Behind the Scenes of Young Adult Books:
Talking With YA Author Kimberly K. Jones
Kimberly K. Jones' debut young adult novel Sand Dollar Summer followed a teenager struggling to adjust to a new home and lifestyle after her mother moves them to Maine to recuperate from a car accident. Her second novel, The Genie Scheme, tackled the middle grade fantasy genre by telling the story of a girl who learns about selfishness and kindness when she gains unlimited wishes from a genie.
Whatever their outward trappings, however, Jones' books are popular with kids and teachers for telling stories about kids with relatable problems… within a vivid and occasionally magical atmosphere.
I spoke with Kimberly K. Jones via an April 2, 2009 phone conversation, and learned much about her views on her books, children's literature, and her future projects.
Michael Jung: Your books tend to have rebellious and occasionally selfish kids who learn responsibility. Why is this theme important to you?
Kimberly K. Jones: I think as adults our primary job is to raise kids not to be jerks. Children aren't necessarily selfish in and of themselves… there's a phase we go through in natural development where it's all about you. But that edge of the envelope interests me… I think a lot of interesting personality traits come out and it creates a lot of interesting conflicts… how a new person is trying to figure out his or her place in the world.
MJ: In Sand Dollar Summer, the mother and daughter are both named Annalise and have similar personalities… almost like they're the same character at different ages. Was this intentional?
KKJ: That's perceptive. There was the element of, “you get the kids that you deserved because of how you behaved to your parents.” So Lise [the daughter] comes by her stubbornness and toughness naturally. But I think it takes a while to understand how much alike they are.
MJ: Was Lise's character… her stubbornness… based on any real person?
KKJ: The characters aren't based on any particular people, but I believe all writing is based on your actual experience. I have a wonderfully feisty and stubborn daughter, and I admire that immensely in all kids. I think you have to be tough growing up. And I like when I see that streak in kids, even though it sounds like it's difficult… and it can be.
MJ: The ocean scenes in Sand Dollar Summer are very vivid… it almost feels like the ocean is another character in the book with its different moods and actions. Do you have any tips for aspiring authors on how to create such a memorable setting?
KKJ: I'm not sure I have any wise old words on it, because that one just hit me from behind. But I think when you think about location or geography, if you have an idea in mind and a certain location leaps to the forefront… consider what happens when you take that location away.
With Sand Dollar Summer it's very clear that it doesn't work if you take the Maine setting away. It's such a foundation of the story that there is no story without it. And eventually the ocean did almost become another character for me… doing its own things and making its own remarks.
Right now I'm reading a couple of books on crossing the desert… undocumented workers coming in from Mexico. And the desert is clearly something you can't get away from… it's always there and there's this vastness and brutality that comes through and you take that away and the story goes away.
MJ: Is this research for a future book project?
KKJ: Yes. I'm working on a realistic fiction novel that's set in Vermont. It relates to the undocumented Mexican migrant population that a many people don't know about… we have quite a number of them in Vermont to support the dairy industry.
And they've been here about ten years but they're a very invisible population. Unlike the southwest and larger metro areas, they cannot blend in here when they come outside. So they're very isolated on these dairy farms. And it's just starting to come to the forefront in the news and changing Vermonters' ideas of Vermont.
MJ: Do you have any final thoughts to share on children's books?
KKJ: One of the things I enjoyed as a kid reading was there was no, “This is in your age group, you can read these books.” I just had free rein to pick up whatever I wanted. And to me that was such a valuable part of becoming a reader. I guess there needs to be some guidance but sometimes I wonder if we're not being more restrictive than we need to be.
Contributor: Michael Jung
Learn more about Kimberly K. Jones' books by visiting The Official Website of Kimberly K. Jones.
And read more of Michael Jung's interview with Kimberly K. Jones by visiting his Children's Books website.
Reviews
The Genie Scheme
Kimberly K. Jones
Janna, who daydreams of winning the lottery and spending the money lavishly, is ashamed to be seen shopping for a “new” coat with her mother at the secondhand shop. When Eugenie, an unconventional genie, arrives and offers to grant many more than the usual three wishes, Janna begins by asking for material things. Eugenie, with her candid tongue, long-range perspective, and discomfortingly firm grasp of reality, leads Janna to think about what she can accomplish with broader thinking and more thoughtful wishing. There's never any doubt about Janna learning a lesson before the novel ends, as the anti-materialism message is spelled out rather plainly here. But the sparks of humor; the well-drawn, sympathetic characters; and the challenge to consider “what-if” wishing scenarios make the story something more than just a fictional vehicle for an ideal. Pair this with Gail Carson Levine's Wish (1999) for a booktalk or discussion. Grades 4-7 . Reviewer: Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, Mar. 15, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 14))
Janna really resents living frugally, but even she can recognize that some people are worse off@mdash;like the bag lady she buys a winter hat. Or maybe the bag lady isn't so bad off; it turns out that she is a genie! Of course, Janna leaps at the chance to have her wishes fulfilled. She soon finds out that genies cannot create things out of thin air and that everything she wishes for will come from somewhere or somebody! She also learns that there's only so much genie wattage; as soon as Janna has used it all up, no more wishes. As Janna makes more and more wishes, the genie finds ways to open Janna's eyes to the less fortunate. While the concept of a genie is executed humorously at first (e.g., Janna's first wish is to have a wardrobe like her classmate and the entire contents of that girl's closet are transported to Janna's home), the book quickly becomes very didactic and preachy. While the lessons about the less fortunate are good ones, the examples used (e.g., visiting the homeless) are rather tired and don't pack the punch they could. Still, the genie is a rather amusing character and her interaction with Janna is, for the most part, entertaining. 2009, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Ages 8 to 12, $15.99.
Reviewer: Amie Rose Rotruck
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5554-2
ISBN: 1-4169-5554-2
Sand Dollar Summer
Kimberly K. Jones
No one can deny that life can change dramatically in the briefest of moments. Twelve-year-old Lise's view of such an event takes us through the healing aftermath of her mother's serious injury in a car accident during one summer on the coast of Maine. The town was Lise's mother's childhood home and her mother is drawn to return to it as a place of healing, both of body and spirit. Reluctantly, Lise packs up and, with her brother and the family's dog, resigns herself to a summer of exile. She and her brother are unfamiliar with and not interested in getting acquainted with the ocean or beach life. But their mother is searching for inner peace and psychic nourishment. Over the course of the summer Lise learns powerful lessons, and her mother finds that the familiar cocoon of her youth, which felt so restrictive at the time, provides answers to the question of how to go forward. This story is a fresh look at the problem of dealing with the unexpected from a child's perspective and how a family can emerge from hardship strengthened and renewed. It would be a good addition to a middle school curriculum on family life and/or social issues. 2006, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, $15.95. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Hazel Buys (Children's Literature).
The first-person narrator of Sand Dollar Summer begins her story with powerful words: “The sea gives, and the sea takes away.” The sea seems fickle indeed to 12-year-old Lise, who is summering on a Maine beach with her mother and 5-year-old brother, Free. The first thing it seems to want to take is Lise's once-dynamic mother, badly injured in a recent car accident and now tired and distant. Ensconced once again in her hometown, the mother reunites with an old boyfriend, the local doctor Michael. With skill and grace, debut novelist Kimberly Jones captures that searing time in adolescence when “the balance shift[s] suddenly, and everything change[s].” Jones shows how each of the four major characters grows by virtue of grappling with the problems the sea seems to mete out, including a life-threatening hurricane. As Lise concludes, “I know that while the murmur of the ocean waves is the voice of our deepest fears, its whispers also speak of who we are and who we wish to be.” 2006, Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster, $15.95. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Mary Quattlebaum (Children's Literature).
Best Books:- Best Children's Books of the Year, 2007; Bank Street College of Education; United States
- Booklist Book Review Stars , May 15, 2006; United States
- Children's Catalog, Nineteenth Edition, Supplement, 2007; H.W. Wilson; United States
- Children's Choices , 2007; International Reading Association; United States
- Middle and Junior High School Library Catalog, Supplement to Ninth Edition, 2007; H.W. Wilson Company; United States
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2007; National Council for the Social Studies; United States
- School Library Journal Book Review Stars, June 2006; Cahners; United States
- Top 10 First Novels for Youth, 2006; Booklist; United States
- Georgia Children's Book Award, 2007-2008; Nominee; Grades 4-8; Georgia
- Great Stone Face Award, 2007-2008; Nominee; New Hampshire
- Maine Student Book Award, 2007-2008; Nominee; Maine
- South Carolina Junior Book Award, 2008-2009; Nominee; South Carolina
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5834-5
ISBN: 1-4169-5834-7
Added 06/26/09
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