ReadWonder: An Inside Look #142 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Gae Polisner & Nora Raleigh Baskin

(Authors of Seven Clues to Home)

*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 Twenty-First interview in which I'm calling Season #EIGHT.

*Thank you to Gae and Nora for being the One-Hundred Forty-Second authors I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.

*Here is my review of the Novel...

Seven Clues to Home

Seven Clues to Home

by Gae Polisner and Nora Raleigh Baskin

(June 9, 2020)

Last year, 12-year-old Joy Fonseca and her best friend, Lukas Brunetti of Port Bennington, Long Island sat down with Mr. Patrick Andrus in his 4th grade classroom in Independent School District 272 Eden Prairie, Minnesota to answer a few questions.

Mr. Andrus: So, how did you two meet?

JOY (smiling widely): We’ve known each other since 2nd grade!

LUKAS (looking down, self consciously): Cupcakes.

Mr. Andrus: Cupcakes? Well now, I want to know more but let’s move on. Can you tell what you admire most about each other?

JOY (blushing): Well, Lukas is my best friend.

LUKAS (blushing): Joy is the first person who got I wasn’t like everyone thought I was.

Mr. Andrus: Isn’t it great when people really get who we are? Is there anything you wish you would have changed or done differently in your story?

JOY (holding back tears, stays silent)

LUKAS: I should have paid better attention. I should have . . . (shakes his head, stops talking)

Mr. Andrus: I’m sorry for touching on a difficult situation. What do you think you can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what you went through?

JOY: (shrugs) Don’t judge a book by its cover?

LUKAS: I just want people to know what a good friend Joy is. The kind that makes everything better and different.

Mr. Andrus: We all need a friend like that. How did you research "yourselves" and the circumstances you found yourselves in?

JOY: I just listened.

LUKAS: Me? I know this town like the back of my hand. I did have to keep asking my teacher over and over about the Birthday Paradox, though. That one is kinda hard to explain.

Mr. Andrus: Listening. Such an important trait to hold. Do the two of you share any similarities?

JOY: Everything!

LUKAS: Everything!

Mr. Andrus: I love that answer. Who do you think are your biggest supporters and why?

JOY: My family, Mom, and my dad, Natalia, Davy, and Izzie.

LUKAS: Joy. Kinda duh. Sorry.

Mr. Andrus: Is there more you would like to say Lukas? Do you think a boy and a girl are able to be friends, when some kids can't?

JOY (too quickly): Of course.

LUKAS (thinking for a minute): I guess, sometimes it can be hard. But, also, really not so hard at all.

JOY & LUKAS (speaking at the same time): Totally worth it.

Mr. Andrus: I totally agree and always tell my own student that exact same thing. Thanks so much Joy and Lukas.