Literacy Now

Rachel Shukert is the author of EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE GREAT, HAVE YOU NO SHAME?, and the Starstruck novels. She has been fascinated by the Golden Age of Hollywood since she was a girl, when she used to stay up all night watching old movies and fall asleep the next day at school. Rachel grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and graduated from New York University. She lives in New York City with her husband. Visit her at rachelshukert.com.

Your newest book, STARSTRUCK, is your first novel for young adults. What inspired you to make the switch to YA?

You know, it wasn't exactly a conscious switch. I didn't say to myself, I'd like to write a YA series, what can I think of that would work? It was more organic than that. I had this world in my head, and an idea of how I wanted the book to work and what I wanted it to be like and who I wanted it to be about, and as soon as I began to think of it YA terms, it instantly made sense to me.

I'm a huge old movie buff, and one of the things that has always struck me watching them is how young the performers—especially the actresses—were in those films. They don't seem it, since they're so poised and groomed to within an inch of their lives, but it's always sort of a shock to see, say, Lana Turner playing some totally-in-control femme fatale and then realizing, "Hey, she's only nineteen." Jean Harlow was sixteen when she got her first movie contract; Barbara Stanwyck was fifteen—and they weren't playing kid roles, either.

People really did grow up so much faster historically than they do now (I always think about European medieval history and wonder how different things would have been if everyone making the decisions about warfare and revenge and all of those things weren't, like, 22-year-old boys) but that was fascinating to me, to think of women that young having navigate this incredibly adult world. They're just in the process of discovering who they are, and then there are all these very powerful people saying, "We will make all your wildest dreams come true if you'll just be whoever we tell you to."

Now, that's something everyone goes through to some extent, everyone goes through, but in this world it's really writ large. What does that do to you? How do you handle that? What kind of compromises and sacrifices do you have to make? The conflict was just irresistible to me, as a storyteller.

And then, just in a stylistic sense, I knew I wanted the books themselves to feel as much like old movies as possible, and to me, there is something very cinematic about YA literature. They can have these rich, complicated characters, but the plots themselves really kind of gun forward; there's not this same emphasis on interiority that you get with a lot of literary fiction, where you can go on for about 200 pages with very little action. I wanted that for this, and I wanted to capture some of the longing for glamour and sophistication and escape and recognition that I had as a teenager, and really dig into that in an interesting way.

STARSTRUCK follows three girls seduced by the glamour of Hollywood in the late 1930s—a time period you clearly know well and reference often. Still, it seems apparent that the novel required a good deal of research. What was that process like?

Well, I had actually done a lot of the research without knowing I was doing it! As I mentioned, I was really, really obsessed with this period of history and classic Hollywood in general when I was younger. I read everything about it that I could get my hands on, I watched old movies pretty non-stop for a period of years.

So a lot of things—details about the way the old studios were run, the kind of movies that they made, the historical context of it all—I really had at my fingertips. And since Olympus, the studio all the main characters work for, is fictional, I didn't have to adhere to anything truly exact—I could kind of make amalgam of lots of different studios and a lot of different executives and stars.

The research I did wind up doing was all in the details—really tiny, everyday things, because that's what makes the world feel full and real and makes the reader taken care of. You have to get that stuff right, and then the setting comes to life and the reader doesn't question it. It's like that Japanese idea of making a building so perfect that the architecture disappears.

And that was all stuff that happens in the moment, because you can't exactly predict what you're going to need to know before you get to that part. I mean, literally, I'd get to someone needing to settle a bill in a restaurant. And I'd need to figure out exactly how much it would cost, but then I'd need to know exactly how that character would pay for it. Would they have credit at this place? Would they whip out some big bill and tell the server to keep the change? All of that tells you something about the time and place, and who the character is.

I wanted all the research to kind of do double duty that way. Margo's lipstick that her mother won't let her wear is a good example. I knew I wanted it to be the name of a real lipstick that was on the market at the time, but then I also had to think about which one she would buy. It wouldn't be from a department store, because that would have to be a special trip and she wouldn't go there by herself. So she bought it at the drug store, but a girl like Margo, who is used to having nice things, would want it to be special, she'd save her allowance, maybe. So it was like this math problem: what would be the fanciest lipstick you could buy at a drug store? And the answer is: _____.

But I did get a little compulsive about it all. In the second book, a character takes the train from Hollywood to New York City, and I had to stop writing for three days to figure out exactly how you'd do it, which stations it would leave from, where it would stop, where you'd have to change lines. And there was this point where I was making myself absolutely crazy because I couldn't find the exact time table I needed, of what time the train would leave on what day, and finally, I was just like: "Rachel, this has to stop. Nobody is going to know the difference." But I tried never to do that unless my own sanity was at stake!

Multiple reviewers have compared STARSTRUCK to VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Do you agree with this assessment—and if so, where do the similarities end?

Look, obviously VALLEY OF THE DOLLS was a huge inspiration for me, and I take those comparisons as a huge compliment: it makes me feel like I told a good story!

Structurally, the books definitely have some things in common: the three main girls, who come from very different places, and I think you can see who their corollaries are. But they're different too. Margo is a lot more ambitious and driven than Anne Welles; Gabby isn't as much of a monster as Neely O'Hara; Amanda is a lot smarter and more self-sufficient than Jennifer North, and they will all change and grow even more as the series goes on.

But the biggest difference is that VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is essentially a cautionary tale, and STARSTRUCK really isn't. Yes, the world the girls are in is dangerous and populated with people who don't have their best interests at heart, and yes, bad things happen and they have setbacks and heartbreaks and make big mistakes. But it's possible to learn from your mistakes, to be smart and strong and resourceful enough to make it through. It may be a cruel world, but you don't have to let yourself be destroyed by it, and staying home your whole life isn't going to keep you safe either.

I don't want anyone—girls especially—to feel like they are going to be punished for having big dreams. To borrow a turn of phrase from THE WIZARD OF OZ, what Margo, Gabby and Amanda are looking for ISN'T in their own back yards, and that they all have the courage to try to find it is in itself a victory. They may be in over their heads, but they are also brave.

Much of your writing reflects on life experiences and mistakes you’ve made (not to mention your incisive observations about TV’s SMASH!)—but targeted more toward (for lack of a better word) grownups. What were some of the challenges in writing for a younger audience?

You know, it honestly isn't something I thought about a whole lot—I was just trying to tell a good story, and let myself do what I needed to do! But I definitely handled a lot of things a little more delicately and euphemistically than I might have otherwise.

Actually, I was really inspired by the source material in this! For most of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, Hollywood adhered to this self-enforced Production Code, this very complicated form of censorship that had all these rules about what you could show and what you couldn't show, what you could say and what you could only allude to.

So all the writers and directors of this time became masters of suggestion—you know, what can you say with a closed door? Or a cutaway shot? I thought about that a lot when I was writing. It's all about leaving things to the imagination.

You have accomplished so much at such a young age, and have already published two memoirs. Do you find it easier to write stories about your life, or to create characters of your own?

Oh, thank you! It doesn't always feel that way. As far as fiction vs. nonfiction goes, I wouldn't say one is exactly easier for me. I will say that nonfiction is faster. By the time I sit down to write a story about myself, I know what happened, I know what it felt like at the time and how I feel about it know, I know my characters.

With fiction, I have to take my time to get to know everyone, to find my way in to the world and all these other people's minds, to figure out the story, logistically and figuratively. It takes a lot more time and energy to imagine.

But once that happens, there aren't really any limits. With my first two books, I was constrained by actual events, you know? With this book, if something wasn't working in the story, I could just change it! And that was a big imaginative leap to make, but once I made it, I was like, this is amazing! The sky is the limit!

So it's different. But easier, no. Writing is never easy, that's the hard truth. But it's also what makes it so great.



5 Questions With... Ruta Sepetys (BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY)

Digging for Details that Make Historical Fiction Delicious

Daniel Kraus is a Chicago-based writer, editor, and filmmaker. His debut novel, THE MONSTER VARIATIONS, was selected to New York Public Library's "100 Best Stuff for Teens." FANGORIA called his Bram Stoker-finalist, Odyssey Award-winning second novel, ROTTERS, "a new horror classic." Upcoming novels include the Junior Library Guild selection SCOWLER (2013) and TROLLHUNTERS (2014), co-written with Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Visit him online at http://danielkraus.com/.

Your new novel, SCOWLER, reads like a bit of a modern allegory (albeit one cloaked in horror). Can you tell us about how you conceived of the story?

It has been a long, strange journey. I had a nightmare in eighth grade, wrote a three-page story about it, and then thought about that story for, oh, 20 years or so. Along the way the idea picked up other little notions, like burrs onto cotton. But it was always the goal to write about a family that was scared, really deep-down scared, and what kind of extremes it would take to turn that family into something scary enough to fight back.

SCOWLER is written in third-person, switching from one character’s point of view to another’s. What led you to tell Ry’s story in this way?

As you suggested in your first question, I wanted this to have a bit of a lyrical feel to it, like a Midwestern gothic. Grafting that kind of style into the voice of Iowan farmers would probably feel disingenuous. Plus, there's a key moment in the book where I knew I had to pivot away from the main point-of-view. So it wasn't a difficult decision.

Many of your books focus on the strange relationship between father and son. Does your own relationship with your father provide inspiration for the characters in your novels?

This is kind of a no-win question, isn't it? I guess I'll say yes? But within limits? I mean, my dad didn't bury my homework to teach me to rob graves and he certainly didn't chase me through the forest for two days in order to kill me.

Traces of real relationships are all over my writing, but that's just how novels work. The question is why do father-son relationships in general intrigue me, and I don't think that's so hard to figure out. Historically there's rites of violence and toughness that mark the passage to manhood and that's good stuff for fiction, always has been.

You’ve said that good-versus-bad stories bore you. Do you ever plan on writing a novel that strays from your norms of dark and dangerous?

I think it's safe to say that the next three things I'm working on stretch outside what people are expecting from me, and in pretty major ways.

That said, that core idea that we're all bad guys when seen through the right person's eyes is not going to change. I'd like to think nobody gets off scot-free in my books.

You are co-writing your upcoming book, TROLLHUNTERS, with Guillermo del Toro. What’s it like authoring a book with an Oscar-winning filmmaker?

Serious fun. TROLLHUNTERS is a dark book but it's lighter than what I've done so far—how could it not be?—and I really needed that after SCOWLER. It also has a major fantasy element, something I've not dabbled in before.

Sitting down and inventing a monster—an actual monstrous monster-type monster—turns out to be a lot of fun, you know?



5 Questions With... Melina Marchetta (JELLICOE ROAD, FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK)

5 Questions With... Holly Black (WHITE CAT)

Rhonda Gowler Greene is an award-winning author of over 20 children’s books. Her books have received several honors such as IRA Children’s Choice Book, Bank Street College Best Book, Children’s Book Council Showcase Book, and starred reviews in major periodicals. Being a former elementary teacher, Rhonda especially enjoys visiting schools where her goal is to get students excited about reading and writing. To learn more about Rhonda (and also see a book trailer of her newest book), visit her website at www.rhondagowlergreene.com.

Your latest book, NO PIRATES ALLOWED! SAID LIBRARY LOU, was released this past Wednesday. It’s not every day that a scary pirate and a witty librarian cross paths. What inspired the story?

Two great picture books inspired the story—LIBRARY LION and HOW I BECAME A PIRATE. A few years ago, I saw them listed on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list. They sparked an idea—why not put a pirate in a library? A pirate is always looking for treasure. I thought the treasure could be books. Pirate Pete has to discover that for himself though, with some help from Library Lou.

That wasn’t the first time other children’s books have sparked a story idea. I’m constantly reading and studying children’s books, from picture books to novels, to get ideas and also to help my writing. I’m a firm believer that if you want to write great children’s books, you need to study and study what’s already published.

It was fun creating the character, Library Lou. I can relate to her love of reading and books. I actually have my Master’s to be a school librarian, but I never became that after starting a family. My house has so many children’s books in it, though, it could probably pass for a children’s section of a library!

NO PIRATES ALLOWED is a rhyming book. What are some of the challenges of writing in this style?

Well, one challenge is that some editors will not even consider manuscripts written in rhyme. It’s because over the years they’ve gotten so many that are poorly written. It’s much harder than it looks to write successful rhyme. Other big challenges are getting the beats (stressed and unstressed syllables) just right and coming up with fresh rhymes. A tool I use is a rhyming dictionary.

To me, writing a book in rhyme is like putting a very difficult puzzle together. I try to get my writing to “sing.” I don’t really study meter. I have a music background (minored in music and piano) though, which probably helps. I do study children’s poetry books. I especially admire the works of Alice Schertle, Joyce Sidman, Linda Ashman, J. Patrick Lewis, Karen Beaumont, and Kristine O’Connell George.

And though Aileen Fisher’s books (over 100) are somewhat dated, I’ve always liked her work. She passed away in 2002 at the age of 96. I have a letter she wrote me several years ago, which means a lot to me. She thought poetry should be delightful. I hope my rhythmical writing delights children (and adults too).

You are a former teacher and mother of four. How has being a teacher and a parent influenced your career as a writer?

I don’t know if I would have ever tried my hand at writing if I hadn’t become a parent. When my kids were growing up, I quit teaching and stayed home with them. We read and read and read books. The more I read great books to them, the more it made me want to try to write books like that.

It was not easy getting published though. I got 220 rejections within three and a half years before I sold my first book manuscript.

Being a former teacher, I think, influences my author presentations. I really emphasize reading, writing and revising. I try to impart to students what some of the great educators, such as Lucy Calkins, Ralph Fletcher, and Katie Wood Ray, say: to be a good writer, you need to learn from the best—real authors and real books.

Being a teacher also definitely played a part in my book THIS IS THE TEACHER, which is a humorous, cumulative story about things going wrong during a school day. It starts out—“This is the teacher all ready for school.” It ends—“This is the teacher all ready for bed!” (The clock on the nightstand reads 3:30 PM.)

You have an interesting hobby: collecting reading figurines. Can you tell us more about that?

Just like I love being surrounded by books, I also love being surrounded by art about reading. I have about 180 reading figurines. Most are whimsical ones of people (mainly children) or animals. A couple of favorites are two Inuit girls and two Ukranian girls. The animal ones include bears, mice, rabbits, cats, pigs, monkeys, owls, raccoons, frogs, turtles, and a mole. And there are some book character ones too, such as Pooh, Eeyore, and Christopher Robin.

I’m always on the lookout for figurines. It’s exciting to find a unique one when I’m in another country. Sometimes when writing in my home office, I’ll look up from my computer and glance at all the animals and children sitting on the shelves. They’re always busy reading. It’s like the room is full of friends who have the same love as I do.

On your website you’ve said you visit schools across the country to inspire students to get excited about reading and writing. What do you feel is the most important lesson that you instill in them before you leave their school?

I think it’s that they can learn to write well. I tell them they can learn to write the same way real authors learn—read like writers and then weave great techniques found in books into your writing. After my main presentation about the stages of a book, where I get ideas, etc., I point out examples of great writing. We talk about how their own stories can “sparkle” by using some of the same things, such as lots of details, strong “muscle” verbs, alliteration, patterned repetition, onomatopoeia, having a problem in the story that builds, etc.

When I was a student, I never had the opportunity to meet an author. I think it’s wonderful that so many schools have author visits now. I find from my visits that students think authors are rich and famous. I’ve been asked more than once if I ride in a limousine. I like students to know that authors are ordinary people who work hard at something they’re passionate about. I want them to know that they can become authors, too, if that’s what they hope to be.

Also, of course, I instill in them what Pirate Pete discovers in my NO PIRATES ALLOWED—that books are the best treasures of all.



A Tribute to Literacy: K-12 Book Reviews

Book Reviews: Cat Tales

Ruta Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. Her award-winning debut novel, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, was inspired by her family's history in Lithuania and is published in 40 countries. Her new novel, OUT OF THE EASY, is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1950. A historical tale of secrets and lies, OUT OF THE EASY is a story of identity, family, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny. Ruta lives with her family in Tennessee. For more information on Ruta, visit her at www.rutasepetys.com.

Your debut novel, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, shed light on the history of atrocities against the Baltic people carried out by Stalin. What drew you to tell this story—and why do you think it’s a story not told more often?

My father fled from Stalin as a young boy. In 2005, I discovered that after my father left Lithuania, some of his extended family members were deported to Siberia. I was unaware of the deportations and was shocked when I learned that they had affected so many people.


Yet, somehow, the story remained untold. The U.S. and England were allied with Stalin during WWII and after the end of war, Lithuania remained under Soviet control. The story went dormant. I wanted to give voice to this piece of history.

International reaction to BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY has varied between countries and cultures. What has surprised you the most about this?

The book is now published in 42 countries and 26 languages. I still can't believe it. What has surprised me most is that each country interprets and relates to the story according to their own national history and culture. One country might use the book to study identity and another might use it to study patriotism. I've been fascinated to learn how different the teaching methods and curriculums are outside of the U.S.

Your new book, OUT OF THE EASY, transports the reader to New Orleans in 1950. That’s a difference of almost 10 years and 5,500 miles from the setting of BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY. How did you land in the French Quarter for your follow-up project?

Many years ago, someone gave me a vintage pair of opera glasses for my birthday. They were still in the original case from jeweler in New Orleans. I traced their history and learned that they belonged to a woman who lived in a French Quarter brothel.

I began to think about what it might be like for a teenage girl to grow up on the fringes of a brothel. What kinds of obstacles she would face? Would she be branded with the identity she was born into, or could she build one of her own?

I had a vision of 1950 that was pure perfection and happiness, but when I began researching I discovered that there was a lot of pain and secrets in post-war America. It made me want to dig deeper.

Many authors do extensive research for their novels, but you’re something of a “method” novelist. What are some of the lengths you’ve gone to while in “research rapture,” to make sure you’ve got the story right?

I love research. It's my favorite part of the process! While writing OUT OF THE EASY, I took many trips down to New Orleans trying to experience the city as deeply as possible. I’m originally from Michigan so Louisiana felt very exotic to me.


I spent a lot of time in the Williams Research Center in the French Quarter sorting through photos and newspapers. I interviewed many locals. I tracked down the 1950 yearbooks from colleges in New Orleans and also Smith College in Northampton. I spent hours poring over the 1950 New Orleans social directory and listened to old radio programs from the time period.

The most amazing part of my research was being able to visit the former brothel of New Orleans madam, Norma Wallace. When I first visited the brothel building, it was abandoned. As I was writing the book, someone bought the brothel and restored it. On my last research trip to New Orleans I decided to drive by one last time. The building was completely restored. One of the residents invited me in and gave me a tour. Walking through the brothel, the whole thing came to life.

In a former life, you worked in the music industry, as a manager of artists. Before that, you pursued a career in opera. What inspired you to become Ruta 3.0, the young adult author?

I was always interested in both music and writing but decided to pursue music first. After twenty years in the music business, the nagging desire to write finally got the best of me and I joined [the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators]. I attended my first SCBWI conference and never looked back.

Come see Ruta Sepetys at IRA 2013! She will be participating in “Putting Books to Work: Pairing Literature Authors with Classroom Teachers” on Sunday, Apr 21, 2013.



Digging for Details that Make Historical Fiction Delicious

It's All About the Story

Katherine Paterson is a former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Her international fame rests not only on her widely acclaimed novels but also on her efforts to promote literacy in the United States and abroad. She is a two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award, and she has received many other accolades for her works, including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, given by her home state of Vermont. Katherine Paterson was also named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 2000. She lives in Barre, Vermont, with her husband, John Paterson.

Your most recent book, THE FLINT HEART (Candlewick, 2012), is a retelling of a 1910 fairy tale by Eden Phillpots that you co-wrote with your husband, John. You’ve intimated that one of the reasons you undertook abridging and updating THE FLINT HEART is because of its politically relevant message. As someone who has served as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, what role do you think books—children’s books in particular—can play in political awareness?

Actually, it was only after we'd finished the abridgment that I began to see how relevant it was to today's political landscape.

If you write with a message to deliver, you'll get propaganda, not story. You leave the message making to the reader. You don't make the message when you're the storyteller.

You’ll be joining Walter Dean Myers and Jon Sciezska on the National Ambassadors for Young People's Literature author panel at IRA 2013. What can you share about the unique vantage point shared by you and these two authors who have represented young people’s literature internationally?

I am not sure I have a unique vantage point, and I can’t speak for Jon or Walter, but it was a real joy to be the National Ambassador for two years and speak out for the cause of books for the young. I feel strongly that the ability to read well and deeply and widely is so important to those learning how to think critically and make good decisions for their lives. Texting and tweeting just won’t do the job of insuring that our democratic way of life will endure.

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, your 1977 Newbery Award-winning classic, remains one of the most challenged/banned books of the past three decades. How have these censorship efforts affected you on a personal level?

I am always saddened to hear that some teacher or librarian is in trouble because of something I have written. They are the true heroes in my mind. But I have come to believe that if a book has power, it will always have the power to offend someone. I don’t want to write books that have no power to move or inspire the reader.

You’ve said, “There are those days when I have finished a book and can't for the life of me believe I'll ever have the wit or will to write another.” How has this self-doubt changed through the course of your long and storied literary career?

No, if anything, the older I get the more self-doubting I become. Pitiful, isn’t it?

Growing up, your missionary family was very mobile. Over the course of your travels and many school-changes, what teacher made the greatest impact on your life?

The librarian at Calvin H. Wiley School provided a haven for me and introduced me to wonderful books when I was a very lonely fourth grader. I will always be grateful.

Come see Katherine Paterson at IRA 2013! She will be participating in "National Ambassadors for Young People's Literature" on Sunday, Apr 21, 2013.The panel includes Jon Scieszka and Walter Dean Myers.



It's All About the Story

Digging for Details that Make Historical Fiction Delicious