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Book Friends by Katherine Applegate
When I visit schools, I always tell kids that being an author is the world’s coolest job. You wear sweatpants to work, you don’t have a boss, and you spend your days making things up.
Basically, you’re paid to be a slob, a malcontent, and a liar.
There’s only one downside (and I tell kids this this part, too): writing can be a little lonely.
Writers don’t have office water coolers, where they can dissect the latest episode of The Good Wife. They don’t have pointless meetings, where they can play hangman with a buddy on page 3 of the assistant-to-the-assistant-manager’s Action Plan. They don’t have someone in a nearby cubicle who’ll kvetch when kvetching is required, and cheerlead when pom-poms and high kicks are the order of the day.
That’s where my book friends come in.
Each time I start a novel, I recruit my own squad of cheerleaders: other books. When I am writing a book (on some days, fighting a book), I keep that small, select pile of books nearby. They are my allies. They are there to remind me what’s possible. To inspire me. To hearten me. They buoy me when I’m drowning in murky sub-plots. They chide me when I whine that the coffee must be decaf. They remind me that there’s a reason keyboards come with a “Delete” key.
As writing rituals go, I can assure you that this is not particularly eccentric. You’ve read those articles about how writers write: the ridiculous talismans, the lunatic obsessions. Writers who wrote standing up (Hemingway), facing a wooden dresser (Flannery O’Connor), nursing a glass or three of whiskey (Faulkner), shivering in the nude (Victor Hugo.)
Well, I tried to incorporate a couple of those techniques into my writing routine, and all I had to show for it was a lousy chapter, a well-organized sock drawer, and a neighbor with new curtains.
My crazy ritual is the right crazy ritual.
For THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, my middle grade novel inspired by the true story of a gorilla who lived, caged and alone, for 27 years in a shopping mall, several treasured friends kept me company. SOLD, by Patricia McCormick (because her style is breathtaking.) MISSING MAY (because Cynthia Rylant managed to blend humor and poignancy so perfectly.) A picture book
I’ve always loved, one not well known, called OREGON’S JOURNEY, by a Belgian author named Rascal, about a clown named Duke and a circus bear named Oregon (because it reminded me why I thought Ivan’s story was important to tell.) And CHARLOTTE’S WEB, by E.B. White (because I love it more than any other book in the whole wide world.)
For my current novel, which involves dogs, cats and children, in equal measure, my friends include NO ONE IS GOING TO NASHVILLE by Mavis Jukes (because she created a family you can’t help but love); THE UNDERNEATH by Kathi Appelt (because wow, can that gal write!), and a book of humor and photographs entitled WHY DOGS ARE BETTER THAN
CATS, by Bradley Trevor Greive (I will play the Swiss on this one, as I share a household with both species.)
Like all friendships, there are rocky moments. Sometimes, my book friends just intimidate me. It’s not their fault: it’s mine. (Writers are a quirky and insecure lot.) When that happens, I just turn them spine-in. They’re still there for me; they’re just waiting until I need them. To help me dream bigger and wilder, to take risks and to have fun.
That’s what good friends do, after all.
And if a book can do that for a grown-up, just think what it can do for a kid.
Katherine Applegate has written many books for children and young adults, including The Buffalo Storm (a picture book), Roscoe Riley Rules (a chapter book series), and Animorphs (which she wrote with her husband, Michael Grant.) Her novel Home of the Brave was awarded the 2008 Golden Kite Award for Best Fiction, the Bank Street 2008 Josette Frank Award for children’s fiction, and was a Judy Lopez Memorial Award honor book.
She lives in California with her husband, two children, and assorted pets.
You can find her online at http://theoneandonlyivan.com and on Twitter as @kaaauthor.
So interesting to see how other books can influence an author. This would be great info to share with students as they think of their own writing.
I just finish The One and Only Ivan last night and LOVED it!
I do this, too!
Hound Dog True kept company with Missing May as well. The Center of Everything visited with The Van Gogh Cafe a lot. Hmmm . . . maybe that is what my current project is missing. I need to introduce it to a Cynthia Rylant book.
I heart you for Ivan, which dominated my entire summer reading list (I kept rereading it), and for sharing this “ritual.” To inspire my 3rd grade students in their writing, I take a page out of Jeff Anderson’s book and conduct studies called “Great Writing Like…” Right now we are crafting passages like Cynthia Rylant’s in Gooseberry Park. Later this year, after I’ve shared Ivan with them, we’ll be studying “Great Writing Like Katherine Applegate.” 🙂
This makes me wonder:
Who should my book friends be?
Do I choose them or do they choose me?
Is there a cast of book friends that
shifts and changes throughout life–
while there are also a central few that
form the
deepest-
down-
core?
Fascinating idea, Mrs. A. I have some thinking to do.
Now I have a name for why I always have John Green books next to me while I work on my YA. Thank you for articulating something that I didn’t consciously realize I was doing! Now I can choose my book friends more thoughtfully, set them on the pillow next to me while I pluck away at my keyboard, and refer to them during difficult moments.
And doing this with kids is a great idea, too!
I was enjoying this post, and then I got to your last line. That took me from like to love. That’s how I know you’re not just a fan of the Nerdy Book Club; you’re also a member. Thank you for this post 🙂
Loved reading this post and knowing the titles that were the mentor texts for my favorite book of the year The One and Only Ivan. We are always striving to re-create “living the life of a writer” in our writing workshops ….this post gives me some things to think about. Are we respecting the idea that every writer has their own unique process? How are kids using mentor texts to support their own writing? Do they know their “go-to” books when writing gets tough?
Loved reading this, and can’t wait to share it with my 3rd graders. Last week, right before Fall Break, we talked about creating our own special writing places at home. We don’t necessarily have to have a big fancy desk; it can just be on our bed, or in the corner between the couch and the wall, but it is important to have special things around us, even if it’s just in a little basket. Cannot wait to show them that “real” writers do this, too!
Was just turned on to The One and Only Ivan this summer by Chris Lehman at TCWRP summer writing institute. Absolutely loved it!
Thanks for a great book, and a great post!
Loved Ivan, and love that you shared this with us. I think having mentors, or friends as you call it, is the best thing to have when writing. I look and look at others’ words, seeing how they put them together for the ‘feel’ of the work. I’m sure I’ve been influenced all through the years by my reading. It is just in me! So now, your book, The One and Only Ivan, will certainly be someone’s friend in the future!
when i read this book i was amazed at the format and read all night. then i realized that it was 1:37 and just burst out laughing i had been reading since 7:30 yesterday. i eventully finished the book and read twenty more times than ate it
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Congrats on your well-deserved win, Katherine! You have named what has been true for me in my writing… over the last two years my book friends were Donalyn Miller and Kelly Gallagher and Tom Newkirk. We need brave voices beside us as we try to write what we didn’t know we could say, but need to find words for. We choose the books that are a light for the path we’re trying to find. We must help our students find those books.
My students begged me to keep reading the One and Only Ivan everyday! Engagement was 100+. Thanks for persevering and writing such a wonderful story! We just started Home of the Brave!