![]() He was reading Jacqueline Woodson and Mo Willems, trying to understand both stages of life, to remember what it was like being a teen, being a child. It was ultimately family, in the form of his two daughters - at the time 15 and a newborn - who brought him to children’s literature. (“But it was a C,” he says with a laugh.) His first 13 published books were a combination of poetry and creative nonfiction for adults. He claims he got a C in the class, though he says Giovanni would debate whether she gave him that grade. Alexander wasn’t interested at the time in writing for young audiences, however. Turns out, his first encounter with writing for children and young adults also came courtesy of Giovanni, via a course. “The first time I realized I could be a writer and what that meant was when I saw Nikki doing it, living that life.” He told her this at a dinner the night before our phone conversation, when they randomly ran into each other at a hotel in Little Rock, Ark., both there doing author events. Then, as a student at Virginia Tech, he studied with poet Nikki Giovanni for three years. In his household, books were both “reward and punishment,” and similar to the main character of “Booked,” he was assigned readings from the encyclopedia by his dad. He describes his childhood as immersed in the civil rights and black arts movements, surrounded by poets, musicians and artists. ![]() His family then moved to Virginia (where he still lives with his wife and daughters). Looking at it, I realized there’s a lot of my life in here.”Īlexander spent the first 10 years of his life in Brooklyn. “It’s the closest I’ve ever come to writing a memoir. “It’s a book about family, friendship and words,” he says. “Booked” was partly inspired by a request from student players in Washington, D.C., Alexander had met on a school visit, but he is also a longtime soccer fan with a close friend who played professionally. I’d be in no mind-set to write a new novel any time soon, and so I need to go ahead and write the next book.” So, around 11 the night before his Newbery win was announced, Alexander finished “Booked” and pressed “Send” on an email to his editor. 2 came, I was probably going to be disappointed. “I had decided there was so much hype that when Feb. Of course, he didn’t expect to win the Newbery, but there had been buzz that he was in the running, and it was impossible to ignore. ![]() “I’m going to keep it real with you,” he says. Writer to writer, I ask him whether he’d finished “Booked” before the Newbery or pulled off the miracle of managing to write it afterward during all that travel and under the pressure of being a newly minted award winner. “Booked” uses verse to tell the story of a young soccer player whose life suffers a major upheaval when he’s injured and his parents separate. Times Festival of Books as part of his tour for his latest novel, “Booked” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers: 320 pp., $16.99), out this week.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |