An Inside Look with Lisa Fipps
*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)
How did you come to know Joe?
The bones of this book came to me eighteen years ago. Joe has been living in my head every day since. I often let characters stay in my head and get to know them well long before I start writing. I think he came to me for me to tell his story - which sounds a little odd, but it's how I see it - because his childhood and mine have a lot in common.
What do you think is his most admirable quality?
Eeek! I can't narrow it to one. I'll choose four: resilient, problem-solver, soft-hearted, and hilarious.
Is there anything you wish he would have changed or done differently in his story?
No. I think that readers will see throughout the book that life doesn't give you choices about what's going to happen to you. How we deal with each AND THEN, BOOM! shows who we are and what we're made of.
What do you think Joe can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through?
Hope. Knowing they're not alone. And the importance of reaching out to others and asking for help.
How did you research Joe and the circumstances he found himself in?
I grew up poor. My father died when I was 13 months old, and my mom did not have a job until I was in third grade. When she got overwhelmed, which she often did with three kids to raise, she would say, "If you don't stop, one of these days I'm going to get in that car and leave, and I don't know if I'll ever come back." That was so traumatizing to me, especially since she was the only parent I'd ever had. I was raised in a very dysfunctional home and endured a variety of neglect and abuse. So I didn't have to research the topics addressed in AND THEN, BOOM!; however, I did because I wanted to make sure that my experiences were not unique to me. Sadly, so many kids live the way I lived.
Do you and Joe share any similarities?
Getting hit with one AND THEN, BOOM! after another, and just when you think it's going to be okay or things are getting better - BOOM! Here comes something else to deal with.
What was the hardest scene to write about him?
Emotionally, the poem Leaning on Each Other. My grandmum died unexpectedly. When we were at her house, her stuff was right there, just like it had always been. Every object held a memory, a moment of my time with her. Logistically, the poems Can't Be All That Bad and Bad Beef Stew. I gagged so much.
Who do you think was his biggest supporter and why?
While Uncle Frankie, Hakeem, and Nick had his back from day one, I say Grandmum. She had dealt with AND THEN, BOOMS. Her love and Joe learning from her really got Joe through everything.
Why do you think some young people can show such resilience, strength, and courage during difficult life situations; sometimes even more than the adults in their lives?
Because they have to. Kids who deal with poverty, neglect, abandonment, and all kinds of hunger never choose that path. It becomes a way of life. It's all they've ever known. The not-normal is their normal.
What do you think Joe is doing at the present time?
Continually adjusting to life in a safe space as he works through therapy to undo all the damage and wrong thinking about himself and the world that the AND THEN, BOOMS! caused. And always remembering Grandmum.
SEASON #SIX (Summer 2019)
Interview #122 with Tamara Bundy (Author of Pixie Pushes On)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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Interview #179 with Katherine Applegate (Author of Willow)
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Interview #181 with R.J. Palacio (Author of Pony)
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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)
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Interview #192 with Elizabeth Eulberg (Author of The Best Worst Summer)
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Interview #194 with Carol Cujec and Peyton Goddard (Authors of REAL)
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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)
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Interview #210 with Brenda Woods (Author of When Winter Robeson Came)
Interview #211 with Danya Lorentz (Author of the Book Of a Feather)
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Interview #213 with Ellen Hopkins (Author of What About Will)
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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)
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Interview #227 with Celia C. Perez (Author of Tumble
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Interview #229 with Rob Buyea (Author of The Daredevils)
Interview #230 with Sashi Kaufman (Author of Sardines)
Interview #231 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of The Real Deal)
Interview #232 with Margaret Finnegan (Author of New Kids and Underdogs)
Interterview #233 with Amanda Rawson Hill (Author of The Hope of Elephants)
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Interview #238 with Margi Preus (Author of Windswept)
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Interview #241 with Anika Fajardo (Author of Meet Me Halfway)
Interview #250 with Sally J. Pla (Author of The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn)
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Interview #253 with Sarah Everett (Author of The Probability of Everything)
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