What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading The Will Darling Adventures by KJ Charles! It’s a queer Adult Historical series and I’m on the third book, Subtle Blood. It’s been a lot of fun to listen to while I work on my latest crochet and knit projects. 

What inspired you to write The Diablo’s Curse?

I had so much fun writing Dami in The Wicked Bargain that writing them as the star of their own book felt like a natural next step. I’d left some loose ends for Dami at the end of The Wicked Bargain that gave me material to work with, but it wasn’t quite enough for a full plot I was happy with. At the same time, I’d wanted to write some kind of heist or adventure book in which the protagonist badly needs help from someone they’ve wronged—and it occurred to me this kind of setup would work well with Dami, given the number of demon deals they’ve made. With those two elements in place, the rest of the plot fell into place! 

What was the most difficult part about writing the book? What part was the easiest?

The Diablo’s Curse was one of the most difficult books I’d written in a long time, which really took me by surprise! I don’t have a definite explanation, but some books flow really easily while you’re writing while others you have to fight for every word—and The Diablo’s Curse was the latter (which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy writing it—it was just a challenge!). I think one of the more difficult elements was getting the balance of what exactly happened on the island right. There were a lot of changes from first draft to last there, from characters removed, to scenes fully re-written, to other elements cut entirely and replaced with new ones. Ultimately, I’m very happy with where we landed, but it took a lot of careful revisions to get it right.

As for the easiest…somewhat hilariously, one of the very first scenes I wrote was the short scene where Dami meets a horse named Carrot. I don’t know why this scene came to me so vividly (and before I’d really even started drafting!) but it came out near-perfectly and went through very few changes, if any, from first draft to last!  

What element of the story do you identify with the most and why?

At the beginning of The Diablo’s Curse, Dami is someone who has been made to feel monstrous and undeserving of love. Sadly, this is an experience shared by a lot of queer people, particularly during eras where queerphobia is on the rise in mainstream media and politics, like it is today. As a trans person surrounded by truly horrifying dehumanization of trans people from politicians and waves of online trolls alike, the experience of feeling undeserving of good things because of internalized toxic messaging was one I was all-too familiar with when I began writing The Diablo’s Curse. In many ways, Dami’s story in which they overcome the lies they’ve heard about who they are, and accept that they’re worthy of love, friendship, and loyalty was healing to write. 

What do you want kids today to take away from this story?

I love writing marginalized characters as heroes of an adventure where their queerness isn’t called into question because all types of people can be heroes! Whether it’s a search for cursed pirate treasure, a world with magic and dragons, a futuristic adventure on a spaceship, or a cozy love story, there isn’t any genre in which queer people don’t belong. I hope The Diablo’s Curse helps more queer, trans, and Latinx kids see themselves as heroes capable of having adventures—and I hope it helps present a world they deserve, a world in which who they are isn’t a source of conflict, and instead is accepted as a beautiful and intrinsic part of them. 

Why did you choose to write historical fiction for both THE DIABLO’S CURSE and THE WICKED BARGAIN? What about this time period is important to these stories?

One of my favorite parts of writing queer historical fiction is I get to help rewrite the incorrect—but common—narrative that queer people are a “new phenomenon.” Though historical queer people have often been erased and straightwashed, queer people have been here since the beginning of time, and I love writing stories that highlight that reality. There isn’t a single time period where queer people don’t belong—because we have always existed, and we always will. 

The Fresh Voices series is in coordination with the RHCB DEI Book Club Committee.

1)    What inspired you to write TASTY?

While working on YUMMY, I had to leave out some desserts that I was really curious about, like gelatin and gooey butter cake, which is a childhood favorite cake made almost entirely from boxed ingredients. Those were really the two main foods that spurred this new book. I grew up eating foods like that all the time: frozen dinners or boxed macaroni and cheese. And when I’d go to potlucks, an older woman would always bring this massive beautiful pink ambrosia salad. I never got a taste for it, but I was always like, “What is this?!”

Those foods from the Easy Food chapter are really the heart of TASTY. I had all these lingering questions after making YUMMY, and with my mind in that research mode, I kept questioning foods I was eating, common favorites for me like brie and kimchi, or foods I was remembering from my childhood, like ambrosia salad and gooey butter cake.

2)    What was the most difficult part about writing the book? What part was the easiest?

I think the hardest thing with food history is always contending with the difficult histories that come along with it. You can’t really separate American or European foods from global imperialism, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and the colonization of Indigenous American lands. And then, when you get into the history of Easy Food – the most important chapter for me – you have to contend with the horrors of World War II and all of the Cold War-era imperialism that came afterward. But we have to face that history in order to honor the people who survived and created meaningful food traditions through it.

The easiest part is when I finally get to draw the sprites interacting with the food! I have a lot of fun drawing the sprites excited about food and teasing each other, and I love getting to capture how pretty soda bottles are or nailing down the perfectly glassy, vibrant colors of gelatin cubes! That part comes the most naturally to me.

3)    What element of the story do you identify with the most and why?

Easily the sprite’s excitement for food, haha. I’m always trying to channel my love for delicious food into each of the sprites as I write and draw, even if the food I’m writing about isn’t to my taste. I always think, “This could be someone’s favorite food,” so I want to honor that and have at least one of the sprites be really, really excited for the food that’s being talked about.

4)    What do you want kids today to take away from this story?

A love for food! I think it’s easy to grow up finding certain foods disgusting because you just don’t have exposure to them, but that can be so hurtful to someone who loves those foods. It’s an ethos I took away from all the shows Anthony Bourdain made: he always wanted to honor the food he was eating all over the world, because that was food someone lovingly made or cared about. I hope kids come away from TASTY with a curiosity and excitement, rather than disgust, for foods they haven’t tried before.

5)    What are you currently reading?

Right now, I’ve been really, really loving the webtoon After School Lessons for Unripe Apples by Soonkki! And after finishing the anime and seeing the The First Slam Dunk, I’ve been buying every volume I can find of Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue – I can’t get enough!

The Fresh Voices series is in coordination with the RHCB DEI Book Club Committee.

A moving novel in verse in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor Award-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.

**FOUR STARRED REVIEWS**

What inspired you to write Something Like Home?

Since coming to the States, I’ve encountered a lot of Latinx kids in foster care. Some were my students. Some I fostered myself. But even though I often searched for books in which they might see themselves, the books I found tended to lean on unfair and sensationalized portrayals of birth families to up the plot.

I think the first middle grade I really connected with during my search was Patina by Jason Reynolds. It’s the first book I can remember reading in which a kid lived with another family member because their parent couldn’t take care of them. And I remember thinking YES so hard, because the situation was presented in such a non-judgmental way. While I’ve read more books like that since, there aren’t many. With Something Like Home, I’m hoping to add another story to the foster canon, and this time with Puerto Rican representation.

What was the most difficult part about writing the book? What part was the easiest? 

The hardest part about writing the book was ensuring readers got to see Laura’s parents for who they are—adults who love their daughter very much, who would never hurt her on purpose, who are doing their very best even when their best isn’t quite good enough. Because her parents barely make an appearance in the book, I had to find other ways of showing their relationship.

The easiest part, I think, was writing Sparrow! He’s almost a carbon copy of my sweet pitbull/beagle mix, Ghosty José, and I loved getting to play a little tribute to him in the book. I did a ton of school visits during my pub week, and kids really connected to the pictures of Ghost. Everyone wanted to tell me about their dogs!

What character or element of the story do you identify with the most and why? 

I probably identify the most with the character of Titi Silvia, because I do personally know how tough it is to parent someone without actually being their parent. How difficult it is to toe that line. I tried to make her a little flawed, despite her good intentions, because no matter how good of a temporary caregiver someone thinks they are, their mere presence will still always be traumatic for a child. Removal from home always is.

What do you want kids to take away from this story? 

In Something Like Home, Laura is constantly re-discovering who her community is, and I hope this leads kids to see how possible it is for different people to help us at different moments in our lives. That you don’t always have to choose one place or one home or one family to pledge your loyalty to. That multiples can co-exist.

I also like how much the idea of choice plays into the plot of the book. Laura (like all of us) is constantly affected by the choices of those around her, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Not every conflict in this book is solved by the end, but I want to show kids that there will always be new paths available, even when it seems they’ve reached a dead end.

 What are you currently reading? 

I’m currently sick and recovering with the cozy Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. I loved both her YAs and am excited to see her journeying into the adult romance space.

In the kid lit world, I recently finished an ARC for the middle-grade graphic novel Atana and the Firebird by Vivian Zhou, which was AMAZING, as well as the YA in verse All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyer, which has one of the prettiest covers I’ve seen all year.

The Fresh Voices series is in coordination with the RHCB DEI Book Club Committee.

★ “[A] sincerely wrought celebration of family and faith.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

What inspired you to write/illustrate Salat in Secret?

JAMILAH: The idea for SALAT IN SECRET came to me around two weeks after my father passed away, and that also happened to be about two weeks before my youngest child’s seventh birthday. During that space of time, I was grieving but I was also feeling so much gratitude for the many great memories of my father. As I planned out my son’s birthday, I thought about getting him a sajjada or salat rug because age seven is so important for Muslims — the age when children are encouraged to perform all five daily ritual prayers or salat. I thought about how much my father would love to see his grandchild get his own salat rug and this story was born. The father character in the book is modeled after my own father in the way he is an unapologetic Muslim. He even is an ice cream truck man, which is a job my father had.

HATEM: The story could be read and understood by anyone. The desire to create space for oneself in the world is universal—and it’s not always easy to do. Also, the writing was so good.

What was the most difficult part about writing/illustrating the book? What part was the easiest?

JAMILAH: I found the scene when police confront Muhammad’s father as he is publicly praying emotionally challenging to write. It was difficult because I know that often my faith is criminalized, and I also know of other Muslims that this has happened to. In fact, the idea for the scene came from my father telling me about another ice cream man crying after police harassed him for performing salat next to his truck although he wasn’t bothering anyone and was out of the way.

HATEM: What is easy? Ha! It is always a dance on the edge of a sloppy, muddy road! I guess I had some trouble coming up with a way to make the coat closet “a character” that was both a sanctuary and a safe space while still functioning as a coat closet. It was still fun, though!

I find it easiest to convey feelings visually, and I have found that illustration can allow introverted storytellers to become actors on paper and to show something without putting on a show.

What character or element of the story do you identify with the most and why?

JAMILAH: I definitely identify with Muhammad the most because I know what it’s like to grow up knowing you’re different and feeling both pride and shame in those differences. I found public prayer very embarrassing as a young person. Like me, many observant Muslims find needing to pray in public space’s anxiety-inducing because of the various stereotypes tied to Muslim practices. Yet, they still may personally cherish salat in spite of how others view it.

HATEM: I see a lot of myself in Muhammad. It is often up to the sensitive, observant, reflective kid within me to figure out how to deal with the flood of positive and negative emotions and ideas that hit me all at once.

What do you want kids today to take away from this story?

JAMILAH: I want kids to take away that it’s okay to be different and to ask for what you need to be comfortable in the spaces that you occupy. I want them to be open to accommodating others and their differences.

HATEM: I hope that kids will consider what they have wrapped up in their souls that makes it hard for them to be themselves or to observe what makes them feel at peace with themselves and the world, and what it takes to unwrap that with grace and courage.

What are you currently reading?

JAMILAH: I’m currently reading and loving VICTORY STAND! by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile.

HATEM: I usually have a few books going at the same time. I am currently rereading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and have just started reading Grounded by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali. The list is long and has a lot of different types of books, but I would like to enjoy these first.

The Fresh Voices series is in coordination with the RHCB DEI Book Club Committee.

Young clue hunters Abbi, Daniel, and Lydia sniff out the mystery behind a group of missing alpacas in this chapter book inspired by Ron Roy’s beloved A to Z Mysteries series!

What was your greatest inspiration for writing A to Z Animal Mysteries #1: The Absent Alpacas?

When I first started working on The Absent Alpacas, I had just finished writing a string of dark and/or emotionally taxing short stories. They were all capital-A About disability in one way or another, and I was feeling strangely…distanced from my own writing? I felt an immense external pressure (both real and imagined) to perform disability in my writing and I was, frankly, exhausted. So when I got the chance to work on this series, I let myself approach it as a sort of internal reset. This was a completely new-to-me age category and a new-to-me genre (I’d written suspense, but never a proper mystery before), so I focused on those elements first and foremost. I wanted to write something fun, something cute, something memorable, something warm. I wanted to trust that my voice and interests–including but not exclusively disability-related–would emerge naturally. Which is a long-winded way to say my greatest inspiration was chasing whatever felt the most enjoyable to me personally at the time! It was a very selfish way to write a book, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

What was the most difficult part about writing the book? What part was the easiest? 

I’m not a particularly visual writer. I often have to actively remind myself to describe what people or places look like. For whatever reason, I’m much more likely to reach for any other sense before sight. The fact that this book was going to be fully illustrated made it even more imperative that I not only add visual descriptors but that I also pay attention to blocking the action in a way I never quite had before. That was definitely the hardest part in terms of the actual writing.

Weirdly, the easiest part was the plot. I’m a writer who operates purely on ~vibes~ when I’m drafting. But this time, because it was a mystery, I needed to have an actual plan before diving in. I expected it would be excruciating, but I had the entire thing plotted out in under an hour–and the final product is surprisingly close to that initial outline! I have no idea why it came so easily, but I’m certainly not complaining.

What character or element of the story do you identify with the most and why? 

I’m sure most people would guess Abbi, but honestly? She and I aren’t very much alike; I’m sad to say. Trust me, I wish I was as curious and passionate, and clever as Abbi! Of the three main characters, I think I’m arguably the most like Daniel: cautious, a rule-follower, always eager to help, somewhat more reserved but still fiercely protective of those he cares for.

What do you want kids today to take away from this story? 

I honestly don’t have an answer for that! I hope they enjoy the time they spend with the story and the characters. But beyond that, I want them to take away whatever it is they need and want from it. For some readers, that might be seeing an alpaca in a mermaid costume (check!). For others, it might be seeing the difficulty and annoyance of dodging tree roots on the page (check!). For others still, the takeaway might be that nature conservancy can’t exist within a capitalist society without communal support (also check!). I mostly just want them to have fun. Anything they can take away beyond that is just the…tiara on the proverbial alpaca? 😂

 What are you currently reading? 

Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones. One of my former MFA professors recommended it after I told her I’ve been in a massive reading slump. It’s one of the first memoirs I’ve read since graduating a few years ago, and it was an excellent choice. I’m only halfway, but it’s already a beautiful meditation on disability, motherhood, aesthetic, art, desire, and so much more. Highly recommend!

The Fresh Voices series is in coordination with the RHCB DEI Book Club Committee.