Girl Power Graphic Novels Blog Tour: Interview with Mairghread Scott

First Second Books (Macmillan Children's Books) is coordinating a five day multiple blog celebration of girl power-ness in graphic novels. Thank you First Second for including Kid Lit Frenzy as part of the fabulous Girl Power Graphic Novels Blog Tour.

For a complete list of all of the blogs participating, click here.

The City on the Other Side
by Mairghread Scott and Robin Robinson
First Second/Macmillan (April 24, 2018)
Comics * Fantasy * Fairies and Magic
Audience: Ages 8 to 12
Indiebound | WorldCat

About the book: 
In The City on the Other Side, a young girl stumbles into a pitched war between two fairy kingdoms, and the fate of San Francisco itself hangs in the balance!

Sheltered within her high-society world, Isabel plays the part of a perfectly proper little girl—she’s quiet, well-behaved, and she keeps her dresses spotlessly clean. She’s certainly not the kind of girl who goes on adventures.

But that all changes when Isabel breaches an invisible barrier and steps into another world. She discovers a city not unlike her own, but magical and dangerous. Here, war rages between the fairies of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Only Isabel, with the help of a magical necklace and a few new friends, stands a chance of ending the war before it destroys the fairy world, and her own.

From Mairghread Scott and Robin Robinson comes a colorful fantasy graphic novel set in early twentieth century San Francisco

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To celebrate Girl Power in Graphic Novels, I asked Mairghread Scott (The City on the Other Side) a few questions. Thanks Mairghread for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy. 

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Other than reading the comics in the Sunday paper when I was a kid, I was a late comer to the world of comics. However, from what I have seen and read, the profession is dominated by men. Over the past decade, more and more women writers and illustrators are making their presence known. How have you seen the world of comics change from when you were a child to the present day as a creator of comics for both adults and children? 

Things have changed dramatically! I remember being followed around by clerks when I went to comic stores because they were so surprised a woman was buying comics let alone wanted to make them. There still aren’t many women writing and drawing comics, but it is changing. Pioneers like Gail Simone, Devin Grayson and others helped many young women see that success is possible. In fact, the most successful creator today is Raina Telgemeier, by a mile! Each woman that succeeds in comics pushes us all a little bit forward and each girl that reads comics, any comics, proves we’re a market worth pursuing.

Writing comics that fall within a specific world canon (Marvel, DC, etc) must be very different from creating an original story. Your new book with First Second, The City on the Other Side, seems to be very different from your other work. What drew you to this story and was there a specific reason that you chose to set it in the early 1900's? Will this be the first in a series of books? 

The City on the Other Side is a lot younger than my other comics work, but my day job is writing cartoons so it’s a bit more in line with that. For people that don’t know: City is the story of Isabel, a young hispanic girl who falls into the fairy side of our world and discovers the fairies of San Francisco are in the midst of a civil war. Isabel gets a magic necklace she believes will end that war and has to journey to the city to do just that! I’ve always loved the “little kid on an epic adventure” story and San Francisco has always been a really magical place to me because I was born there but left before I could remember it. When I learned about the Great Quake of 1906 it felt like such an epic disaster that it seemed like the natural start for Isabel’s story, or at least, for our fairy civil war to begin. As far as more books, City is a complete story but we definitely left the door open if there’s interest. I’d love for Isabel and the gang to go on more adventures.

If you were to give advice to young girls wanting to enter the world of comics as a writer or illustrator, what would you recommend to them? 

When in doubt, speak up! It’s almost always the answer. Don’t know how to break in? Ask at a con. Don’t know who to send a submission to? Ask the publisher. Not sure what your editor’s note means? Say so. Think you’re gonna miss your deadline? Tell someone! Every problem I’ve had on a project could have been solved (or at least made better) if someone spoke up. It can be very scary to say you don’t know how to do something or you’re not going to be able to, but everyone in this business has been there at some point. Speak up, show up and keep trying. You’ll make it.

About the author: Mairghread Scott is an animation and comic book writer. Her published books include Marvel Universe Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Till All Are One, Transformers: Windblade, Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special #1, and Science Comics: Robots & Drones. Her latest graphic novel is the fantasy adventure The City on the Other Side.

Classy Crooks Club: Interview with Author, Alison Cherry

The Classy Crooks Club
by Alison Cherry
Aladdin (March 29, 2016)
Audience: Ages 8 to 12
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads: 
Twelve-year-old AJ dreads spending an entire month living with her strict Grandma Jo. Not only does her grandmother dictate how she walks, what she eats, and which rooms she can enter, she fills all AJ's free time with boring sewing lessons. Grandma Jo wants nothing more than to transform her adventurous, fun-loving granddaughter into a prim and proper lady.

But AJ’s dull summer takes a sharp turn when she discovers that her grandmother's "bridge group" is actually a heist club. When Grandma Jo offers to let AJ learn lock-picking instead of embroidery in exchange for help with a few capers, AJ is happy to join her grandmother's madcap band of thieves, who claim to steal only for ethical reasons. But even the most respectable ladies can hide truly surprising secrets, and AJ finds she must decide for herself what it means to be one of the good guys.

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Today, Alison Cherry stops by to talk a little bit about her new Middle Grade novel, THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB.  Thank you Alison for visiting Kid Lit Frenzy. 

In looking over the books you have written, THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB seems like a departure from your Young Adult books. What prompted the change?

It's really only a departure in terms of age group! At their cores, all my books are about relationships between girls and women, set against backdrops that raise the stakes and the absurdity level. RED is a mother-daughter story set in the world of beauty pageants, and FOR REAL is a sister story set on a reality TV show. I think a grandmother/granddaughter story set in the world of heists fits right in! As for the departure into middle grade, I wanted the chance to write something with completely goofy, over-the-top elements, and that's hard to get away with in YA. Kids are much more open to that kind of thing!

THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB would have been my favorite type of book to read at age 10. What were you reading at 10 and did you ever imagine yourself as a character featured in one of those books? What adventures did you imagine yourself doing?

I was a huge Judy Blume fan at age 10—I remember working my way down the shelf at the library, reading each of her books in alphabetical order. I loved Katherine Patterson, particularly The Master Puppeteer, and the first three Anne of Green Gables books. I definitely tried to imagine myself as Anne, especially since we share a hair color, but she was so much braver and more daring than I was that she was a bit hard to relate to. I also adored Matilda beyond reason, and I have pretty clear memories of trying to tip over a glass of water with my mind. (Shockingly enough, it did not work.)

Every author does some research for books they write (even for realistic fiction), what kind of research did you do for THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB and did you have any favorite discoveries?

I watched tons of videos about lock-picking on YouTube—I don't think I ever truly understood how locks and keys worked until I wrote this book. I also did lots of research on parrot behavior, including talking to an exotic bird expert. I had no idea parrots could make so many noises aside from talking—creaking door sounds, car alarms, phone ringtones, etc. It's pretty amazing.

Can you share a favorite part of THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB without giving away any spoilers?

My favorite scene in the book involves a parrot singing a Christmas carol. I will say no more than that. :)

What is your creative writing process like? Do you have any particular routines when you write? Can we get a picture of your writing space?

I'm a huge plotter—I can't start writing until I'm pretty clear on the ending—and I always write in order. My favorite place to work is a cafe near my house—picture attached! They have amazing waffles and baked brie sandwiches and mint-lime iced tea, and the baristas all know my name. My brain works best between the hours of 11 and 5, so I'm usually at the computer then. But I'm not very good at sticking to a routine, and I can write pretty much anywhere, as long as it's relatively quiet and there's room for my laptop. The only place I absolutely can't get work done is on an airplane; flying freaks me out too much. 

What is your favorite indie bookstore? Can you tell us a little about it?

My all-time favorite bookstore is the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, MA. I have such excellent memories of it from when I lived in Boston—I'd always stop by after I took an exam and buy myself a book as a reward. But my favorite local indie is BookCourt in Brooklyn. It's really big for a Brooklyn storefront, I love the open-plan layout and the way the books are arranged, and it has a large children's section with a reading area. I've had all my launch parties there, and the staff is super friendly and helpful!

Check out Alison Cherry's THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB now available at your local indie bookstore. 

Twenty Yawns Blog Tour & Giveaway

Twenty Yawns
by Jane Smiley; Illustrated by Lauren Castillo
Two Lions (April 1, 2016)
Audience: Prek - 2nd grade
Fiction * Bedtime
Amazon | WorldCat 

Description from GoodReads: 
Featuring lyrical text and beautiful illustrations, this bedtime tale from Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley and Caldecott Honor recipient Lauren Castillo evokes the splashy fun of the beach and the quietude of a moonlit night, with twenty yawns sprinkled in for children to discover and count.

As her mom reads a bedtime story, Lucy drifts off. But later, she awakens in a dark, still room, and everything looks mysterious. How will she ever get back to sleep?

If you live in Southern California, Jane and Lauren will be at the LA Times Festival of Books the weekend of April 9 - 10, 2-16. 

Thank you Jane Smiley and Lauren Castillo for stopping by and answering a few questions.

For Jane Smiley:
KLF: In a Washington Post interview, you mentioned that the picture book format (though much shorter than you usually write) was freeing. How is the process of writing a picture book similar or different from writing a novel?

Jane Smiley: The drafts don’t take as long, so you can change things around more readily. Also, the pictures that the artist comes up with are good input, very informative.

KLF: Was the idea for Twenty Yawns based on personal experiences or just something that you wondered about and began to write the story?

JS: I do have kids, and they were idiosyncratic sleepers. I think a lot about sleep, and I had heard that yawns are contagious. I thought it would be funny and fun.

KLF: Where do you most like to write? Do you have any particular routines that you follow?

JS: Nothing after dinner—I will think about it too much when I am trying to sleep. Also, writing five or six days a week, and reading what I write each day aloud to my husband, who makes helpful comments.

For Lauren Castillo:
Kid Lit Frenzy: In the book, readers can almost go on a "scavenger hunt" to find the 20 yawns. Was this something that you decided to add to the artwork for the book or was this something that you and Jane had discussed?

Lauren Castillo: The yawns were included in the original manuscript from Jane, but I discussed ways to incorporate them into the art with our fantastic designer, Sara Gillingham. I think her type and color selections for the yawns were perfect and really add that extra special something to the book.

KLF: When I think of creating the illustrations for a book, I imagine illustrators being very intentional about the images and how things are portrayed. Were there any surprises as you were working on the illustrations?

LC: I don’t think there were any surprises, but I know that I was trying hard to convey a potpourri of fear, determination, humor, magic and warmth into little Lucy’s nighttime adventure.

KLF: What was your favorite spread in the book and why? 

LC: The spread where Lucy and her parents are walking along the shore is my favorite, I think. I enjoyed painting all the warm, sun drenched beachscapes, but especially loved illustrating the time lapse path of activities in this one.

KLF: Will you be doing any other events together?

LC: Jane and I will be presenting together at the LA Times Festival of Books on April 9th, and at Bank Street Bookstore in NYC on April 12th.

KLF: Do you have any upcoming projects that you can share with readers?

LC: Sure! I illustrated a picture book called IT IS NOT TIME FOR SLEEPING coming out this fall (Clarion/HMH), written by the wonderful Lisa Graff. And I am currently working on the art for a picture book biography on E.B. White, written by Barbara Herkert, coming out fall 2017 (Holt/Macmillan). SO VERY EXCITED about both of these books. I hope you will keep an eye out for them.

Watch the official book trailer here:

The Twenty Yawn Challenge: 
n this book, Twenty Yawns, there are supposedly twenty yawns to discover on the pages of the book. I have now read this book multiple times. Sadly I must be missing something because I have found only 18 of the 20. If you have read the book, how did you do? If you get the book after the release date on 4/1 - report back and let me know how you did. 

Quick thoughts on this book: 
Jane Smiley's debut picture book, Twenty Yawns, is an adorable story about a young girl's trip to the beach and then her night time adventure after her parents have gone to bed. Lauren Castillo's illustrations are gorgeous.  Below are a few spreads from the book.

Do you see the 7 yawns below? 

Young children will relate to Lucy and her fun in the sun and then later in her exploration of the house after dark. I will caution that if you have a child who wonders from bed, this book may just give him or her new ideas. 

Look for this book at your public library or local bookstore or online at Amazon (see links above).

Note: Illustrations from TWENTY YAWNS by Jane Smiley, illus. by Lauren Castillo; © 2016 Lauren Castillo. Published by Two Lions.

Check out the activity kit here.

About the author: 
Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, as well as five works of nonfiction and a series of books for young adults. In 2001 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2006 she received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. This is her first picture book. She lives in Northern California.  Find her at facebook.com/janesmileyauthor

About the illustrator: 
Lauren Castillo is the illustrator of many books, including The Reader by Amy Hest. She has also written and illustrated several books, including Caldecott Honor book Nana in the City and The Troublemaker. She lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. To learn more, visit www.laurencastillo.com.
Twitter: @studiocastillo.

Follow the tour: 

Thurs, Mar 17    Watch.Connect.Read
Fri, Mar 18       Sharpread
Mon, Mar 21    Children's Book Review
Tues, Mar 22       Kid Lit Frenzy
Wed, Mar 23    Cracking the Cover
Thurs, Mar 24      Unleashing Readers
Fri, Mar 25       5 Minutes for Books
Sat, Mar 26     Booking Mama
Mon, Mar 28    A Rup Life
Tues, Mar 29       Children's Book Review
Wed, Mar 30    Once Upon a Story
Thurs, Mar 31      NC Teacher Stuff
Fri, April 1       A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
Mon, Apr 4      Where Imagination Grows
Wed, Apr 6      Teach Mentor Texts
Tues, Apr 12    Jean Little Library       

Enter the Giveaway:

Interview with Author Elizabeth McPike

Little Bitty Friends
by Elizabeth McPike; Illustrated by Patrice Barton
Putnam Books for Young Readers (February 2, 2016)

Welcome Elizabeth McPike to Kid Lit Frenzy. Thank you for stopping by and answering a few questions. 

What prompted you to start with books for very young children (toddlers)?

Well, I know I don't have to convince your audience of the importance of reading to children from the earliest age, but I do want to mention a couple benefits that rank high on my list.  I recall a story I have always liked.  A mother arrives home to find her college-student sitter -- with the baby in her arms -- reading aloud from a novel that she had been assigned in one of her college classes.  The mother's first reaction was to find this somewhat ridiculous -- Faulkner or Joyce for a two-month-old?  But then, as she thought about it more, she realized that reading almost anything in the language the baby was just beginning to hear and learn would immerse her in its essential sounds and rhythms.

Now I am most definitely not writing (or recommending) adult novels for tots when there are so many good books targeted to this age group, but this story makes a good point.  The ability to distinguish sounds one from another, to mimic them, to pull them apart and put them back together is the earliest and one of the most critical pre-reading skills.  Only much later, of course, will a child learn to map these sounds onto letters or combinations of letters.  So, yes, for a host of reasons, I am passionate about early -- very early -- reading, and am happy to be writing for this important age group. And I am thrilled that my first book, Little Sleepyhead, has just been chosen by the Dolly Parton Foundation as part of its program to put free books into the hands of hundreds of thousands of children who otherwise would not have a home library.

Another reason I am so interested in this age group stems from the crucial relationship between knowledge and reading comprehension.  No matter how fluent a reader a child eventually becomes, if he does not have the requisite background knowledge, he will not grasp the meaning of a given passage, and meaning after all is the end goal of reading.  Numerous studies have shown that vocabulary -- especially nouns -- is a convenient proxy for more general knowledge.  If you know what a meadow is, for example, chances are you have some surrounding knowledge -- maybe small, maybe significant, but something -- that relates to that word. So, word knowledge and the broader background knowledge it portends is key to comprehension.  And -- to my point here -- there is a vast difference in the vocabulary found in written vs. oral speech. 

In one of the most important studies every conducted in the fields of education, early learning, and social policy, the lexical range and complexity of written language was compared to that of spoken language. Written texts of all sorts and levels were examined against key language gauges -- vocabulary, complexity of construction, etc.  These written texts included everything from pre-school children's books to newspapers and magazines to scientific abstracts.  The analysis of spoken language was equally varied and comprehensive:  TV shows of all kinds, mother's speech to their children at various ages, conversations between college-educated adults, and even expert witness testimony for legal cases. The findings were both potent and staggering.  Here, in two sentences, is how a leading researcher in the field summarized the results:

     "Regardless of the source or situation and without exception, the richness and complexity

      of the words used in the oral language samples paled in comparison with the written texts.

      Indeed, of all the oral language samples evaluated, the only one that exceeded even pre-school

      books in lexical range was expert witness testimony."  

Let that sink in:  The written text in a book for a pre-schooler is richer and more complex, with more varied vocabulary and linguistic construction, than a conversation between college-educated adults! 

So, there you have it.  Books, books, books.  Reading, reading, reading.  And early, early, early, because knowledge is accumulated gradually. We should all be reading to our children.  We should be reading to other people's children.  We should harken to the special meaning these findings have for a democratic society, for basic fairness, for the roots of inequality, and for the poor among us.  The knowledge gap between those who are read to early and those who are not is expressed not in a linear equation but an exponential one.  Over time, we are not looking at parallel lines.  Rather, we are looking at a gap that grows bigger every day, until it is a chasm.  If this doesn't make one passionate about good books for this young age group, nothing will.

I also enjoy writing for the zero-to-three crowd because I am a long-time lover of poetry.  (Beware:  I often press upon the unsuspecting a little paperback gift entitled, By Heart:  101 Poems To Remember, edited by Ted Hughes.)  When I write for this age, I get to indulge myself.  Of course, I'm not writing poetry per se, but I do make heavy use of rhyme and rhythm, repetition and alliteration. So this is a double-scoop cone:  I enjoy playing with poetic elements, and young children thrive on hearing them.  And of course presenting sounds, language, and ideas in this form is yet another way to help children develop essential pre-reading skills, If I write, for example,

     the noisy blue jay,

     jabbering all day,

     where does he go at night?

Not only is the young child introduced to an outstanding verb -- and one that a parent reader can play with to elicit a giggle..."jabber, jabber, jabber" -- but in addition the child hears the long /a/ sound and the consonant /j/ sound twice, both embedded in rhyme and alliteration.  Because of the context, the repetition, and the rhyme, he is more likely to enjoy and remember the sounds.  And because the syllables are set to a beat, tuned like music to delight the human ear, they help foster both listening skills and an early love of language. It's no mystery why nursery rhymes have persisted for hundreds of years.  "Ride a cock horse / to Banbury Cross..." is still hard to top for its ability to get inside your head.

What are your favorite bookstore hangouts in DC?

I was delighted to have recently read that young adults are re-discovering the virtues of brick-and-mortar bookstores!  And I am equally delighted that you asked this question, because it gives me the opportunity to sing the praises of and express my gratitude for one of the truly outstanding bookstores in the country.  I have the good fortune to live two and a half blocks from Politics & Prose bookstore.  You may have heard of it; about a dozen years ago it won the award for the best independent bookstore in the country.  It has free author talks every single day of the year except for a few major holidays, and I am hard put to name a prominent author who has not appeared there.  It also offers both literature and writing classes.  This Winter's classes -- to name three -- include ones on memoir writing, on Ralph Ellison's short fiction, and on the "Golden Age of Ladies' Detective Fiction," which covers British authors such as Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, and Agatha Christie.  There's a large children's department, a coffee shop, and comfortable wing chairs scattered about.  It is a true neighborhood (indeed, city-wide) treasure, a fact not lost upon real estate agents, who are quick to include "close to P&P Bookstore" in their listing ads. 

And did I mention that it has the best remainder section of any bookstore I've been to, and I've been to a lot.  When my kids say to me, referring to some obscure topic, "Mom, how do you know about that?" -- I was recently regaling them, for example, with harrowing tales of Teddy Roosevelt's journey down an unexplored tributary of the Amazon -- I explain that my reading is in large part governed not by any particular scheme or by a bucket list of books I should read but by what's on offer in the Politics & Prose remainder section!  The store has been a great blessing in my life.  I am there three or four times a week.  Feeling down or bored or in need of company, or want to browse through a just-released book before deciding whether to buy: out the door I go to P&P!!!

Are there other book projects in the works that you can share with us?

I look for little ideas, small but interesting truths about childhood. The little idea behind Sleepyhead is that babies work very hard all day long -- crawling, reaching, bending their little necks back and up to see -- such that by the end of the day it is no wonder they are ready to collapse.  The little idea that inspired Little Bitty Friends is that young children have a special relationship with other small creations.  They will sit quietly and watch ants, they will happily hold a small beetle or a ladybug in their hands for much longer than you or I would, and they will bring their parents to a screeching halt on a walk because they have spotted a tiny rock or clover that they want to examine. 

Once I have the idea -- and that's the hard part! -- the writing comes pretty easily to me.  For 18 years, I was the editor of a journal on education policy and teaching practice.  My contributors were mainly academics, so I was constantly writing and re-writing -- often on a tight schedule -- to make their prose more interesting and more accessible to a broad audience.  Right now, I'm moving up an age bracket and trying to get inside the head of, say, a four-year-old, to understand how they explain the world to themselves.  Why is the sky so high?  The moon so far away?  Why is there snow, why sand, why seas?  How does a four-year-old think about all this?  But I can't write until I get the motivating idea into one simple declarative sentence, and I'm not there yet. 

What was the one book that turned you into a reader (or writer)?

I wish I had a classic answer -- an ah-ha moment -- and could recount an early reading experience that turned me into a lifelong reader/writer.  It is certainly true that I love every aspect of the written word; I even like to diagram sentences!  But how and why I developed this love is a mystery.  I did not become a voracious reader till I was in my twenties, and although I did study literature for a while in college, I developed an interest in Economics and wound up doing my graduate work in that field.  We had few books in our home when I was young.  The only picture book I recall having was a book of verse.  I do have vivid memories of listening in while my father read Treasure Island to my two older bothers.  I would shiver as he imitated the sound of blind Pew's walking stick as he came down the road, and I poured over N. C. Wyeth's mesmerizing illustrations.

I did not go to kindergarten; it was not mandatory at the time, so I stayed home with my mother. When I was about six, we began to bike together to our public library.  I come from a small town, and the library was not far away.  Soon I was allowed to go on my own, and of course I loved that.  But I can't say I was a big reader as a child.  I had four brothers (no sisters) to keep up with, so I was mainly an outdoors girl.  Except for the long hours we spent indoors playing bridge (my mother didn't play, and as the third child I became my father's best hope for a partner, so he taught me when I was just seven), for the most part my childhood consisted of equal parts on my roller skates, on my bike, playing kick-the-can, and standing in center field on a make-shift ball field. (My brothers, who had good reason to question my fielding abilities, would shout "Just keep going...farther, farther," and there I would faithfully stand, staring at the sun and with little action coming my way.)

So, I don't have a good answer for your question.  My love of language must be in my genes, scrambled and served up from some long-ago inheritance.  Why, for example, did I start writing from a young age?  I have no idea.  Nothing big, just small accounts of some visit or adventure or mishap.  I would read them to my mother, and she would read them back to me.  I knew little about books for young children until I had my own children.  Then I went wild, of course.  Almost all the books I read to them were a first-time read for me, also. Maybe that's why I read to them so much.  Many years apart, we were discovering the same great books!

I first had the idea of trying my hand at writing for children only several years ago.  I was caring for my husband, who had been sick for a long time and was terribly disabled with Parkinson's Disease.  As such, I was pretty much confined to the house.  A friend had her first grandchild, and as a present, I wrote a little book to give her.  It didn't take me long, and it wasn't too bad, so I sat down and wrote three more.  I sent them out to a half-dozen publishers and a half-dozen agents, certain that they would never make their way out of the slush pile (a term I didn't even know at the time).  Within two weeks, and to my total shock -- it must have been a slow day is my only explanation -- I heard back from a major publisher and from the extraordinary person who would become my agent:  Kelly Sonnack at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.  I really hesitate to relate this account because of course there are so so many writers vastly more talented than myself -- and that's such an understatement! -- for whom it took a long long time to make the connection to an agent or publisher.  I have no explanation other than that I just got very lucky.

About the author: 
A writer, editor, and late-afternoon napper, Elizabeth McPike lives in Washington, D.C. She is the former editor of American Educator, the professional journal of the American Federation of Teachers. On a perfect day, she is likely to be found in her garden or in the remainder section of her nearby bookstore or sitting in a quiet pew by a stained-glass window.

Reproductive Rights: Who Decides? Blog Tour & Author Interview

Reproductive Rights: Who Decides?
by Vicki Oransky Wittenstein
Twenty-First Century Books/Lerner Publishing Group (March 1, 2016)
Audience:  Ages 13 to 18
Nonfiction * Birth Control * Reproductive Rights
Amazon * WorldCat

About the book: 
Examine reproductive rights through a historical lens, from early history's methods for family planning to the introduction of the Pill in the 1960s and the Roe v Wade decision of the 1970s, to contemporary legal and societal battlegrounds.

Thank you Vicki for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy and answering a few questions about your new book REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: WHO DECIDES?

___________________________________________

Reproductive Rights: Who Decides? has received very positive reviews. It's an important topic but can be one that is controversial with schools and parents (especially in more religious communities). Have you had any feedback or push-back about the book/topic?

Alyson, thanks so much for asking me such a critical question. I haven’t received any push-back yet about the book/topic, and I hope I don’t. I strongly believe that the history of reproductive rights is a subject that needs to be aired in classrooms and even among adults across the country. In my research I learned that history speaks volumes about these issues. For thousands of years—from ancient civilizations, through Colonial America, the development of the Pill, the legalization of contraception and abortion, and the Brave New World of reproductive technologies—men and women have always found ways to control reproduction. Controlling procreation is a human need that is not new. Limiting discussion about this controversial topic won’t stop the heated debates that young people hear over availability of, access to, and funding for contraception, sex education, and abortion. Teens should analyze and discuss these rights so they understand the issues at stake and form their own opinions. They are the next generation of parents, the ones who will be most affected by the laws enacted by our federal and state legislators and argued before our courts. And as new reproductive technologies expand the possibilities for controlling and initiating pregnancy, teens are the future adults who will define what it means to be a parent and under what circumstances. We owe it to them to help navigate through these complex and often heated issues.

In your research, what were the most surprising pieces of information that you discovered about reproductive rights or what you saw as most fascinating?

I was riveted by the intriguing ways people tried to control reproduction thousands of years ago, including magic rituals, herbal potions, and incantations from medicine men and women. Things like draping a magical amulet containing the bones of a black cat around your neck or jumping backward seven or eight times kept me laughing. But surprisingly, some of the birth control recipes may have worked to some extent, as they contained chemical properties found in many of the substances we use today. I was also surprised to discover that the old adage that history repeats itself is true, at least with respect to reproductive rights. Over the last several centuries, the US has gone from enacting laws that make it unlawful to use contraception or have an abortion, to legalizing both, and now, in the past several decades, restricting access.

Given how organizations like Planned Parenthood have been forefront in the news recently, your book is particularly timely. Any recommendations on how teachers or librarians can use REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS as a book club or other discussion group?

I agree that the book is particularly timely given that Planned Parenthood and now the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice are in the news. Teachers and educators can spur probing discussions by asking students questions about the book. For example, were the struggles to control when or if women and men wanted families similar to the struggles people encounter today? What events led to the eventual legalization of contraception in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and abortion in Roe v. Wade (1973)? I think educators should encourage discussion of more controversial issues as well. For example, what role do political leaders and social norms play in determining how women and their families think and act on birth control issues? Is it easier or harder for poor women to access birth control? How do racism and sexism come into play? What differences do you see in the way politicians, judges and presidents think about birth control and reproductive rights? Educators and students can check the chapter-by-chapter discussion guide I posted on my website at Vickiwittenstein.com for more ideas.

Given the timeline it takes from researching a book, getting it picked up by a publisher for publication, and then the road to actual publication - Was this a topic that you had been wanting to write and finally had the opportunity to publish it or was it something that came about from another process? How long did it take you to research and write the book? 

I had just finished writing FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND: THE SHAMEFUL HISTORY OF HUMAN MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION (Lerner 2014), when my editor suggested reproductive rights as a possible book topic. I practically jumped out of my chair from excitement. I did some preliminary research, wrote up a proposal and within a month my head was buried in books. From start to publication, the book took about two and a half years.

Why was I so excited? I think growing up during the 60s and 70s definitely sparked my interest in reproductive rights. When I was in high school and college, women were only just beginning to obtain advanced degrees and break into traditionally men’s professions, such as law and medicine. In college, tons of women used the Pill and two friends had abortions. Most women were relieved that Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade gave them options that were unheard of for their mothers. In the decades since Roe, the reproductive rights that empowered my generation have been whittled away, particularly for poor women. I think it’s unfortunate that the abortion issue has overshadowed what it means to be in favor of reproductive rights, when most reproductive health care involves cancer screenings, pregnancy prevention and care, and family planning—services completely unrelated to abortion. I have been honored to write this book and bring to the forefront ideas and issues that teens need to learn and think about.

Alyson, thanks so much for having me and for asking such thoughtful questions!

About Vicki Oransky Wittenstein: 
Before becoming an author, VICKI ORANKSY WITTENSTEIN prosecuted criminal cases as an assistant district attorney with the Manhattan District Attorney's office. She earned an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Vicki has written a number of science articles and books for the juvenile market, including Planet Hunter: Geoff Marcy and the Search for Other Earths, which won the 2011 Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics. Her book For the Good of Mankind? The Shameful History of Human Medical Experimentation was a Junior Literary Guild selection. Vicki and her husband live in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her website at vickiwittenstein.com.

Follow the tour: 

Mon, Feb 15     Proseandkahn

Tues, Feb 16    The Book Monsters

Wed, Feb 17    Library Fanatic

Thurs, Feb 18   Kid Lit Frenzy

Fri, Feb 19       The Nonfiction Detectives

Sat, Feb 20     Ms. Yingling Reads

Mon, Feb 22    The Launch Pad

Tues, Feb 23    Through the Tollbooth

Wed, Feb 24     Unleashing Readers

Thurs, Feb 25   The Pirate Tree

Fri, Feb 26       Teach Mentor Texts