Bec Stafford interviews Jo Knowles, author of the award winning YA novel, Living with Jackie Chan.

I’ve read that, in planning your novels, you’re immediately aware of your characters’ emotional story arcs and note which will be the strongest emotions in each scene. Fans and critics alike have said that your books, including See You at Harry’s, are incredibly moving. Why do you think you’re so attuned to your readership’s emotional responses and able to create such emotionally complex characters and situations? How emotionally involved do you become with your characters when you’re writing?

Oh, that’s a really hard question! I guess the stories I want to tell have always come from a very emotional place to begin with. Usually it’s a troubling feeling that first stirs the story up in my heart. I live with the idea for a long time. It’s like finding the piece to a huge jigsaw puzzle.  You have no idea what the rest of the picture looks like, but there’s something about the piece you have that calls to you to find the other pieces to discover the bigger picture and it becomes almost an obsession until you do. I become extremely attached to the people I’m writing about and feel a huge responsibility to help them find their way, so I guess in that sense I am very emotionally involved.

Your award-winning novel, Living with Jackie Chan, tells the story of Josh (who we first met in Jumping off Swings) a high-school senior who is coming to terms with the fact that he has fathered a child. Can you tell us about the process of writing this story and what challenges you faced dealing with this confronting subject?

After Jumping Off Swings was published, I began to hear from readers who would write to me and ask, “Is Josh going to be OK?” and I always struggled with how to answer because I really didn’t know. I think the question rooted itself in my heart and I began to think deeply about what might have happened to Josh. We leave him so lost and alone at the end of Swings; I suppose that wasn’t really fair of me. Slowly, I began to imagine a life for Josh beyond those pages. We leave him when he’s about to go off to live with his uncle. Who would his uncle be? I was trying to imagine that when one night I went to watch my husband and son test for a belt in Karate. I hadn’t met their instructor yet but when he came bounding in the room, full of life and encouragement (especially toward my son), I thought, HE’S THE ONE! This is the uncle Josh needs. As soon as I knew who Larry was, the story just flowed out of me. I really didn’t feel like there were challenges in confronting the subject. If anything, I was eager to explore it, as so often the boy’s point of view is lacking in literature about teen pregnancy.

Jo, I’ve read that you try to read a novel a week, and that you’d recommend this activity for aspiring writers. Do you keep a list of the books you’ve read? What have been some of your all-time favourites, and why? What are you reading right now, and what’s next on your to-read list?

I do try to keep this up though sometimes it’s very hard, especially when I’m teaching. I used to keep track of the books I read on GoodReads and LibraryThing, but I admit I’ve really fallen behind. I recently read a book that will be coming out in March called Lighting The World, by Merle Drown, which is a very raw and gritty exploration of a boy on the edge and also Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash, which is a graphic novel memoir. Both are just really honest about the ugly spaces, and people I suppose, that occupy our lives. I really appreciated the bravery in that, but also the kindness and understanding given to even the less likable people. Everyone has a story and a reason for why they are the way they are, and I always appreciate when authors acknowledge that and give us a glimpse of those lives, too.

Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Oh gosh, I can’t choose. They all burn in different ways! I think my big goal in writing is to shine light on dark places. The dark truths that are part of all of our lives. If we could only admit that they are there, confront them, we’d come a long way to preventing them in the first place. I think the more we do this, the less alone so many readers will feel.

Jo Knowles is the author of Jumping Off Swings and its sequel, Living with Jackie Chan, as well as See You at Harry’s. She lives in Vermont with her family.

In the Easter holidays, Clair and her friends go to Northumberland to escape parents, the icy cold of the north and mundane life. Claire’s best friend, Ella Grey, was meant to join them but her strict parents forbade it at the last minute. Still, when a strange and gorgeous lyre-wielding man shows up to play music for the group on the windy Bamburgh beach, Claire’s first thought is of Ella. She calls her; and Ella, hearing the magical music through the phone, falls in love.

A Song for Ella Grey is a modern retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. As such it works. The writing is lyrical and the story follows the themes of the original tale faithfully. Orpheus is a musician who can charm the earth itself, but cannot protect the woman he loves. He and Eurydice – or Ella – are fated to be torn apart before their time.

Tragedy soaks this book from the opening lines, ‘I’m the one who’s left behind. I’m the one to tell the tale. I knew them both, knew how they lived and how they died.’ The tone of the novel is melancholy and relentless. As in the epic tales, the fate of Orpheus and Ella is ordained from the outset. There is no escape; the only option is to see how the fate unfolds.

On most levels, A Song for Ella Grey follows epic tradition. Emotionally the characters are obscure rather than distinct. They are more akin to characters in myth and fairy-tales where the emotions are told rather than shown, and there is little subtlety or complexity to them. This is the part of the novel that didn’t work for me, though I think it is one of those ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ things.

What I look for in a modern retelling is very different to what this retelling is aiming for. I love fairy-tales and original myths, but I don’t expect to understand all – or any – of the character’s emotions or decisions. The story is about the magic and the imagination – there’s so much of it that I don’t need to ask why a man would send his daughter off to a beast or why a woman would turn men into animals.

In a modern retelling, I love the humanity that characters develop. Even if the basic story line is exactly the same, I expect the love to be deeper and more complex. I expect characters to explore the confines of their myth or fairy-tale with a modern perspective. A Song for Ella Grey stuck much more closely with the original myth. However, there is some wider exploration of Ella/Eurydice’s character. Her parents and best friend play a much larger part than they ever did in the myth, providing the scope to explore why she was so exceptional that someone could breach the underworld to try and find her. But even though everyone says how much they love her, the why is not explored.

Ultimately, David Almond wrote a different story to the one that I expected. As the tragic legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, A Song for Ella Grey more than succeeds. It stays true to the original myth even with a new setting and new characters. The voice is lyrical and the tone melancholy in keeping with the epic nature of this tale. If you have an interest in Greek mythology and know the Orpheus and Eurydice myth then this is a must read. Without a back-ground knowledge however, the story may be far too surreal to attempt.

A Song for Ella Grey – David Almond

Hodder Children’s Books (October 2, 2014)

ISBN: 9781444919547

Book

I borrowed this one from Bolinda online borrowing through the Brisbane City Council Libraries and read along with the paperback. Dennis Olsen narrated this book and did a fabulous job of transporting you to Liesel’s side. The intervals of accordion music added a nice touch.

We’re all so used to the atrocious tales of the mistreatment of Jews in Nazi Germany: concentration camps and pure evil, and usually told from the point of view of a victim. Our narrator is Death. Yep, you read that correctly, Death–busy guy in those years.

He tells us what he witnesses while observing the life of a German girl, displaced by circumstance. She is brought up by people who do their best to counteract injustices, even if they can only help a few people.

Liesel is just a girl, and yet she is so much more. She hungers for knowledge. She gets on with life and books help her travel on her journey with courage and chutzpah. There’s perhaps a little Liesel in all of us who treasure our books.

I was charmed, amused, engaged, enraged, and brought to tears by this beautifully crafted story written by Markus Zusak.

I’m getting goosebumps just watching the trailer. I couldn’t stand it if they haven’t done the original justice.

Audio book link

Paperback, 584 pages

Published November 1st 2013 by Picador Australia (first published January 1st 2005)

ISBN 1743515863 (ISBN13: 9781743515860)

Film

http://youtu.be/Z-f4u70RqQc

Now I knew this would be a tearjerker of a movie thanks to the book, but the big mystery would be if the director, Brian Percival, could do justice to Mark’s book.

In short, the answer is YES! The visual element adds to the story in both beautiful and horrific ways.

The casting is perfect, from the narration of Death by Roger Allam, to Sophie Nelisse as Liesel Meminger. It completely matched the vision in my mind. This may have been because I had seen the trailer before reading the book, but I was convinced nonetheless.

Admittedly, some of the more graphic parts, such as some of the more horrific treatment of prisoners by the Nazi soldiers, were left out of the film, but I don’t think it would have added to the emotional impact. If anything, it would have lessened it with shock value, rather than allowing the story to flow.

I will definitely be watching this one again, because under all the tragedy and emotional turmoil, there is a heartfelt and solid story of strength, survival. and beauty.

Verdict – If you’re short on time, watch the movie. If you’re in the mood to be moved, pick the book. Either way, you’re not going to lose. Just make sure you have the tissues on hand.

Out intrepid reviewer, cook, feature writer and friend shares what she got up to in 2014 (and included some footage of Laini Taylor, Isobelle Carmody, and Trent Jamieson at the BWF). As you can see, she’s quite a gal!

Second Star is a book filled with surfers, waves, wild kids, and LOTS of boys! While Second Star sounds like the perfect beach read, it isn’t the average one! Second Star is actually a retelling of Peter Pan! Before I started reading this story, I wasn’t sure how Alyssa Sheinmel would pull of this Peter Pan surfer guy retelling…

In the end, my curiosity got the best of me; I couldn’t resist and HAD to pick it up!

The main character in Second Star is a recent high school graduate, Wendy Darling, who is on her way to college in the fall. Things seem to being good for Wendy, but Wendy and her parents are still struggle with her two younger missing brothers. The twins haven’t been seen or heard from since. Her parents are moping around and convinced that they will never see their children again, Wendy is believes that they are somewhere out there catching the next wave to surf.

Wendy is determined to find them, and bring them home, no matter what her parents and best friend think or say. The perfect opportunity arises when she bumps into another surfer at her graduation bonfire.  His name is Pete and he lives with a few other runaways in an abandoned house on the beach.

Pete is like no one Wendy has ever met, he is a completely free soul, who wants to do nothing but surf and spend time with his friends. When Wendy finally decides to pack her things and go on a search, she begs her best friend to cover for her. When she finally agrees, Wendy isn’t really sure where to start, but the best place would be with Pete and the other surfer runaways in the hopes that one of them will know something!

With all odds going against her, and even a betrayal by two people that were the closest to her, Wendy isn’t willing to believe what everyone is telling her. She knows that John and Michael are somewhere out in the ocean, and therapists, hospitals, her parents, and her best friend aren’t going to keep her from thinking that.

When I started reading Second Star, I had no idea just how emotional this story was going to be. There was honestly so much going from the relationships between Wendy, Pete, Jas, Belle, the twins and some of the other runaways.

The “retelling” part is what suckered me into picking up this book; I wanted to see how the author would pull these two VERY different subjects together, to make it work. I was excited to see it all happen! But in the end I didn’t see much of it there. Yes, the characters were named after the Peter Pan characters, and yes Wendy went to a kind of “Neverland”. But besides that, there wasn’t too much else. I guess I was expecting there too be a lot more similarities, and was a little disappointed when there wasn’t.

There were a lot of good characters in this book, Wendy, Pete, Jas, Belle, Wendy’s best friend, and some of the guys. Wendy wasn’t willing to just give up on her brothers, she still had hope, which I liked and found courageous. Pete was a caring leader, who knew exactly what he had to do to keep his group safe. Belle was the perfect mean girl, and even opened up a bit towards the end. Jas was the faerie dust dealer, who seems to be this bad (ish) boy, but he also opens up and is so much more than that.

Overall I enjoyed Second Star. But with that said I don’t feel like it should have been categorized as a retelling. I feel like Second Star would have been off much better as a story within itself. The characters were amazing, the story was good, what brought it down for me, were the expectations of a retelling which just didn’t exist in this book.

I would recommend this book, but I would tell you not to focus on the “retelling” part. Just enjoy the characters and story!