Interview with Alexandria LaFaye, Author of Water Steps

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Alexandria & Adia LaFaye photo

Alexandria and Adia LaFaye

Alexandria LaFaye is the author of Water Steps (read review), a story about a girl learning to overcome her fears and believe that life can be magic. LaFaye has also penned several other novels for young readers, including The Year of the Sawdust Man and Worth. Recently, LaFaye was able to talk through email about her newest book and more. Here’s the interview:

In Water Steps, Kyna has to overcome her fears one step at a time. Have you ever conquered a phobia that way?

AL: When I was five, I nearly drowned at a beach near my grandmother’s house.  My mom rescued me just in time, so there is a hint of autobiography in the book.  I was afraid to go underwater for quite some time. I took a similar approach to overcoming it—getting in the water and willing myself to go underwater and stay under a little longer every time. Facing my fears and praying to have God at my side has always been my approach to dealing with things I’m afraid of.

Irish folklore and mythical beings such as leprechauns, faeries and silkies are woven into the tales Kyna’s parents tell her. Are those stories you grew up with as well, or did you learn about those things after you grew up?

AL: My mom read stories out of books—everything from the Bible to Justin Morgan Had a Horse. My dad made up his own whimsical tales about when he was in the Civil War and so on.  He drew a lot of inspiration from his favorites on TV, such as Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton, and Tommy Smothers. I teach children’s literature and often include mythology, so that’s where I came across many of these stories.

Kyna is adopted, and I see you’ve recently adopted a baby girl as well. Did you write about adoptive parents before you were one? How has your experience with adoption colored your view of adopting a child from both the parent’s and the child’s perspective?

AL: Actually, both Water Steps and Worth, which is also about adoption, were written well before I adopted my daughter, Adia. Adoption has always been part of my parenthood plan. I’ve always wanted a family that celebrates multiculturalism and shows that love is about choice and unconditional acceptance. I don’t believe that my view of adoption has changed much, except that now I am more eager than ever to adopt a second child in a few years. I’m also even more grateful to God for bringing little Miss Adia into my life.

Water Steps is described a a fantasy novel, but I would also say it is also contemporary fiction. Do you often blend genres in the things you write?

AL: I love genre blends and I refer to this novel as a reality based fantasy. My next novel, The Keening, due out with Milkweed Editions in the spring of 2010, is a supernatural-historical tale, so it’s also a blended genre novel. I look forward to doing more of those in the future. It’s a fun way to give a novel even more depth and unique twists and turns.

Out of all the places you have lived, do you have a favorite you’d like to go back to? What do you like best about Arkansas, where you live now?

AL: I get to return to Virginia every summer to teach in the Hollins University program in Children’s Literature. I go back to Wisconsin to visit family every time I return to Minnesota to teach in the low residency MFA in writing for children and young adults at Hamline University. The one place I’d love to return to is Pullman, Washington. They have a fabulous university and a quaint downtown lined with pear trees. I love the passion for books among the folks I know in Arkansas. I have also made one of the most life changing and supportive friendships of my life in Arkansas and I’m grateful to Yvonne Furniss for her friendship—she’s a book lover too!

On your website you say you’re an avid hat-wearer. Do you have a story to tell about discovering you loved to wear hats?

AL: You know, I’ve always loved them—I’m even wearing hats in my baby pictures. I guess, you could say I just never stopped wearing them when I grew up as many people do. Hats are a great way to top off a good outfit. I just never thought they’d attract so much attention. People aren’t used to women who wear hats outside of church. Too bad I couldn’t start a trend in hat wearing!

Is there anything you’d like to say to moms and daughters in book clubs?

AL: Never stop reading together and talking about what you read with each other, it’s a fabulous way to keep in touch, share your thoughts. And I recommend trading off on choices—let mom pick one, then daughter. And don’t be afraid to draw dad and brother in on the action. I’d also want to invite anyone who reads Water Steps or any of my other books to feel free to visit my website and ask me a question. And I love to visit book clubs, schools, and libraries to talk about reading, writing, and following your dreams.

Book Review: Dear Pen Pal by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal

Emma, Jess, Megan and Cassidy are back for another year of reading in their mother-daughter book club in Heather Vogel Frederick’s new book, Dear Pen Pal. Cracking this third book in the mother-daughter book club series is like reconnecting with old friends. The girls are in eighth grade this year, and they’ve learned a lot about friendship and family relationships.

In their ever-evolving lives, as it is with most of us, just when they figure out how to handle one challenge, another pops up. This time the challenges include dealing with a mean-spirited boarding school roommate, changing family dynamics when new family members move in and others move out, and navigating relationships with boys.

The girls are reading Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster, and Frederick once again seamlessly weaves in storylines that somewhat match those of Webster’s classic. The girls and moms learn fun facts about Jean Webster as they gather for book club discussions. The book club members also connect with a pen pal club in Gopher Hole, Wyoming, and it’s fun to read little snippets about the lives of these new girls and their moms through their letters.

I can’t wait to see what the whole gang will be up to in the fourth book of the series when the girls start high school. I highly recommend this whole series for members of mother-daughter book clubs with girls who are 9 to 13.

P.S.—Reading Dear Pen Pal got me to thinking that real life mother-daughter book clubs may enjoy connecting with pen pals too. It seems like a fun way to learn about girls and moms in a different part of the country. So I’ve started a pen pal registry at Mother Daughter Book Club.com, where club members can sign up if they wish to meet members of another club.

See the website page or my previous blog posting for all the details. You can also read what Heather Vogel Frederick has to say on the topic at her blog.

Celebrate Teen Read Week with a Good Teen Book

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Today marks the start of Teen Read Week, which is sponsored by the American Library Association. If you’re looking for inspiration for good titles for teens, you can check out the top ten books from past years on the ALA’s site.

The Teen Read Week theme this year is “Read Beyond Reality,” so I thought I would offer a few books that I can recommend along those lines.

absolutely-true

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I’m even more a fan of this writer after I heard him speak at Wordstock in Portland. In Absolutely True Diary Alexie brings readers into the reality of the Spokane Indian Reservation. My review.

The Fetch

The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb. Enter the reality of the being sent to Earth to fetch souls as they are leaving their bodies in death. Then go along with hi as he takes a journey into the world of the Russia during the days of the revolution in the early 1900s. My review.

getting-the-girl

Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak takes you into the mind of Cameron Wolfe, who longs to show the girl his brother dumped that he loves her. My review.

Goth Girl Rising

Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga takes us into Kyra’s world of goth girls and graphic novels. My review.

howls-castle

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a total fantasy world, where castle doors open into new kingdoms. My review.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Find out what it’s like to live in a crumbling castle in the English countryside. My review.

north-of-beautiful

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. What would it be like to live with a birthmark covering much of your face? My review.

The Real Real

The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Find out about the reality of reality TV shows. My review.

Songs for a Teenage Nomad

Songs for a Teenage Nomad

Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson. Callie finds solace through music as she moves from town to town with her mother. My review.

Torched

Torched by April Henry. What would it be like to be part of an eco-terrorist group? My review.

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Book Review: Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon

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Horrid Henry

I don’t usually review books for the not-quite-ready-for-bookclub age group, but I was presented with the opportunity to read three of the new Horrid Henry books and give them away to a reader. I’ve been hearing about how popular Henry is with young readers, and now that I’ve read a couple of titles myself I can see why. Henry is always getting into trouble, and he always learns something from his antics. It’s not always something positive, but he always learns something.

I read Horrid Henry’s Underpants, Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter, and Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s Curse. I know my daughter, Catherine, would have loved these when she was younger. I read the whole Captain Underpants series to her over and over again, and she liked the Ramona books too. Of course, Ramona was often a pest by accident, when Horrid Henry seems to know exactly what he’s doing, but it’s still lots of fun.

If you would like to win a copy of the three books I read (winner chosen on 10/19/2009), please leave a comment about your favorite early readers. You have the whole weekend to comment. I’ll choose a winner (entrants from the U.S. and Canada only please) at 5 p.m. Pacific time and mail out your books soon there after. Here’s my official review.

Horrid Henry is always trying to get out of things: going to school, eating vegetables, writing thank you notes for gifts, a baby’s baptism… He also spends a lot of energy coming up with schemes that he thinks will help him get his way. And often he’s pitted against his younger brother, Perfect Peter, who is everything a parent could love in a child that Henry is not.

The series of books that has Horrid Henry trying out one scheme after another is really funny for beginning readers. Three new additions have been added to the series this fall: Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s Curse, Horrid Henry’s Underpants, and Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter.

Each book has four stories all featuring Henry living down to expectations in some way. Many times his plotting is found out and foiled by parents and teachers, but sometimes his elaborate plans to get his way at the expense of others actually succeed. Kids will love to see how he gets in and out of his scrapes with authority.

The Horrid Henry books by Francesca Simon has delighted nearly 15 million young readers in 27 languages since the series started. Younger siblings of mother-daughter book club members are sure to be happy with these new additions.

Book Review: Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of Autism by Dan Burns

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Saving Ben

More and more autism and treatments for the condition are in the public eye, but when Dan Burns’ son Ben was born in the 1980s, little was known about autism or what to do for children who had it. Parents who had skills and resources acted as the best advocates for their children, but even then, much of what they were able to accomplish came through trial and error.

Parents now have more resources to help their children, including the personal stories of parents who have come before them. One of those is Burns’ book, Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of Autism. Ben’s diagnosis when it came was doubly crippling: severe autism and mental retardation. The level of personal care he needed from others to function would tax the ability of most any parent, but for Dan and his wife Sue, who were struggling with issues of their own even before Ben was born, it was particularly difficult.

While I’m not qualified to say whether the treatments Burns tried with Ben over the years are recommended for those with autism, I can say that Saving Ben is foremost a love story of what lengths a father is willing to go to help his son. Burns had two other children when Ben was born, one who had already left home and one who had nearly finished high school. His professional career was well established, and by all outside views he had a good life.

But under the surface he was struggling with his own sexual orientation and his wife was struggling with past abuse. Caring for Ben added more stress to their household. Ultimately, they would divorce and Burns would downplay his own career to care for his son. He was fortunate to be highly educated, which meant he felt confident enough to question and challenge the medical and teaching professionals who recommended courses of action for his son. He was also fortunate to receive financial support from his mother, which meant that as a single father employed part-time he could still pay for extraordinary levels of treatment for Ben.

If members of a mother-daughter book club have been touched by autism, Saving Ben can definitely help other members see how severely this condition can affect every aspect of the whole family. I would have liked to know more about how Ben’s siblings dealt with his condition and the disintegration of their parents’ marriage, but ultimately, this is an honest portrayal of how profoundly parents’ lives can change when they care for a child with disabilities.

Burns’ frank discussion of his own personal struggles and mature language make this appropriate for mother-daughter book clubs with girls in high school.

Your Children Are Never Too Old For You to Read to Them

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Often, parents think that once a child is old enough to read on her own, she doesn’t need them to read to her anymore. While it’s true that a child’s burgeoning capabilities can be celebrated and encouraged, I want to challenge the idea that parents should stop reading to their children altogether. Here are several reasons your child may never grow too old for you to read to her:

  • You can read books that are slightly above your child’s ability to understand if she reads them herself. As you read, she can learn knew words and take in concepts that she would be able to grasp on her own.
  • Joanne Meier, who provides research guidance for Reading Rockets says that reading aloud “is a great opportunity to model for your child what good, fluent reading sounds like.”
  • Talking about what you read lets you broach topics that may not come up otherwise. If the characters in the book are having trouble with a friendship, your daughter may be encouraged to open up with you about a difficult relationship she’s having as well.
  • Reading together is time set aside for a shared activity. Minimize the distractions to show you both think your time together is important.
  • It’s a good way for older kids to reconnect with parents. Catherine Weigel Foy, LCSW, LMFT, a clinical lecturer at the Weinberg School of Psychology and an affiliate therapist with the Family Institute, both at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, recommends that if moms are having trouble connecting with their teen daughters they start reading to them at bedtime. She says this simple act often connects to a good, positive memory from earlier childhood that can help bridge a relationship gap.

I still read to both of my daughters, who are 19 and 16 now. We read on our own as well, but the time we spend together with a book is time we know that’s just for the two of us. And while my own mom doesn’t read books to me (we live too far away for that), she does read stories she’s written of her childhood and early adult years. I love listening to her voice as she recounts tales of how she grew up, and I never want it to stop.

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The International Mom Interviews Cindy Hudson

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Judy Miller publishes a great blog for parents of children who were adopted from another country called The International Mom. She is also a columnist for the adoption network, Grown in My Heart.  Today she’s featuring a review of Book by Book along with the answers to a couple of questions she asked me. Read my blog post and check out Judy’s other blog posts at The International Mom.

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