An Inside Look with Rebekah Lowell
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Lacey?
I came to know Lacey through working through how to best tell a story I needed to tell, for my own healing, but I wanted to tell it from the perspective of the child going through a similar struggle. I wanted to tell this story to young readers, and Lacey became that voice. She first appeared in a poem, as a picture book idea, but soon needed to say much more.
What do you think is her most admirable quality?
The ability to be so strong that not only can she find ways to be okay in herself, by looking to nature, and searching the natural world outside of herself, but somehow, she finds ways to help others, and lifts their spirits as well. Sometimes in helping others, we are helping ourselves without knowing, and I think that is one of Lacey’s best traits.
Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?
No. I love how she found her way onto the page, and how she navigated the difficulty that was her life. I think that each person who goes through trauma, goes through it in their own way, and that journey belongs to them. I think the way Lacey found her path to healing is unique to her and she was exactly where she needed to be when she was there.
What do you think Lacey can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?
My deepest wish is that Lacey’s journey brings hope to anyone who is going through or has gone through trauma. There is always a way to the other side. There is always someone there to stretch out their hand to hold yours and pull you up. What I hope Lacey shares with others is that they are not alone, and they can get through tough stuff.
How did you research Lacey and the circumstances she found herself in?
There wasn’t a lot of research that needed to be done because this book flowed my heart onto the page. In February of 2017, I sat down and wrote 1000 words a day and the first draft of this story was born. This is the book of my heart. Unfortunately, Lacey’s reality was my own for ten years, and I drew from those experiences.
Do you and Lacey share any similarities?
Yes, we share a lot, in fact. Not only circumstantially, as in the above answer, but also how we find comfort in nature and enjoy watching the birds, and gardening, and nature journaling, too. Taking time to draw outside is one of my favorite things. It feels so luxurious to me to slow down and breathe the aroma of fresh dirt and feel the breeze while having a pencil and sketchbook in hand.
What was the hardest scene to write about her?
Some of the hardest scenes were edited out because they were too close to home for me, too close to reality, and in turn, were less believable than fiction. They served myself to write my past, but they didn’t serve the story. The hardest scene that ended up staying is one of the flash backs where Lacey is struck by her father and she, her mother, and sister become cornered by her father. While that scene was close to reality, it also felt right to leave in Lacey’s narrative. As an author who is also a domestic abuse survivor, writing this story was cathartic, but I also needed to keep checking myself that I was serving the reader and not myself. Nancy helped me through this process in a way that was sensitive, kind, and skilled. She knew what to cut and what to leave in, and what to write back in differently. Because of Nancy, this book is what it is today, and I’m so thankful.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?
This is a hard question to answer, because Lacey and her family had an entire team of support— from family, to friends, to social workers, to law enforcement, to attorneys— they were surrounded with those who cared. Even as they traveled, they found community. So, if I had to say for sure, I would say the collective community who functioned as a whole was she and her family’s biggest supporter. It was not one, but all. The entire community buoyed them because that’s who it took to help them through.
Why do you think young people show such resilience, courage, and strength when faced with difficult and challenging situations in their personal lives?
This is only my own theory, that I am forming and changing as I get to know more young readers, but I think young people inherently carry hope inside themselves and see possibility where some of us who have experienced more years of pain tend to hold onto it and lose that hope with each struggle. I think young people have a gift of and burden of keeping that flicker of hope alive, and it’s harder for some than others. I think the more love and support, the easier it can be. And the more fear and discouragement, the harder it can be. When we know we are not alone, and see others fighting alongside us, it can be uplifting. I think young people are good at community and that combined with their hope inside, makes for a resilient spirit despite obstacles in their path.
What do you think Lacey is doing as the present time?
I think she’s watching over her garden seedlings and drawing in the day and listening to the peepers at night. Right now, though, it’s sunset and I think she and her sister are playing in their backyard, asking their mom if they can stay outside just a few more minutes, until the glow on the treetops fades and the Robins have all gone to bed.
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/Winter 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)
Interview #193 with Cathy Carr (Author of 365 Days to Alaska)
Interview #194 with Carol Cujec and Peyton Goddard (Authors of REAL)
Interview #195 with Gillian McDunn (Author of These Lucky Stars)
Interview #196 with Alyssa Colman (Author of The Gilded Girl)
Interview #197 with E.L. Chen (Author of The Comeback)
Interview #198 with J.M.M. Nuanez (Author of Birdie and Me)
SEASON #TWELVE (Winter/Spring 2022)
Interview #199 with Jamie Sumner (Author of One Kid's Trash)
Interview #200 with Chad Lucas (Author of Thanks a Lot, Universe)
Interview #201 with Jenn Bishop (Author of Where We Used to Roam)
Interview #202 with Rebecca Caprara (Author of Worst-Case Collin)
Interview #203 with Leslie Connor (Author of Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?)
Interview #204 with Caroline Gertler (Author of Many Points of Me)
Interview #205 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of Susie B. Won't Back Down)
Interview #206 with Shawn Peters (Author of The Unforgettable Logan Foster)
Interview #207 with Aisha Saeed (Author of Omar Rising)
Interview #208 with Adrianna Cuevas (Author of Cuba in my Pocket)
Interview #209 with Jennifer Swender (Author of Stuck)
Interview #210 with Brenda Woods (Author of When Winter Robeson Came)
Interview #211 with Danya Lorentz (Author of the Book Of a Feather)
Interview #212 with Saadia Faruqi (Author of Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero)
Interview #213 with Ellen Hopkins (Author of What About Will)
SEASON #THIRTEEN (Summer 2022)
Interview #214 with Nora Raleigh Baskin and Gae Polisner (Authors of What About the Octopus)
Interview #215 with Lauren Wolk (Author of My Own Lightning)
No comments:
Post a Comment