How I Heard About It: *This novel was sent to me via the publisher, Clarion Books. I was curious about reading a story set in Wuhan during the outbreak of Covid-19.
What It Is About - FIVE Things You Need to Know: *Mei, who is thirteen years old, lives with her father in Wuhan, China.
*Mei lives for cooking and like all young children, video games.
*As she goes along with her daily life, everything around Mei begins to change.
*Mei's father is a doctor and shares the news that there is a virus outbreak in the city of Wuhan.
*She isn't sure what to do, but when Mei finds herself in a "lockdown", she turns to cooking to not only help herself, but those around her.
What I Thought Of It - Five Observations/Reflections: *Being that I don't know how to cook a thing, I was fascinated by the recipes and descriptions of the food Mei and others prepared.
*Reading about the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan was quite interesting and thought-provoking.
*There were a few spots where the "food" aspect of the story overtook the main plot, but I would just skim these sections.
*Being that we all experienced Covid-19 in different ways, it was thought-provoking to read about a community that came together to keep everyone safe.
*This is a timely and strong story for the young reader. They will definitely be able to relate to the plot.
Who Should Read It: * I definitely think the story is geared toward the upper elementary reader; as in fourth, fifth, or sixth. Of course any middle-school reader would be perfect. I also think it could make for an interesting class read aloud because of the connections a listener could make. Happy Reading!
How I Heard About It: *While attending #NCTE22 in California, I stopped by the Penguin Random House booth. After chatting with some of my favorite representatives, I walked away with an ARC of Ann Braden's upcoming middle-grade novel. The book will be out in the world in May of 2023.
What It Is About - FIVE Things You Need to Know: *Agnes has some questions. Actually, she has a lot of questions.
*Agnes lives with her mother, who encourages her daughter to follow the rules and not question authority.
*After a "run-in" with an opossum on the open road, Agnes begins to question the world around her.
*While attending confirmation classes, with other girls from school, Agnes takes a step out of her comfort zone and pushes the boundaries that are being put upon her.
*With the help of her writing, about an opossum of course, Agnes comes to see the "big picture" with clarity and satisfaction.
What I Thought Of It - Five Observations/Reflections: *I was thrilled to get my hands on the ARC at the Penguin Random House booth. I had begun to see advance praise for the story and didn't know if I could wait until May.
*The title had me quite curious about the plot and I tried to figure out how opinions and opossums would be tied together.
*Well, author Ann Braden did a fantastic job of writing a story about a young girl who has legitimate questions about her world, faith, and position in society.
*I loved how the "opossum" stories were intertwined with the events in Agnes' actual life.
*The story gives the reader a lot to think about and shows how young people can have a voice in this ever-complicated world.
Who Should Read It: *In my "OPINION", I think everyone should read this upcoming middle-grade novel. The story will resonate with middle-grade, middle-school, high-school, and even adult readers. There is so much to be gained from experiencing Agnes' journey. Happy Reading!
*I'm excited to present season #FOURTEEN 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 SEVENTH interview in which I'm calling Season #FOURTEEN.
*Thank you to Amanda for being the Two Hundred Thirty-Third author I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.
The Hope of Elephants
by Amanda Rawson Hill
(September 6, 2022)
How did you come to knowCass? Very, very slowly. Cass first showed up as a voice in my head, whispering the very first few lines of the book. "My dad gets cancer in all the odd years of my life." And I realized very quickly that she was speaking in verse. But there's a whole lot more to Cass than just her poetic style, and that took a lot of time for me to uncover. Much of the bones of the plot stayed the same from about the second draft on, but Cass really had to become a full-fledged character and that took many, many drafts. In the beginning, she was far too perfect, stoic, and understanding. It was work to allow her to be vulnerable, selfish, angry, and secretive, in short, to let her be a child. Any child who lives through what Cass has will be mature for her age, but she's still only 12, and finding that balance was hard. It wasn't until I put her on a baseball team, in one of the last drafts before it sold to my editor, that I finally really started to SEE Cass and understand her.
What do you think is her most admirable quality? That's a tough question, but in the end, I think it's her ability to see people and notice small things about them so she understands them better. It allows her to empathize with her dad, with Jayla, with Alex, with the elephant at the zoo, and even with her mom when they're not really understanding each other at all.
Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story? I wish she would have let her mom into her thoughts and her life more. Her mom wants so much to do everything right and be the support Cass needs all while juggling a million other things. As a mom, I feel for her. I think Cass needed her mom's viewpoint on things too, even if it was too rosy sometimes. She could have used that support.
What do you think Cass can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through? I think just the knowledge that they aren't alone. In a broader sense, I also hope that it allows children in Cass' situation to feel seen. So few people know about LFS and I really hope this book brings more attention to the mutation and accompanying challenges they face.
How did you research Cass and the circumstances she found himself in? I watched my sister and her family live through them. My brother-in-law had LFS and Osteosarcoma and my niece has LFS. So I've seen how Cancer progresses and how hard it is on a family. I've seen the way the anxiety that comes from LFS never disappears all the way.
Do you and Cass share any similarities? Cass is like me in that she has big dreams but is also a realist. It can be an exhausting combination lol.
What was the hardest scene to write about her? I think the hardest scene to write for Cass were the scenes when she was angry. It felt like a fine line to keep it from getting melodramatic because the book was already so emotional.
Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why? I'd say her dad. He's the person most able to understand and relate to her, I think.
Why do you think some people would want to know their future and if anything horrible might happen to them, while others are content to live their life day by day, and not know what the future holds? That's a great question. Some of it is personality, for sure. But I think some of it also just what you have experienced. Going through cancer of someone close to you having cancer can really change your answer to this question. While some of us enjoy the thought experiment, some of us didn't have a choice and know what is waiting somewhere in the future. I think going through something like that helps you appreciate both answers but probably lean very heavily toward one or the other. I personally would want to know.
What do you think Cass is doing at the present time? I think she is planning a trip to Yellowstone with Jayla and saving her favorite poems her dad is reading to her. He doesn't have much time left, so he's reading her all of his favorites. They're her favorites too now.
*Here are links to the Two Hundred Thirty-Two interviews...
