ReadWonder: An Inside Look #217 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Gillian McDunn

(Author of Honestly Elliott)

*Season #ONE (June of 2016 to March of 2017)

*Season #TWO (Summer of 2017)

*Season #THREE (School Year 2017/2018)

*Season #FOUR (Summer/fall of 2018)

*Season #FIVE (School Year 2018/2019)

*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)

*Season #SEVEN (Fall 2019)

*Season #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)

*Season #NINE (Fall 2020)

*Season #TEN (Winter/Spring 2021)

*Season #ELEVEN (Fall 2021)

*Season #TWELVE (Winter/Spring 2022)

*I'm excited to present season #THIRTEEN 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 FOURTH interview in which I'm calling Season #THIRTEEN.

*Thank you to Gillian for being the Two Hundred Seventeenth author I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.

Honestly Elliott

by Gillian McDunn

(March 1, 2022)

How did you come to know Elliott? I had a young reader suggest that I write a book from a boy’s point of view. Elliott popped into my head immediately—a bighearted, creative kid who loves cooking and is dealing with ADHD, a best friend who moved away, and a new half sibling about to be born. What do you think is his most admirable quality? One of Elliott’s best qualities is his big heart. Sometimes it causes him embarrassment—he says that when they were handing out Tear Tanks he must have got an extra-small one, because it’s always overflowing! But it’s his big heart that ultimately allows him to make the kinds of connections that lead to his feelings of happiness and belonging. Is there anything you wish he would have changed or done differently in his story? There’s definitely something big that Elliott regrets—when the story begins, he is preoccupied with “The Incident.” He refuses to talk about it—even with his therapist. At first, all we know is that his actions caused $600 in damages and his dad thinks Elliott should pay for that instead of going to the culinary summer camp he’s been dreaming of. I personally don’t wish Elliott had done anything differently because I think it’s rewarding to see how much he grows and changes. What do you think Elliott can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through? Elliott has ADHD and he makes a friend who has Celiac disease and needs to be gluten-free. I hope that readers will get some insight into these disabilities. I also hope that readers will root for Elliott and Dad to meet each other in the middle. How did you research Elliott and the circumstances he found himself in?

I used personal experience of Celiac disease and executive function disorder and also did research and worked with authenticity readers. Do you and Elliott share any similarities? We both love guinea pigs, are creative, and feel things very deeply. What was the hardest scene to write about him?

There’s a scene with Dad and Elliott hanging out at an area Elliott called City River—I modeled it after the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, NC. Elliott is upset about something that happened at dinner and he and Dad are clashing. I wanted to show the way their relationship is a bit fractured but I also hoped to show that they both care a lot about each other. Who do you think was his biggest supporter and why? Two of his big supporters are Mom and Maribel. Mom is very supportive of Elliott and he feels very comfortable with her. With Maribel, Elliott steps outside his comfort zone a bit. She’s a very high achiever and he doesn’t want to let her down. They challenge each other and have a lot of fun together. What do you think Elliott is doing as the present time? I hope he’s cooking for a crowd and enjoying his friends and family to the fullest!

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Monday, June 20, 2022

An Inside Look #217 (Author INTERVIEW)

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