggling, but with time and support he gains the ability to be open to the world and curious about the world around him again. I really wanted to draw a parallel with water bears/tardigrades. Kids are amazingly resilient. They struggle and hurt and get anxious just like adults, but with the right tools and relationships they can learn to adapt and thrive.

Is there anything you wish Newt would have changed or done differently in his story?
Oh, gosh, at different points of the drafting process I had *very strong feelings* about some of Newt’s choices and actions that did not appear in the final version of The Water Bears. But that’s revision, and it’s so important for finding the best version of the story. I’m happy with Newt’s arc now.

Writing is funny. There were times when Newt was being stubborn or frustrating. A character shouldn’t always be perfect and likable because it’s not realistic and it doesn’t make a very good story. If they’re like real life people, they make mistakes and bad choices. As the writer, you might be tempted to to make life easier for the character, but that doesn’t make a very good story.

What do you think Newt can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through?
I hope he can offer a little hope that they’re not alone. That’s the primary purpose of any story, but especially a story like The Water Bears. Sometime kids that go through intense experiences like Newt might feel like they are broken, or will always be on the outside looking in at those that have not had to go through the same experiences. It’s not true.

How did you research Newt and the circumstances he found himself in?
Research is one of my favorite parts of the writing process! For The Water Bears, I got to research a lot of my own special interests and piece them together like a jigsaw.

On the heavier side, I don’t know what a bear attack is like, but I have survived trauma. I worked at a children’s crisis center for years, so I’ve got a good sense of the ways that kids deal with trauma, along with the tools that can help them through it.

On the lighter side, I researched keeping goats, tardigrades, marine biology, food foraging, soap making, cryptozoology, and abandoned vacation destinations. My curiosity took me in a lot of directions. I tell kids I get to meet at school visits that the most important thing you need to be a writer is curiosity. That’s it. Everything else you can figure out. And one of the coolest things about being a writer is you can research what interests you, and people will usually try to help. It’s like a magic writer license. :)

Do you and Newt share any similarities?
We are both Latinx. I grew up working class too. We are both animal lovers and adore our large, wild families. I like to explore the beach. Murphy Island has a flock of formerly captive parrots that were inspired by escaped parrots in Los Angeles that would raid our persimmon tree and wake me up. I spent a good part of my middle school and teen years in artsy communities in New Mexico. Murphy Island is partly a mash up of New Mexico and the Pacific Northwest, where I live now. This was a pretty personal story close to my heart, so we probably have more commonalities than I even know.

What was the hardest scene to write about Newt?
It always made me cringe when Newt struggled to cope with stress. it’s hard to write scenes where our character’s are hurting. You care about them and as the writer, it can make you feel a bit guilty. But on the flip side, it’s great to watch them triumph too. The great Richard Peck said, ""A children's novel ends not with happily ever after, but at a new beginning, with the sense of a lot of life left to be lived.” Isn’t that great? Without giving anything away, I think the hardest scene might be a turning point at the end, when we see him thrive and know that everything is going to be all right. I wanted to get it right and give Newt and his friends what they deserved after everything they’d been through.

Who do you think was Newt’s biggest supporter and why?
That’s a great question! I think he had more support than he knew. One of the themes of the book is community and found family. Just about everyone in the story wishes him well and wants to see him survive and thrive, but for a while he’s hurting too much to see it. Part of growing up is recognizing that others also have problems. Newt needs to look outward to find all the love and support he has from the imperfect people around him. We recognize each others’ fragility and it bonds us.

Why do you think young people, like Newt, are sometimes more resilient than adults, and are able to recover from “trauma” and able move forward?

I think it’s more that we hope they can be resilient, and we don’t always see the long term effects. Their brains are still developing so trauma can have a greater effect. We understand more about child development now, so there are more resources and tools to help them navigate crisis. With support, grown ups and kids alike have the potential to overcome so much. One of the most important aspects is consistent, positive relationships. When children don’t have that at home, they need it from adults at school and the community. Resilient kids are made,

What do you think Newt is doing as the present time?

If Covid-19 has reached Murphy Island, I hope he’s sheltering in place with his family and animals. But we get to make a better world in fiction, so I think he’s enjoying a peaceful, fun day exploring the world with his friends.

*Here are links to the One Hundred Thirty-Four interviews...

SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)