An Inside Look with Cathy Carr
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Rigel?
Rigel pretty much came into my mind fully formed, everything from her appearance to her personality. She was inspired by a girl I knew in graduate school who had lived for some years off the grid. I remember this girl as smart, independent, and competent. She did her own thing and didn’t worry much about what anyone else thought of it. She could be intimidating--and she would have been surprised if anyone told her that.
What do you think is her most admirable quality?
I like that Rigel isn’t willing to change or disguise the essential parts of herself to please other people or fit in.
Is there anything you wish Rigel would have changed or done differently in her story?
There are some things Rigel could have done that would have made the year easier for her, but if she had done them, she wouldn’t be Rigel.
It might have been nice if she hadn’t iced her mother out for so many months. I think Lila could have helped her adjust, and Rigel wouldn’t have felt so lonely. But, again, that was Rigel being Rigel.
What do you think she can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?Maybe the biggest thing fiction can do is to let people know that they’re not alone in where they are or how they’re feeling. Moving is a big deal to kids. So is a divorce. And it’s okay to have strong feelings about those events.
I think Rigel learns some good lessons about making friends in a new place. At one point Lila says, “There’s almost always a club or group that’s friendly if you don’t give up.” I think this is true, although it might not be the group you expected to hang with. I’m not sure Rigel ever expected to take up fencing, but she decides to be open to the idea.
There’s a piece of advice I love: “Don’t chase people.” This is something Rigel gets right. She doesn’t chase after friendships with people who don’t accept her the way she is, people who want conformity from her. I think that was one of Rigel’s good decisions and perhaps something other kids can learn from. I wish I had learned that lesson earlier.
How did you research Rigel and the circumstances she found herself in?
Luckily I had quite a bit of experience with the back-to-earth movement. I understood the impetus behind it, so the lifestyle didn’t seem weird or strange to me. I think that helped the story. I’ve never lived in bush Alaska, so I had some research to do there. Luckily, I found plenty of material and some authenticity readers to help me along. The crow was not easy. Crow behavior is sophisticated and complex. I read many, many books about crows and corvids and I talked to people who did wildlife rehabilitation.
Do you and she share any similarities?
Oh, yes. When one of my oldest friends read the book the first time, he told me, “I wondered whether you would ever write about yourself, and now you finally have. Rigel is you.” She has my curiosity, but she can be stubborn too. She dislikes bullies. So do I.
What was the hardest scene to write about her?
Major spoiler here. It was hard to write the scene with Rigel, her mom, and her grandma when Rigel finally admits to herself that her father is not the person she thought he was. It’s not just that he didn’t keep all his promises, because sometimes that happens. It’s that he’s weaseled out of being honest about it, he’s ghosting her so he doesn’t have to admit what he’s done. What a letdown, to realize you could be that wrong about an important person in your life, someone you admired.
Who do you think was Rigel’s biggest supporter and why?
I vote for that group of kids at school who wait so patiently for Rigel to figure out they’re offering their friendship. It sure takes her long enough to figure it out, but I’m glad she finally does.
Why do you think some young people resist change and fight it, only to end up finding the change was for the better?
Kids have so little control about many important things in their lives. They’re smart enough to know it, and they resent it, which I think is natural. Your parents decide to get divorced, to move, to put you in a new school. Depending on your family, you may not even be asked what you think about it, and even if you are asked, your opinions often get overruled. It’s not surprising that kids push back under those circumstances.
But sometimes the adults have more experience and perhaps see the big picture in a way kids don’t. Rigel realizes, for example, that maybe Lila wasn’t totally wrong about Bear.
What do you think Rigel is doing as the present time?
I finished the book a few years ago, so let’s catch up with Rigel now. Rigel excels in the school subjects that interest her, even though she’s still insisting on doing the math problems her own way. She’s doing Math Olympiad and she’s joined the cross-country team. She still has the same group of close friends, but she’s making other friends too as they all develop their different interests.
Sam has a crush on Rigel but would never admit it because as much as she attracts him she scares him a little bit too. Rigel has no idea. She’s never picked up on it at all—typical Rigel! Rigel and Corey may get romantically involved at some point. I could see it happening, but they might be too much alike to make a success of it.
Rigel has visited Bear and Paulette (and her new baby half-brother) in Alaska since the events of 365 Days to Alaska. She had a great time, but the visit made her realize that life there didn’t stop just because she left. It’s gone on without her and she’s gone on too, with the result that she doesn’t fit quite the same way she used to. You can never step in the same river twice.
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)
Interview #164 with Alan Gratz (Author of Ground Zero)
Interview #165 with Lisa Fipps (Author of Starfish)
Interview #166 with Ann Braden (Author of Flight of the Puffin)
Interview #167 with Kimberly Willis Holt (Author of The Ambassador of NoWhere Texas)
Interview #168 with Elana K. Arnold (Author of The House That Wasn't There)
Interview #169 with Erin Soderberg (Author of The Great Peach Experiment)
Interview #170 with Donna Gephart (Author of Abby, Tried, and True)
Interview #171 with M. Evan Wolkenstein (Author of Turtle Boy)
Interview #172 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Bea is for Blended)
Interview #173 with Jess Redman (Author of The Adventure is Now)
Interview #174 with David Levithan (Author of The Mysterious Disappearance of Aiden)
Interview #175 with Chris Grabenstein (Author of The Smartest Kid in the Universe)
Interview #176 with Ali Standish (Author of The Mending Summer)
Interview #177 with Holly Goldberg Sloan (Author of The Elephant in the Room)
Interview #178 with Jeff Zentner (Author of In the Wild Light)
SEASON #ELEVEN (Fall 2021)
Interview #179 with Katherine Applegate (Author of Willow)
Interview #180 with Padma Venkatraman (Author of Born Behind Bars)
Interview #181 with R.J. Palacio (Author of Pony)
Interview #182 with Kyle Lukoff (Author of Too Bright to See)
Interview #183 with Barbara Dee (Author of Violets are Blue)
Interview #184 with Anne Ursu (Author of The Troubled Girls of Dragonmir Academy)
Interview #185 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of We Could Be Heroes)
Interview #186 with Jasmine Warga (Author of Shape of Thunder)
Interview #187 with Joseph Bruchac (Author of Rez Dogs)
Interview #188 with Kathryn Erskine (Author of Lily's Promise)
Interview #189 with Elly Swartz (Author of Dear Student)
Interview #190 with Heather Clark (Author of Lemon Drop Falls)
Interview #191 with Veera Hiranandani (Author of How to Find What You're Not Looking For)
Interview #192 with Elizabeth Eulberg (Author of The Best Worst Summer)
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