*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Brandon and Reshmina?
Well, they're fictional characters, so I came to know them when I made them up! :-) But for each of them, I tried to ask myself, "Who would be the best person to experience this story through? And why is this Brandon's story, or Reshmina's story, and no one else's?" From there, it was a matter of thinking of them as real people, not characters invented to move a story forward, and to think about how they would act and respond in different situation.
What do you think are their most admirable qualities?
For both characters, I think it's their compassion and empathy for other people. For Brandon, that's obviously empathy for his dad. But also for the kid he defends at school, and all the people he meets along the way on 9/11. For Reshmina, that empathy is for everyone in her family, and in her village, but also for the American soldier she helps, at great risk to herself and those she loves.
Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their story?
I had the idea to include actual transcripts from 911 calls made on 9/11 from the Twin Towers, and to pair those with brief accounts of the daily violent events in Afghanistan. Both were incredibly impactful, but unfortunately both pulled readers out of the story, and took the focus away from Brandon and Reshmina, so they had to go.
What do you think Brandon and Reshmina can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
I hope young readers will see that the best way to live--for them, and for all humanity--is to work together, FOR everyone, rather than just for ourselves, or against others.
How did you research the two characters and the circumstances they found themselves in?
Both sides of the story took a lot of research. Both have many books and magazine and newspaper articles, and even documentaries, and I relied heavily on all those. For Brandon, I needed details about the Twin Towers: building schematics, number of elevators, placement of stairwells. For Reshmina, I needed the geography of the region, but also an idea of how Afghans think and act. For that I had a number of sources, but a great one was my contacts at UNICEF, who put me in touch with the UNICEF team on the ground in Afghanistan.
Do you and Brandon and Reshmina share any similarities?
I hope that I share the same compassion and empathy for others that they have!
What was the hardest scene to write about the two characters?
For Brandon, the hardest scenes were those where he talks to his trapped dad on the phone, because that was so emotional. For Reshmina, I think it was probably the scenes where she learns more about the history of war in her country, as there was a lot of information I wanted to get across without sounding too much like a textbook!
Who do you think was their biggest supporters and why?Brandon's biggest supporter to begin with is his Dad, but certainly Richard, a man he meets in the Twin Towers that day while trying to escape, also steps into that role. For Reshmina, I think her biggest supporter is her grandmother, who knows what Afghanistan was like before all these modern wars and religious fundamentalism, and hopes that future generations like Reshmina can return the country to what it once was.
Why do you think young people have the strength and resilience to carry on and make a positive impact on the world after experiencing difficult and challenging personal experiences?
Kids are incredibly resilient. Maybe it's just that they still have so much of their lives ahead of them, and they haven't had the hope squeezed out of them yet. Maybe it's just their natural ability to flip that internal switch that allows them to be silly one minute, and serious the next.
What do you think Brandon and Reshmina are doing at the present time?
Working to make the worlds they inhabit better places, I hope!
SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)
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)
Interview #125 with Jamie Sumner (Author of Roll With It)
Interview #126 with Hena Khan (Author of More to the Story)
Interview #127 with Phil Bildner (Author of A High-Five for Glenn Burke)
Interview #128 with Leslie Connor (Author of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs)
Interview#129 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Queen Bee and Me)
Interview #130 with Jody J. Little (Author of Worse Than Weird)
Interview #131 with Jenn Bishop (Author of Things You Can't Say)
Interview #132 with Kaela Noel (Author of Coo)
Interview #133 with Rebecca Stead (Author of The List of Things That Will Not Change)
Interview #134 with Gae Polisner (Author of Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me)
Interview #135 with Emily Blejwas (Author of Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened)
Interview #136 with Joy McCullough (Author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost)
Interview #137 with Kim Baker (Author of the Water Bears)
Interview #138 with Erin Entrada Kelly (Author of We Dream of Space)
Interview #139 with Jess Redman (Author of Quintessence)
Interview #140 with Melanie Conklin (Author of Every Missing Piece)
Interview #141 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Brave Like That)
Interview #158 with Rebecca Ansari (Author of The In-Between)
Interview #159 with John David Anderson (Author of One Last Shot)
Interview #160 with Tracy Holczer (Author of Brave in the Woods)
Interview #161 with James Bird (Author of The Brave)
Interview #162 with Marcella Pixley (Author of Trowbridge Road)
Interview #163 with Barbara O'Connor (Author of Halfway to Harmony)
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