Thanks A Lot, Universe: Q & A with author Chad Lucas

 

Yesterday I reviewed Chad Lucas's debut novel

 Thanks a Lot, Universe.

 

Thanks a Lot, Universe

Written by Chad Lucas

Amulet Books (Abrams)

978-1-4197-5102-8

288 pp.

Ages 10-14

May 2021

Reviewed here

Today, I have the pleasure of presenting this Q & A 

with author Chad Lucas.

Helen Kubiw:  Thanks a Lot, Universe is the essentially the story of two boys. I love the idea of the story lines of Brian and Ezra being like two different orbital paths, generally oblivious to the other, with only the occasional crossing until they blend in a new relationship. Why choose to write their story in two voices rather than one omniscient voice that tells the stories of both boys?

 

Chad Lucas:  Brian and Ezra both wrestle in different ways with how they see themselves, and how they think others see them. Writing from their alternating perspectives felt like the best way to explore how there’s often a gap between our perceptions and reality. At first, neither boy realizes how much they’ve already had an impact on the other, until their stories begin to converge.

HK:  Most authors build their characters from bits of people they have known. Sometimes they are composites of many, and sometimes they are reflective of a single individual. Who are Brian and Ezra to you?

 

CL:  This book isn’t autobiographical, but there are pieces of me in both Brian and Ezra, and especially Ezra. He looks a lot like I did at his age, and it meant a lot to me the first time I saw him on the cover—although he’s much more assured than I was at thirteen. I also coach youth basketball, so I drew on watching kids talk and joke with each other to inspire some of the dialogue in this book. And of course, a lot of it is purely fictional. 

HK:  It’s rare to have a parent character to have participated in criminal activity without them being either nasty and violent or a joke. Brian’s dad is very human, capable of making mistakes and trying to run from them. Why did you decide to make him involved in the “cannabis production and distribution business”? 

 

CL:  This book is set about a year before cannabis became legal in Canada, and even now that it’s legal there are plenty of moral issues around who gets to profit (usually wealthy white people) and who’s still being punished (often people of colour). I didn’t have the space in this book to do a deep dive on the justice system, but I did want Brian’s dad to exist in this grey area with more nuance than “illegal activity = villain.” Most people aren’t “good” or “bad.” We’re all capable of loving and doing harm. Brian’s dad loves his family and wants to provide for them, but his choices have ripple effects. 

HK:  Brian’s social anxiety is interpreted differently by those with whom he interacts. Some see it as shyness, the nastier ones call him a freak. Worse yet is how hard Brian is on himself, calling it his Super Awkward Weirdo Syndrome (SAWS). He can overthink things and berate himself, often demonstrating a fatalism that is sad to see in one so young. Thankfully Brian does find some support, even if tenuous at first. Though I would not expect you to offer the psychological support young people with social anxiety might need, what would be one tidbit you might offer to show encouragement?

 

CL:  Thanks for including that disclaimer, because I’m definitely not a trained professional! But you’ve already named something I hope readers take away: we’re often hardest on ourselves, and sometimes we need to trust other people to help us get out of our own heads. I remember times even as a kid when I’d lie awake second-guessing myself or agonizing over something that felt like a massive failure but ended up far less of a big deal than I made it out to be. Brian does encounter kids who pick on his perceived weaknesses, which is unfortunately reality sometimes, but he also meets people who have much more kindness and grace for him than he’s expecting, and they help him see differently. 

HK:  While Brian would never be considered an optimist, I probably wouldn’t call him a pessimist. He’s more a realist, recognizing that life isn’t always easy and there will be things that happen that are unfair. However, his dad’s advice, that he should “Brace yourself and kick right back” (pg. 84), may not seem very wise at first though it does give Brian a push to be less intimidated.  Do you think that advice tells us more about Brian or his dad?

 

CL:  I love this question. I think the advice itself says a lot about Brian’s dad. I have a whole backstory for him in my head going back to his own teenage years, and I could only include a fraction of it in the book, but I think this line reflects how he learned to navigate the world. But without spoiling too much, Brian has to figure out if what worked for his dad will actually work for him… and his dad has to rethink a few things too.

HK:  Thanks a Lot, Universe is very much a coming-of-age story in which two boys face different challenges involved with learning who they are and can be. Why write this story?

 

CL:  I can still remember what it’s like to wrestle with those enormous questions of identity at that age. And without being too heavy-handed about it, I wanted to reflect that it’s OK for boys to be complex and emotional. Even a star basketball player like Gabe, one of my supporting characters, displays a sensitive side and helps Brian learn how to face some of his own fears. Sometimes boys need permission and safe places to drop the mask and be vulnerable, and I think books can help create that space.

HK:  Music is an important component in Thanks a Lot, Universe, with Ezra DJing and sharing music with Brian. What would be the playlists for Brian, for Ezra and for the two boys’ relationship?

 

CL:  I was asked this recently for a book festival I’m participating in at the end of May, and I made a playlist of songs that either show up in the book in some form or make me think of the characters. One song Brian and Ezra bond over is “Wolf Like Me” by TV On The Radio, which is about becoming a werewolf—and liking it. It’s a killer rock song, but it also felt like a fitting metaphor about embracing the things that make you different. As my book’s tagline says, Be Brave. Be Real. Be Weird. 

Thanks a Lot, Universe - the playlist by Chad Lucas on Spotify

 

HK:  Though you don’t actually end Thanks a Lot, Universe tied up with a perfect happy resolution, you offer hope that things will be okay and maybe Brian will have a good year after all. Why leave things open? 

 

CL:  Brian and his family go through some genuine struggles in this book, and I don’t think a tidy happily-ever-after would have felt realistic or satisfying to young readers. I respect that middle graders are incredibly savvy, and some of them have been through situations like Brian experiences, or worse. I wanted to end with some hope, but I wouldn’t dare talk down to kids by implying that everything always resolves itself in the end. And besides that, I might want to revisit these characters someday!

• • • • • • •

Many thanks to Chad Lucas 

for answering my questions 

(and especially for the short turnaround time given him) 

and sharing about Brian and Ezra 

and the world that is Thanks a Lot, Universe.

 

Thanks also to Rachel Wehniainen, Publicist at Manda Group, 

for facilitating this interview.  

• • • • • • •

Thanks A Lot, Universe

Written by Chad Lucas

Amulet Books (Abrams)

978-1-4197-5102-8

288 pp.

Ages 10-15

May 2021 

Thanks a Lot, Universe is the story of two boys, both coming to terms with new realities. While they are as different as they appear on the cover, the two are both looking for and finding their true selves, with or without the help of the universe.

Told in the alternating voices of thirteen-year-olds Brian Day and Ezra Komizarek, Thanks a Lot, Universe parallels the stories of the two Halifax boys as they become true friends, and maybe more, though the plot is very much driven by the shy and socially anxious Brian. On the day of his thirteenth birthday, Brian learns via letter that his father has left–the police are after him for his role in "cannabis production and distribution"–and his mother, distraught, attempts suicide, though Brian finds her in time to save her.

We'd thought everything was fine. We hadn't known the world was ending. (pg. 16)

Because the whereabouts of their father is unknown and their mother is hospitalized, Brian and his 9-year-old brother Richie are sent to the foster home of grandparents-like Gordon and Emma Wentzell. Still being questioned by Sergeant States of the police about his father, and now dealing with social worker Kate Evans and the incessant attempts at Mrs. Wentzell to engage him, as well as bullying by Victor MacLennan at school, Brian gets absolutely no respite from his social anxiety, dealing with strangers everywhere.

Meanwhile, Ezra is dealing with his changing relationship with his best friend Colby Newcombe who is in the throws of first love and hanging with a new group which includes Victor. Fortunately Ezra still has his older half-sister Natalie and friends Ty and Kevan with whom he can talk and help him sort out his feelings, including about girls or not.

There are people we hang around because it's comfortable or convenient or safe, then there are our people. When you find them, you'll know the difference. (pg. 48)

Though Ezra knows the quiet Brian from basketball, it's not until the two connect over music briefly on a bus ride, that Ezra begins to really notice him. So when Brian runs away with his brother, Ezra joins up with Brian's teacher's son, Gabe Clelland and his girlfriend Brittany, to find them.

Life is probably doing to kick you right in the junk someday, B-Man. This is all the fatherly wisdom I've got. Brace yourself and kick right back. (pg. 84)

Finding Brian and Ritchie is only half of the story. What happens after the boys are found is a new story, with Brian establishing new supports and the means to divert his Super Awkward Weirdo Syndrome–SAWS is his term for his social anxiety–and Ezra admitting his feelings about his new friend and acting on them with heart and gentleness.

 

In his debut novel, Chad Lucas has given young readers a new way of seeing. As readers, we see the anxiety of family trauma, coming out, and regular teenage angst but Chad Lucas has made us see beyond the surface and look a little deeper into what we think we know. Brian is seen as the quiet kid, perhaps a little weird, even by himself, but beneath that front is a complicated young man who is dealing with so much more: making sense of his own disorder, worrying about a mother with a mental illness, angry with a father involved in illegal activities, and agonizing over a broken family, which may or may not be repairable. But when you're only thirteen and you're left to repair that family without having the supports necessary to do so, it's overwhelming. Most of his peers only see him as different and, though there are adults who can see his need for help, Brian's anxiety doesn't allow him to ask for it. Ezra, on the other hand, is comfortable in his own skin, with his friends and family, but he too is dealing with something new. In his head, he ruminates about his attraction to boys and with whom he might be able to share that. But taking a chance on talking about it with someone else, whether family, friend or crush, is still a risk. 

 

Fortunately, sometimes the universe gives you what you need. Through an alignment of circumstances, Brian and Ezra find each other and give each other something they need, whether a push, a pull, or just a hand. It's all good, or at least better. Sometimes that's all the universe can give you.

 

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Look for my interview with author Chad Lucas tomorrow.

 

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