We are delighted to welcome C G Moore to the blog to talk about his new novel, Trigger which has published with YLG Publisher of the Year 2023 in Ireland.  Trigger is C G Moore’s third novel for young adult readers and is a gritty verse novel based around sexual abuse and raising important considerations around consent.  You can learn more about C G Moore at his website.

'Gut Feelings' won the KPMG Children's Books Ireland, Children's Book of the Year Award, how did it feel receiving this recognition and can you tell us about how the selection process for this works?

I was shocked. It wasn’t that I didn’t think Gut Feelings was a strong book but rather, I thought with some more established names contending for the title, I was just there to enjoy the day with my mam. I had no expectations that I would win. I scribbled some names on the back of a tram ticket just in case.

For the selection process, Children’s Books Ireland seek out independent judges for the awards including two readers aged 15+ as Young Judges. Publishers submit books they believe to be outstanding reads and the list of submissions is judges against the awards’ criteria including engagement, and how well written and conceived the story is. The list is whittled down to ten books and there are five awards in total including the Book of the Year Award.

Your new verse novel is called 'Trigger' and is publishing with Little Island books, can you introduce us to its themes?

Trigger is about a boy who wakes up in the park with no memory of what happened to him. He slowly comes to terms with the fact that he may have been sexually assaulted. He can’t move on until he knows what happened to him. While sexual assault and trust are key themes, Trigger raises awareness around consent in and out of relationships as well and hope and recovery from trauma.

Jay is struggling to piece together events that have happened to him and who he can trust, although the horrific events that he has been through have been very specific, in some ways this is a rites of passage.  In what ways do you think Jay changes by the end of the book?

Jay is very trusting before the events of the book and a part of him finds validation in being in a relationship. Even when he comes to terms with what happens to him, he still holds tight to his naïve beliefs that nothing happened and his boyfriend could not have been involved. There’s a poem in the book – Honey and Glass – that captures the before and after of his life-changing experience perfectly.

Like 'Gut Feelings,' it has been quite a personal book and it cleverly weaves narrative around trauma and resilience.  Do you find exploring your past through fiction helps to make sense of elements of your past?  What do you hope readers get from this?

There is always a cathartic feeling when I write about some of the difficult experiences I’ve endured. Spending a lot of time writing about these moments does unlock a different perspective that helps me to make sense of the past.

I’ve read some alarming statistics recently that The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published in which they found that 72% of young people aged 18-25 do not realise they can say ‘no’ after initially say ‘yes’ to a sexual encounter when they meet. Just as troubling is that a further 58% believe that rape cannot be committed in a relationship or marriage. I think many adults find it difficult to talk to kids about issues that are widely regarded as taboo like sexual assault and rape but with instant access to digital media via smartphones, children are growing up in a technological world where they are being exposed to smart devices as young as two. It’s naïve to think that teenagers can’t access more explicit content and with this in mind, it’s important to have these more difficult conversations at home and in schools. I can see how teachers and librarians might worry about students reading content that exposes them to issues like sexual assault, but surely it’s better done in a book where they can question and discuss these themes in a safe environment rather than being kept in the dark and becoming a part of a set of alarming statistics. Besides, young people are regularly subjected to sexualisation in the media and violence in video games and TV shows. I hope my book offers a discussion around consent and gets young adults to think about it. I know one book won’t change these damning statistics but if the book reaches and helps just one young person, I’ll be happy.

'Trigger' explores some complex issues and emotions what opportunities and challenges are there in exploring these through the verse form?

Verse novels limit your word count dramatically and can take you longer to find your voice. With prose, you have more time to develop the story and narrative voice but with verse, you have to be more precise while still allowing smaller moments for the reader to breathe. If you’re talking about complex issues like identity, disability or sexual assault, you still need to give the reader moments of relief. I also find it easier to plot a prose novel by chapter whereas my verse style doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense so I might have an outline of what I am going to do, but not every part of the story is mapped out. It’s exciting and it challenges me to find new ways to tell my stories.

What is it that appeals to you about the verse form and in what ways does the process differ from standard prose?

Verse allows me to say what I need to say in a way where every word on the page matters. If I’m talking about something that’s quite personal to me, I want to make sure that every poem is doing what it needs to do and contributing to the overarching narrative. With prose, you can take your time in building up a scene and fleshing out characters and story. In verse, your words need to be concise and for me, I need to be able to balance story and characterisation without adding any superfluous details.

You've just become part a Champion of Reading with Children’s Books Ireland, what will this involve and do you have any particular plans for how you will use this opportunity?

I am so proud to be a Champion of Reading for two schools in Ireland. As part of the scheme, the schools selected each received 250 books as well as a Champion of Reading who is tasked with engaging students and encouraging a ‘reading for pleasure’ culture within the school. I have my own plans on how I would approach this, but I am guided by the schools (what age groups they would like me to work with, reading abilities, interests etc.) to understand what type of activities they would like me to explore in workshops. One of the schools has asked for a workshop around creating suspense and character-building. I will be drawing inspiration from thrillers and murder mysteries to create an immersive series of activities that will invite students to solve a murder mystery in their own stories.

You work with The Reading Agency on their 'Reading Partners' programme.  What does your work entail and has it given you an ideas for your own writing and development?

As a Campaigns Officer with The Reading Agency, I get to support libraries and schools across the UK with offers including free author visits, read and review opportunities and library display packs and resources to help make libraries a more inviting and accessible space for all readers. I’ve grown and developed in this role professionally and being able to access a diverse range of reading opportunities has allowed me to read lots of different stories that have challenged my own writing.

Are you reading anything that you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

I’ve just finished reading Wise Creatures by Deirdre Sullivan – an exceptionally talented Irish author. It’s about betrayal, secrets, family and ghosts. I was a bit sceptical at first as I loathe reading about ghosts, but Deirdre managed to weave a story in lyrical prose and play with narrative voice to create a compelling read.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently working on an inside-out coming-out story (that’s a mouthful to say!) told in prose. I’m afraid I can’t say much more than that.

Thanks to Chris Moore for the interview and to Little Island Books for the opportunity.

Kenneth Oppel is the author of numerous award-winning children’s book.  His first book, Colin’s Fantastic Video Adventure was published in 1985.  He has won the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award for Airborn which was also a Printz Honour Award.  Kenneth’s latest novel is Ghostlight which is published in the UK by Guppy Books. 

Past Chair of the Youth Libraries Group, Alison Brumwell interviewed Kenneth and discussed his fiction and latest novel Ghostlight.  The fascinating session was recorded and is available to watch below.

Thank you to Guppy Books and to Liz Scott for the opportunity.

We are delighted to welcome Nansubuga Isdahl and Nicole Miles, author and illustrator of First Names: Nelson Mandela published by David Fickling Books to the blog to talk about the book, Nelson Mandela and their work and research!

1) Please can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little about your background and interests in children’s books?

Nansubuga Isdahl, author: Thanks! I’m Nansu. In short, I was born in the US and am of Ugandan heritage. My family and I currently live in Tanzania, but I’m typing this from Florida (US), where we’ve been taking cover for the past year. I write for international NGOs and UN agencies during the day, and I work on children’s books by night. I’ve always loved books, but became particularly interested in children’s books when I had my daughter and realized that the range of voices telling stories was severely limited and the industry was skewed towards certain perspectives.

Nicole Miles, illustrator: My name is Nicole and I’m from The Bahamas. I came to the UK for university and lived here since then. I find it difficult to explain my interest in children’s books because it’s so hard to imagine why anyone wouldn’t love children’s books! Haha I actually find the category to just be really engaging and accessible and there is a sincerity in kids’ books that can often get replaced by a cooler cynicism in books for older readers and, although that’s sometimes what I’m in the mood for, that sincerity in books for younger readers is just really lovely to me.

(2) How did the commission come about?

NI: My agent brought it to me after DFB had seen a travel series manuscript of mine. I had a call with the editor and they introduced the series. Serendipitously, I had been living in South Africa for years and the opportunity to write about Nelson Mandela fit perfectly with my interests.

NM:This story is maybe not so exciting, but David Fickling Books contacted me and asked if I would be interested in working with them on the series and I was available and interested.

(3) What kind of research was involved in planning the book?

NI: On my end, I read widely. This included Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, The Long Walk to Freedom, and other texts. I also did extensive on-line research, watched many movies, listened to the freedom songs from that time period, etc. I had already visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, so felt I had a grasp of that. Also, simply by living in Johannesburg, I was afforded a considerable amount of perspective about Nelson Mandela because his legacy is reflected throughout the city.

NM: On my part, there was a lot of visual research and, because photos of Black South Africans and their living and working spaces and so on at that time are likely very rare, there was a fair bit of sleuthing involved too. For anyone mentioned in the book I obviously would have to look up as many photos of them as I could find to draw them, but if Nelson is ever driving a car, for example, and the make and model are not named, I was looking up which cars of the time were popular and accessible, whether he would have had the newest model or a car that had been in circulation for a few years, which side of the road they drive on in South Africa and which side is the steering wheel on, and so on. I looked up police uniforms versus other official authorities’ uniforms and the political parties’ flags but made sure I got the emblems from the right era, and what kinds of casual clothing Nelson would have worn at university when he wasn’t in traditional dress or a suit. Basically a lot of time was spent searching online historical photo archives!

(4) What did you learn about Nelson Mandela that you didn’t previously know?

NI: I didn’t know that he had such a tremendous sense of humour. He was very charming, it seems, and I think his sense of humour was part of that charm.

NM:Maybe I should be embarrassed to admit it but, prior to reading Nansu’s manuscript, for me it was as though Nelson Mandela’s life started in middle age when he was sent to Robben Island in 1964, then there was another big gap in my knowledge spanning 27 years, after which he simply existed as a hero because of some vague ideas about fighting apartheid here and there. I respected him before coming to this book and understood that he was an important person, but it is truly an understatement to say I learned a lot working on this project.

5. How important do you feel biographies are for children and young people, and what can we learn from them?
   
   NI: I think biographies, especially those about people who are lesser known or who live in different parts of the world, are particularly important. Historical texts, including biographies, shape how we view the past and the present. I think biographies can help expand young people’s worldview and hopefully allow them to realize that not everything we’re taught reflects the totality of an experience or event. Rather, what we're taught often reflects an interpretation or one side of a story. I think it’s very important for children to learn that distinction early and to gain those critical analysis skills. Biographies are a great way to do this. Biographies can also put a personal face to historical events, which I think makes them far more engaging for children. Learning about apartheid in history class is one thing. Learning about it from Nelson’s life, and the impact it had on him and the people around him, adds a richness that is invaluable. It also helps children to develop empathy – another critically important life skill.
    

   NM:I am not someone who is disinterested in history or global civil rights movements and yet here was a huge oversight on my part about a man who made big waves globally and was the face of a massive movement. I imagine many people, especially anyone (like me) who was too young to have been aware of the events surrounding Mandela as “current affairs” as it was all unfolding, are similarly ignorant (or even less aware) than I was about him (and others in the movement who are also mentioned in the book). That ignorance is an important thing to correct because, as the saying goes “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” and a past with so much avoidable cruelty and discrimination and pain for so many people would be a horrible thing to senselessly repeat. Biographies for young people are not simply a warning though. Historical biographies can serve as a source of inspiration to children to see that, even with so much against you, it is possible to overcome and that is not just pretty words; it happens. People do great things and overcome great difficulty. I think that’s important.

    

   
   (6) It feels as though schooling was a very important point in Nelson Mandela’s life, how formative do you think being educated in a British-style school was for him and what changes did he have to make because of this?
   
   NI: I think Nelson’s formal education helped to widen his perspective about the world. It also gave him access to jobs (i.e., being a lawyer) that would have been unlikely otherwise. I think given that he was a country boy, as he put it, he certainly had to acclimate to a more formal environment during his schooling. He also learned through his formal education that what was being taught in school differed greatly from what he was learning at home (e.g., about South African history). That tension was formative in helping develop his views about equality and justice.  So, Nelson essentially gained the skill of living in two worlds--the Western one through his schooling and the South African one. His ability to “cross over” worlds, if you will, was critically important in building bridges when he came President.

    

   NM: This is a fantastic and complex question. My understanding is that, while it benefitted him and made certain opportunities available to him that may not have been otherwise, the colonial school system also took from him his culture, his history and even his name — one could fairly say much of his sense of identity… There’s a part in the book where this confusion is expressed as he compares what he is learning in formal lessons with what he is learning from elders in his village. It’s interesting because, as someone who grew up and was educated in an ex-British colony (The Bahamas), I found this particularly interesting. It speaks a lot to colonisation and whether the benefits outweigh the many damages and how those subjected to the system can use it to their advantage (and, I would hope, to help those who didn’t benefit from it as Nelson did). When talking about the ills of colonisation, there is often a knee-jerk reaction from descendants of colonisers (and the pro-establishment colonised) that the meagre benefits (roads, education, etc.) were worth it in exchange for subjugation and being second-class citizens. I personally disagree, but I don’t think it’s a topic around which anyone need feel defensive. It will always be of huge benefit to be able to conform to the established norms (whether those established norms set by colonial powers, class expectations, gender expectations, etc), but I think it’s vital that people keep hold of who they are as well because no one story is more valid than another. I guess that’s what “code-switching” is essentially.
   
   (7)  How easy was it showing the growth and maturation of Nelson through the book?
   
   NI: I was working from an outline that I had developed before I started writing and so once I charted the decisive moments at each stage of his life, this became easier.
   
   NM: I think around middle age was the trickiest and I started to sneak a little greying in his hair to show that but I didn’t want him to read as being suddenly quite a lot older, especially since elderly-Nelson was narrating the book and that might get confusing towards the end. It was very helpful having my Art Director Katie pointing to when he needed to be older or younger in certain illustrations.
   
   (8)  Did you use any photos or source materials as background for characters and indeed for the village of Qunu and the Xhosa people?
   
   NI: I’m quite sure that Nicole did as I remember sending through some images that I thought might help.
   
   NM: Definitely! As many photos as I could find haha! In some instances, it was just hard to find examples that seemed to match up to time, place and description, but I was always looking up images before I started sketching anything.
   
   (9) The book could easily feel very serious but the illustrations play a wonderful role in infusing warmth and humour, how did the collaboration work?
   
   NI: Working with Nicole (via the series editor) was lovely. I’m not sure how many rounds of the illustrations she did before they got to me, but the editor would send through roughs and final versions at various stages and I could provide my feedback or comments, based on what I understood of the context and Nelson’s life. I felt very fortunate to have been able to contribute in some small way to Nicole’s really brilliant interpretation of the book.
   
   NM: When I first started the project I was initially a little nervous that it needed to be serious, almost a little distant in tone. So, even though I probably enjoy being playful and humorous in my work more often, when I submitted my first samples they were all pretty stiff and serious. The feedback was that the team wasn’t keen on that direction and actually wanted the lighter tone that I preferred. After a conversation with Katie to talk things over and her pointing to some things in my portfolio that she felt had a closer tone to the one they were going for, I was much clearer on (and happier with) the direction and sent over a sample that employed more of the humour you see in the book now. I was very relieved that we were actually on the same page. I feel it’s much more engaging than a more classically “educational” approach would be, without being disrespectful where a more sombre tone is required.

   
   
   (10)  What is next for you both?
   
   NI: I’m currently working on (writing, drafting, brainstorming) more middle grade novels than anyone should be at one time!
   
   NM: I’ve got a few books coming out this year including Walking for Waterby Susan Hughes which is based on the true story of a little boy in Malawi who realises the world is quite different for him and his twin sister and that is coming out 1 June. Then in autumn of this year the first book in Joel Ross’ funny Alley & Rex middle grade series is coming out. I’m illustrating Viviane Elbee’s I Want My Book Back about a dinosaur-obsessed kid who wants his library book about dinosaurs back, which is out in spring 2022. Then autumn of that year sees Groundhog Gets It Wrong hitting shelves.

   
   It’s a real joy for me to be able to work on so many great book projects and I’ve got a few exciting non-publishing projects popping up this year too. My Instagram is probably the best place to keep up with what I’m up to.

A big thank you to Nansubuga and Nicole for the interview and to David Fickling Books for the opportunity.

We are pleased to welcome Joe Wilson to the blog as part of his blog tour for his debut novel, The Island that Didn't Exist a compelling  adventure story with a conservation theme.  Here Joe discusses finding a nest, the space and time, in which to write.  

I’ve just been watching Roald Dahl in his little hut. Have you seen it? You might even have visited it. It was 1982 when I joined him there, this morning, on YouTube. In the BBC film Roald Dahl explains his routine and demonstrates his writing environment. It is eccentric, idiosyncratic and utterly charming, of course it is. In short, it runs like this:

Dahl walks to his hut, which is located at the end of a short garden path. He sits in a specially configured armchair and pulls the rug up over his knees (in winter he, tells us, he sits inside a full sleeping bag). Having lowered a special writing tray to rest on the arms of the chair he then sharpens six pencils with an electronic device. There are always six, he stresses, and they must all be sharp before he proceeds. He then pours something from a flask and he’s ready to write. He’s created, as he puts it, his nest.

I think to myself, ‘how wonderful’ immediately followed by, ‘how utterly unattainable’. I would love an author’s nest. In reality I often struggle to find a perch.

I’m in awe of anyone who decides to dispense with their everyday life completely and immerse themselves solely in writing their first novel. I, in contrast, tried to fit mine in around everything else. In that way, I suspect I’m like a lot of other new authors.

The time and space I found to write The Island That Didn’t Exist was normally the train; commuter with computer. That was me. It may be you, too. So, here this the benefit of my experience; the trials and travails of writing on the rails.

• Find a seat. Sitting down may seem like the fundamental right of the train traveller but on my line, like many others, it was more of a luxury. The only guarantee of getting a seat was to take a slow service. This involved arriving at the station earlier than necessary to allow for the extra stops the train would take on its route to London. Sometimes there was no choice, it had to be the quickest and so (market forces demanded) the most crowded. There is something rather humiliating about crouching cross legged on the floor with your nose sniffing the bin having bought an expensive ticket for the privilege. In these moments, I must confess, the creative headspace to write was difficult to locate. There is, of course, no excuse. But I am suggesting this comes close.
• Don’t miss your stop. The dream scenario of train writing is when the pattern of your mind blends with the rhythm of rails. You become one with the movement of the train. There is a kind of creative harmony the Buddhists probably have a name for. You are only vaguely aware, in fact, that the train has actually come to a halt. Panic hits you when you recognise the platform as belonging to your station. From that point there are approximately 15 seconds to save your work, stuff the laptop in the bag, grab whatever additional possessions you’ve strewn near you, climb apologetically over the adjacent passenger and dash through the doors. In this heightened state I have lost two scarves and one coat but, thankfully, I never lost what I’d just been writing.
• Rail Replacement Service. The three dreaded words. A late shift in the office always carried with it the potential that engineering works would render the lines out of service. A train would transport you beyond the outer fringes of the capital but no further. What came next was a wait in a windswept car park, standing silently with a few other helpless souls. Eventually we would all mournfully parade on to a coach as the clocks (on our phones) ticked past midnight. I’ve never liked reading on coaches and writing is even harder. But I now wonder if the cramped darkness and overpowering sense of nausea contributed to the script. The scene where Rixon Webster is trapped in a cave, partially written on a rail replacement service, is the only part of the book which survived unscathed through the whole redrafting process.

The purpose of this blog is not to complain, far from it. The whole point is that writing escapist adventure fiction was my own way of escaping the commuting routine. If I had to be there in body I didn’t have to be there in mind. That, I think, leads to the broader purpose of a book.

When you’ve got a good one you carry it with you like a treasure. It is somewhere to travel to, to be thrilled by and to feel safe inside. In fact, long after the writers have ceased their labour the book itself becomes a kind of portable nest.