An Inside Look with Lindsey Stoddard
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Gabe and Oliver?
I always come to know my characters through their voices, the things they say, the way they sound, or any little phrases they use. When I was beginning to craft and listen for Gabe and Oliver's voices our country was in the middle of a very hard year. We were devastated by the murder of George Floyd; we were divided over the meaning of public health and our responsibility to each other and to our most vulnerable; we were scared and sitting in so much uncertainty it felt paralyzing. I was home with my husband, Kamahnie, and our two young kids and creating a book seemed impossible. With much encouragement from my husband, and with so much inspiration from our children, I continued to invite Gabe and Oliver into our home and into our lives and I continued to listen to their voices, and imagine how they would act in the moments of our everyday life. I spent more time than usual on this part of the process since I had less butt-in-chair-work time so I imagined them and listened to them and invited them in and in and in until they felt like family.
What do you think are their most admirable qualities?
Gabe and Oliver are loyal. They are loyal to each other, and ultimately, to themselves. They have incredible hearts, and are really good people and excellent friends, but they aren't always perfect. While their guts and hearts might be telling them what's right, it's sometimes easier in the moment to be a bystander than an upstander. Throughout the book, though, they learn how to not let each other wander from the kindness in their hearts, and they encourage each other to be the realest deal version of themselves. I love this loyalty they have for each other, and for their own true selves.
Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their story?
Gabe and Oliver make mistakes. They say the wrong things, they laugh along with hurtful jokes, and they sometimes aren't honest with each other. But these mistakes are real and important and what they do with those mistakes matters, so I wouldn't change them.
What do you think Gabe and Oliver can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
I hope Gabe and Oliver's friendship is a model for what friendship should feel like, close but not exclusive, respectful of each others' differences, and ready with encouragement to do the right things. This kind of friendship is so important, especially when you're going through something tough, like Oliver is. When Oliver starts acting different, Gabe doesn't give up on him, he loves him right through it, and learns how to encourage him to stay kind and true.
How did you research the two boys and the circumstances they found themselves in?
The bulk of my research for this novel was for another character, actually, Reuben. Reuben is new to Gabe and Oliver's school and he doesn't talk. Not ever. I wanted to remain true to how Gabe and Oliver and the other sixth graders in their class might view a difference like Reuben's (with curiosity, misunderstanding, their discomfort turning to hurtful humor, etc.) but I also wanted to make sure I knew a fair amount about Reuben's particular type of difference. I was a teacher for ten years, but never had a student who didn't speak so I reached back out to teachers I knew along the way who did have students like Reuben, and listened to how it affected their classroom and what strategies they used to support the student. I also chatted with guidance counselors who have worked with kids who don't talk, and listened to their experiences and understanding about common causes for selective mutism in the students they have known, ways they have communicated, and some of the other exceptional qualities kids like Reuben might have. While I spent time researching Reuben's difference, I also spent time reflecting on a trauma that happened in my own elementary classroom as a kid. It was the year I moved to a new school, but I remember the shock and hurt in the community, and the different ways students responded to the grief and guilt and pain. Reuben is a character who reminds us of courage, and hurt, and the importance of listening.
Do you and the two boys share any similarities?
I think there's a little bit of Lindsey in each of them! Well, Gabe and his love of books is certainly... familiar. Haha. But I was also a sporty kid like Oliver is and I remember getting ready to hike my first section of the Appalachian Trail with my dad.
What was the hardest scene to write about them?
There were so many fun scenes highlighting Gabe and Oliver's friendship, like the babysitting scenes, or when they get caught in the giggles at school and can't stop. Because their friendship is so sweet and fun it made the harder scenes, the ones where there is uncertainty or discomfort between them, even harder. The one that sticks out to me was when Gabe rode his bike over to Oliver's house and discovered a tough secret that Oliver had been hiding. It was so hard to write Gabe hiding in the bushes instead of having him run out and give Oliver the biggest hug ever, but I know that the news, and the secret, paralyzed Gabe. Even though he wanted to comfort his friend he just didn't know how in that moment so he hid away.
Who do you think were their biggest supporters and why?
I immediately think, each other! But they are also surrounded by supportive grown-ups, like their teacher Ms. Leavitt who encourages their creativity on a comic that Gabe and Oliver are creating together in class, and Gabe's parents, and Oliver's mom are all supportive and understanding also.
Why do you think it is difficult for young people to stand up for what they know is right; instead go along with the crowd and/or stand back and watch the hurtful behavior?
I think it can be hard for grown-ups too! But I really do remember moments like this when I was a kid. Moments that didn't feel like "bullying," at least not the kind you hear about, pushing or shoving or horrible name-calling, but just little snickers behind someone's back who seemed different, or kids hoping they don't get put into a group with that person. It felt subtle and quiet but even just remembering back to those moments now my heart HURTS for those kids. It's all awful. I remember wanting to stand up and tell the snickering kids, sometimes my friends, to quit it. But I also didn't want the negative attention turned on me. I understood that as long as someone else was the different kid, I wasn't. Sometimes it felt easy to do the right thing and sometimes it didn't. Having been a kid, and a teacher of kids, I know that there are some who really do feel strong enough to stand up and do the right thing every time (like Rae!), and some who need more encouragement to do so. I hope that Gabe and Oliver's story shows the truth of how hard that can be, but also how brave and important and necessary it is.
What do you think Gabe and Oliver are doing at the present time?
I imagine they're laughing and laughing and laughing, not at anyone or behind anyone's back, but that "belly-aching-sore-muscles-makes-you-feel-free kind of laugh" that Ms. Leavitt describes. Maybe they're on the Appalachian Trail, or leaning shoulder to shoulder over the latest Dog Man book, or maybe they're riding their bikes to the country store in town to get creemees.
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)
Interview #216 with Rebekah Lowell (Author of the Road to After)
Interview #217 with Gillian McDunn (Author of Honestly Elliott)
Interview #218 with Dan Gemeinhart (Author of The Midnight Children)
Interview #219 with Melanie Conklin (Author of A Perfect Mistake)
Interview #220 with Kyle Lukoff (Author of Different Kinds of Fruit)
Interview #221 with Tracy Edward Wymer (Author of The Great and Mighty Benjamin Teller)
Interview #222 with Louise Hawes (Author of Big Rig)
Interview #223 with Paul Acampora (Author of In Honor of Broken Things)
Interview #224 with Shannon Doleski (Author of Gabe in the After)
Interview #225 with Jennifer Ziegler (Author of Worser)
Interview #226 with Natalie Lloyd (Author of Hummingbird)
SEASON #FOURTEEN (Fall 2022)
Interview #227 with Celia C. Perez (Author of Tumble
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