Misadventures in Ghosthunting: Q & A with author Melissa Yue

Misadventures in Ghosthunting

Written by Melissa Yue

HarperCollins

978-1-4434-7091-9

367 pp.

Ages 8–12

August 2024

Reviewed here

 

 

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of reviewing Melissa Yue's debut middle grade novel, Misadventures in Ghosthunting. Today I have the added pleasure of posting a Q & A I did with Melissa Yue about the book and her writing. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

Helen Kubiw:  It’s not unusual to take from your own experiences to feed your story. Did you do this, building the story in Misadventures in Ghosthunting from your own life experiences and observations?
 

Melissa Yue:  When I first began drafting Misadventures in Ghosthunting, I incorporated many topics that I wasn’t only interested in and already familiar with, but also elements that I wanted to learn more about. As a Chinese-Canadian woman whose family has resided in Canada for several generations, I often find myself inundated with how things were supposed to be done, but not why. My experience isn’t unusual—it’s not uncommon for the reasons behind traditions to be lost somewhere in the storm of change and time. This means that some elements of my book, such as listening to older family members, navigating generational and cultural differences, or digging into a big pot of ga lei ngau lam (curry beef brisket – yum!) are drawn from my own experiences; other elements, like the tools that Emma uses for vanquishing ghosts and the lore behind the denizens of the Underworld, have a cultural basis that is not inherent to my own lived experiences, but from what I have observed about my surroundings. Misadventures in Ghosthunting, at its heart, has always been a story about cultural connection, identity, and growth in the face of fear.

 

HK:  Even though the story includes multiple supernatural elements, are any of these based in your own heritage or customs? For example, did you use talismans? Have you ever seen a ghost? Was there an ancestral altar? Did you celebrate the Ghost Festival?

 

Melissa Yue:  Sadly (or luckily), my life has been considerably less exciting than Emma’s, and I’ve never needed to ward off a ghost with talismans! My grandma’s house does have an ancestral altar, and on important days like the Ghost Festival, offerings would be placed there and the incense lit.

As for whether or not I’ve ever seen a ghost… Well, there is a reason why Victoria has the reputation of being one of the most haunted cities in Canada. I invite all you ghost-seekers and lovers of the paranormal to come and visit the old cobblestone paths, eerie locales, and spooky heritage buildings that Victoria is famous for!

 

HK:  Is magic an important part of the Chinese culture?
 

Melissa Yue:  Magic, superstition, and esoteric practices all have a long history in Chinese culture. You even see this in an entire genre of media, “xianxia,” in which Chinese philosophy, magic, and martial arts intersect. The way these elements appear in the modern day differ from region to diaspora population to each individual family, and it’s very fascinating! In my family, magic shows up more in the form of superstition—either avoiding things out of fear or doing things to elicit good luck. For example, some members of my family leave coins around growing plants to encourage the generation of wealth. Emma’s journey in Misadventures in Ghosthunting simply takes superstition one step further to explore the basis for fears and ways of existing.

 

HK:  The Underworld is a very common construct of various religions and cultures, from Buddhism to Celtic mythology. Why do you think this concept repeats in multiple traditions?
 

Melissa Yue:  I’m of the firm belief that death is as important as life, and I’d like to think that this sentiment is echoed in various religions and cultures. Where do people go after they die? How do the living continue in their journeys after their loved ones have passed away? These questions have always existed. Deiyuk, the Chinese Underworld, and other underworlds like it, are just some of the answers that people have created to answer one of the biggest questions of all: What happens after we die?

 

HK:  Emma Wong, your main character, seems like a typical teen in that she’s trying to balance family life and school. While trying to find her place, whether in ghosthunting or life as a teen , she is also trying to navigate parental pressure. In fact, it’s her poor performance on a math exam that introduces her to her ghosthunting background. However, she finally stands up for herself after her mother accuses her of making bad decisions.

“I’m not making bad decisions,” she says to her mother. “I’m just making decisions you don’t like.” (p. 206)

How typical do you think it is for teens, particularly those of Chinese parents, to struggle with parental disappointment? (I especially liked that Emma identifies one of her mom’s frowns as Disappointed Mom™.) Is this something you experienced first-hand?

 

Melissa Yue:  Being a teenager is tough—for everyone! It’s totally normal for teens of all backgrounds to struggle with parental expectations and disappointment. How those expectations and disappointments get worked through requires a team effort from both the parents and the teens, with the acknowledgement that hey, sometimes differences can’t be completely resolved. It’s okay to have differing opinions about how things should be as long as no one is getting irrevocably hurt.

As for my own experience with parental disappointment, I was lucky in that I never really experienced the Disappointed Mom™ frown. My parents were quite easygoing and mostly let me do what I wanted. However, I heard from and witnessed many of my friends endure the pressures of parental disappointment. For folks coming from immigrant backgrounds, the expectation to do well, to succeed, and to give meaning to the sacrifices of your parents and your family before them can be immense and overwhelming.
 

 

HK:  I was really glad that Emma had such a strong connection with her grandmother. They share a love of gardening and Emma showed her grandmother deep respect, willing to do anything to protect her. A comment in your acknowledgements suggest you have or had  a similar relationship with your Maa Maa. Tell us about your grandmother and this book.

 

Melissa Yue:  I had an unusual relationship with my paternal grandmother growing up. We often spent time together, but we weren’t able to communicate due to severe language barriers. It was definitely tough at times! Yet I like to think that not being able to communicate conventionally helped us grow our relationship in other ways. Sharing food, smiles, laughter, and awkward misunderstandings still gave us a relationship that was built on love and care.

Unfortunately, Maa Maa passed away in January of this year. I wish she could’ve seen my book come into the world, but there are lots of details in Misadventures in Ghosthunting that help keep her memory alive. For instance, the incense tin on the back cover is an almost identical likeness to one of the incense tins she kept in her house. August Zhang, the cover artist, did an incredible job with bringing a piece of my grandma to the art of Misadventures in Ghosthunting. I like to think my grandmother would’ve been happy to see her incense tin immortalized in print, and proud of what I have accomplished.

HK:  What was the most challenging part of the writing process for you? Plot construction? Character development? Voice? Fluency or continuity? Or something else altogether?

 

Melissa Yue:  Oh, goodness! Everything was challenging at the beginning, to be honest. Misadventures in Ghosthunting was the first novel-length work that I’d ever tried writing, and I hadn’t even intended for it to become a book when I first started jotting down my little ideas. It was a very steep curve of learning not only novel craft, but about my own writing identity. These past few years have been an incredible experience in growth for me, and I’m looking forward to continuing to grow with each novel I write.

 

 

HK:  Now that your debut book has been published, are there any new projects that are in the works?

 

Melissa Yue:  Haha… All I can say is stay tuned! 😊

 

• • • • • • • 

  

I'd like to thank Melissa Yue
for granting me this interview and taking the trouble to answer all my questions.

 

It was lovely to meet her via this Q & A 

and to learn more about her and her writing. 

As the book was released yesterday, 

I hope this interview, and yesterday's review, will encourage young readers 

(and those who purchase books for them) to give it a read.

 
Thanks are also extended to Shayla Leung, Publicist at HarperCollins Canada,

for facilitating this event.

 

• • • • • • •

The Not-So-Simple Question (A Holly-Mei Book, #3)

Written by Christina Matula

Inkyard Press

978-1-335-00999-9

272 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2024 

 

Isn't it lovely that we get to visit with Holly-Mei and her friends and family once again? The twelve-year-old who Christina Matula introduced us to in The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei and allowed us to join in her new life in Hong Kong is a little older, well-situated at Tai Tam Prep, and becoming familiar with her new home. But with all those important changes, Holly-Mei is now becoming a teen, and The Not-So-Simple Question is her coming-of-age story.

 

Holly-Mei and her family have now been in Hong Kong for nine months and she is in the last few months of her Grade 7 year. There are lots of important events still to come like Experience Week during which Upper Grade students travel to other Asian locations for a week of learning. It's a great opportunity for Holly-Mei to discover more about her Taiwanese heritage–her mother and Ah-ma, grandmother, are Taiwanese while her father is British–by visiting Taiwan. She's also hoping that it will help her clarify who she is, feeling less than others because of her mixed heritage. And then there's the problem with boys. Her friend Gemma is determined to have an end-of-year prom to which the girls must bring dates. Holly-Mei is obviously well liked by her friends, including Dev and Theo, but, unlike her younger sister Millie who is all about popularity and acting grown-up, Holly-Mei isn't ready for dating, and she doesn't know how to reconcile her feelings with the demands of her friends.

Holly-Mei has a lot on her plate but that is what it often feels like when you are entering your teen years. It's a balance of moving from childhood to adulthood and navigating when and how much you're wanting to change. But coupled with that is Holly-Mei's confusion about her heritage and feeling that others judge her by how she speaks Chinese, who her parents are, and if half of anything is enough for her to be her true self. It's no wonder the girl is feeling on edge and confused. And with Holly-Mei, that uncertainty often leads her to misunderstanding or saying the wrong thing. Thankfully, Holly-Mei's story is in Christina Matula's capable hands, and she ends it with understanding, acceptance, and accord. (And we get to take a wonderful trip to Taiwan to see the sights, the culture, and the food. Always the food!)

The first Holly-Mei book was just recommended by young readers of the Red Maple Forest Kid Committee for their summer reading list and it's nice to know that there are two more books in the series to reach for after you've enjoyed The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei. With The Not-So-Simple Question, we get to see how Holly-Mei has ended her Grade 7 year, after a full year of learning to deal with new friends, with sports competition, with sibling interactions, with misunderstandings, and more. With that learning has come an appreciation for who she is and the kind of person she wants to be. She's still learning to be the best version of herself but she's on the right path, and Christina Matula lets us tag along on Holly-Mei's journey of self-realization and growing up, while enjoying the sights and cultures of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

From The Not-So-Simple Question, written by Christina Matula

• • • • • • •

Holly-Mei Books

The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei (2022)

The Not-So-Perfect Plan (2023)

The Not-So-Simple Question (2024)

• • • • • • •

Night of the Living Zed: Q & A with authors Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

Recently, I reviewed Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's newest middle grade novel, Night of the Living Zed, a sequel to their wildly successful The Fabulous Zed Watson!

Night of the Living Dead

Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-4434-6920-3 

256 pp.

Ages 8-12

Released January 16, 2024

Review here

 

 

Today, it gives me great pleasure to post a Q & A I did with authors Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester about their new book. 

 

Authors Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

 

• • • • • • •

 

HK:   Congratulations on Night of the Living Zed. It’s another great mystery embedded with the supernatural and notable characters. Did you experience any challenges in writing a sequel to The Fabulous Zed Watson!?

 

Kevin Sylvester:  We knew the characters well, so writing scenes with Zed and Gabe and the crew was fun. The toughest part, I think, was making it a different mystery with a different feel. I love escape rooms, so used those as inspiration for the types of codes our intrepid duo would have to crack. Then when Basil started writing the letters that lie at the (literal) heart of the story, the emotional side of the mystery began to just fall in place. After that, it felt like the challenge was paying due respect to the type of hidden relationship many people had to have (and still do) to be accepted.

 

Basil Sylvester:  Echoing what my co-author said. We wanted to have a story that doesn’t feel like we wrote it just to bring back characters we liked. There had to be something new. I really like the way the two books compliment (complement? Oh dear) each other. Fabulous Zed Watson had a lot of travel, so it was fun to write a sequel where they are mostly in one place. We also worked hard to make sure you could read it without having read the first one, sort of like a classic mystery series like Sherlock Holmes stories or similar. 

 

HK:   How does your collaboration work? Do you each write one chapter or section of the story, or do you write together?

 

Kevin Sylvester:  In the first book we split up a lot of the work by theme – so related chapters on a specific part of the mystery, or location for that clue, might fall to me. Basil would write the scenes, such as the border scene, where Zed has to face some real fear and discomfort.  But we’d always read the whole thing out loud to make sure there was a consistency of tone and voice. So by the end the whole book was truly a co-written work. We even collaborate on the illustrations.

     This time, I think, was more “both of us at the same time” writing with essentially the same result. But Basil wrote and researched the letters the kids discover… and those are beautiful.

Basil Sylvester:  the first book was much more methodical—we made the best outline I’ve ever made in my life, by far, haha. Then we split up and came back together to write everything out. Night of the Living Zed was a stranger creature. We did a lot more writing side by side but also writing alone—I wrote the letters completely without input, for instance, but as Kevin said, the best part is reading out loud. You instantly get a sense of what works and what doesn’t, especially in the jokes and banter.
 

 

HK:   Plotting any story can be challenging but I wonder if plotting a mystery is especially so. Did you plot out the whole mystery from the outset or did you develop it one step at a time, perhaps with each new room that Zed and Gabe encounter in Glyndebourne Manor?

 

Kevin Sylvester:  We had a general idea a good year before we started writing… so the idea was always cooking in our heads.  Then we tried to decide how the reveal would happen from the presumed mystery (spending three days in a spooky house) to the true mystery (who was Charlotte and why did she build this bizarre house?). So there are two layers happening all the time. I would say that was more fun than tough to figure out. 

     The frustrating part is always when you think you have a good bit and then look at it later, or have someone else look at it, and say the code didn’t make sense, or wasn’t revealed to the reader in a way that they could also solve the mystery. So we tried to make sure that all the clues are there, so that the reader can either go “I saw that coming” or “oh! Now I see what the code was!”. Both offer a fun payoff.

Basil Sylvester:  Oh my gosh I found this really hard to do! I’m not a big mystery reader—I love middle grade mysteries, but I don’t read like Janet Evanovich kind of things—so I really struggled with making stuff plausible and consistent. Kevin is old hat at mysteries so he really helped but making escape room puzzles that made sense and that I hoped the readers would be able to pick up clues on was the hardest part of this book. Also plotting with a co-writer can be hard, especially getting on the same page about the hard and fast rules of the contest. We were working in Scrivener, which allows for research and planning docs, so we made sure to write out the rules early on and referred to them often!

HK:   Though many might not see it, Night of the Living Zed is a celebration of romantic love. Although the two romances had very different outcomes being from different times, they were both triumphant in their own ways. Why did you choose to include these romances in the story?

Kevin Sylvester:  Basil is the best one to answer this, but I will say that I am always intrigued by stories where someone builds something as a living memory of someone, or to honour them.  

     Think Citizen Kane, the Taj Mahal… my Apartment 713.

Basil Sylvester:  Honestly, Sam and Jo were some of my favourite characters in the first book, so I wanted to bring them back. And their wedding sort of works as a plot device for Zed and Gabe to specifically need money, encouraging them to go for the Gylndebourne contest. In terms of the other romance, I loved the idea of a multi-layered mystery. We sort of have that with the first book, where Zed is looking for the manuscript, and along the way they discover a whole supportive community in some unexpected places, showing us that the world is ready emotionally for Taylor’s book.
     In Night of the Living Zed, I wanted to pay homage to historical romantic relationships that weren’t read as such for a long time. I also love the idea that a spooky scary haunted house is actually not scary at all, but beautiful. That it’s just misunderstood, like the romance itself. So I wanted to have layers of meaning, as any good ghost story should.

 

HK:   Music, particularly opera, is a significant element of the story, directing Zed and Gabe’s solving of the mystery of Glyndebourne Manor, but the broad knowledge of opera needed is certainly not derived from Wikipedia. Moreover, your acknowledgements suggest that you both have some appreciation for opera. Are you both opera buffs or did one inspire the other or did someone else boost your awareness of this theatre form?

Kevin Sylvester:  We both love opera, but don’t expect us on the Saturday Afternoon at the Opera quiz anytime soon. I’m partial to Italian operas. Rigoletto and the Barber of Seville get a lot of play in my house. But I also love the Magic Flute… and one of my fave experiences was seeing Maurice Sendak’s sets for the Hansel and Gretel a few years back.

Basil Sylvester:  I mean, growing up with the parents I had, it was inevitable. My dad loved opera and played it ever since I was a kid. So that made me … tolerate it. Then I went to university and took a class on Russian opera and fell in love with Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov, The Nose…I even let Kevin put some Wagner in this one.

 

HK:   I’m a big fan of humour and Night of the Living Zed is filled with it, from puns and wordplay to silliness and blunders. Do you each have your own specialty when it comes to embedding humour in the story, whether through voice or actions?

Kevin Sylvester:  We are a family of joke-tellers and punsters. This includes our immediate family and friends. So the scenes with back-and-forth dialogue and jokes is a glimpse into the dining room of our houses on any gathering. Noisy. Boisterous. Snarky. Then Basil and I test-drive the jokes on eachother to make sure they work.

Basil Sylvester: I’m not as good at jokes, but growing up, especially at my grandparents’ houses, it was jokes zinging across the dinner table at breakneck speed, so I was always trying to keep up. I’m better at comebacks, so Kevin will often start riffing and then I join in. We are also tough critics, so we would cut jokes if only one of us was laughing. I would say I lean more towards silly gestures, and Zed is fun to write because they are very boisterous and always moving.

 

HK:   I know the book was released in January but it’s going to be a popular story come October with its Halloween theme. Zed obviously goes big for Halloween, ensuring the best neighbourhood Halloween with a pre-Halloween inspection at all homes. Is Halloween as big a deal in the Sylvester house as it is for Zed?

Kevin Sylvester:  All I can say is that you can go back and look on my Facebook page where we do a themed Halloween porch each year. This year was a haunted construction site. Last year was Scar-bucks coffee shop. The year before that was a haunted greenhouse… you get the idea. Christmas is great, and man do I need bright lights by late December, but dressing up and playing make-believe? Halloween can’t be beat.

Basil Sylvester: We never did Halloween-O-Ween, but it is 100% inspired by our love of Halloween and our dedication to creative and fun porch displays every year. It’s also a holiday that really resonates with me, since you can dress up and be someone else and get creative, which was a great outlet for me figuring out my identity in a low-stakes and fun way.

 

HK:   The illustrations add much to the story, just as they did in Kevin’s Neil Flambé series. I recognize Kevin’s style but wonder if Basil is also an artist and contributed to the art in Night of the Living Zed.

Kevin Sylvester:  Yes. Certainly in the sense that we work on the illustrations together. I’m often drawing as we write and read passages out loud. Basil is my immediate art director and continuity officer (need to make sure Zed is wearing the same sweater in connected timelines). Also, Basil is in charge of the lettering on the spine and covers.
 
Basil Sylvester:  I’m not an illustrator but I do consider myself a creative person. I like crafts and DIY. As Kevin says, I’m the first art editor and can be pretty critical. He shows me all his illustrations before submitting them and I often have notes. I also came up with the ideas for both covers, and did the silly hand lettering on the covers and spine.

From Night of the Living Zed, written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester, illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

HK:   My favourite illustration of Zed is the one on page 68 when they are in their pumpkin onesie. Do you each have a favourite illustration of Zed from Night of the Living Zed?

Kevin Sylvester:  SPOILERS…. My fave is the one of Hyacinth as she’s about to turn the faucet on the final challenge. She looks both anticipatory and a little fearful. After all they’ve been through, and learned, will this prove to be the right decision? Or will everything come crashing down?

     It’s quiet and active at the same time.

Basil Sylvester:  I love this question! I really like the one where they’re excited to say hi to the ghost. But the pumpkin onesie is great too. Also any illustration where they have their coffin backpack. I have a friend who has one and I messaged them the second they posted a picture of it, asking if I could include it for Zed in the book because it was just so perfect!

 

HK:   Now that we know that The Fabulous Zed Watson! will not be a stand-alone and that Zed and Gabe are becoming known for solving mysteries, are there plans for additional books beyond Night of the Living Zed?

Kevin Sylvester:  Hmmmmm. We are always ready to cook up new missions for Zed and the gang. But that is, of course, a team decision involving a lot of people. If enough kids read the books and want more… I’m willing and able!

Basil Sylvester:  Who can say? It’s not off the table. We have a lot of fun writing these, so I hope you have as much fun reading as we do writing!

• • • • • • •

I've so enjoyed reviewing Night of the Living Zed and learning more of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's experiences with writing this sequel to The Fabulous Zed Watson!

Many thanks to Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester for answering my questions about Night of the Living Zed. And thanks also to Rebecca Silver, Senior Publicist at HarperCollins Canada, for facilitating this interview and sharing a review copy of Night of the Living Zed.

 

Night of the Living Zed

Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-4434-6920-3 

256 pp.

Ages 8–12

January 16 2024

 

Sure, everyone gets ready for Christmas. There's the tree decorating, the shopping, the baking. But what about the "super-duper-stupendousest of all holidays" (p. 3): Halloween! Zed Watson, star of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's highly-acclaimed first collaboration The Fabulous Zed Watson! (2021) is all about Halloween, so it's going to be a shame if they miss it because they're heading out of town with best friend Gabe to solve the mystery of Glyndebourne Manor, the house once owned by the rich and famous opera costume and set designer, Charlotte Scherrer. But it's all in support of a good cause: getting a reward that could help elevate the upcoming nuptials of Gabe's sister Sam and partner Jo.

So, determined to spend the required 3 days and 2 nights in the supposedly-haunted house and search for Charlotte's treasure, Zed and Gabe set off on October 29, hopeful of solving the mystery before Halloween. Well, Zed is convinced of it. Gabe is less sure about it, but the operatic flavour of decorations in Charlotte's century-old, 4-storey house gets him interested. Things become more complicated when the rules state that they must move from room to room but never exiting through the door they entered. Only by solving complicated clues related to Charlotte's life and memorabilia do Zed and Gabe have any chance of making it through this challenge. Of course, there's also the ghosts and copious booby traps to trick them, so solving the mystery is a lot less obvious than finding a pile of gold.

 

With humour and compassion, the two friends, face each challenge head on. They carefully scrutinize curious rooms filled with opera collectibles, they construct maquettes, they read personal journal entries, and they piece together Charlotte's life to help them uncover hidden means of egress. But, as long as the ghosts don't impede their progress and they don't runaway, they've got a good chance to find...something?

Night of the Living Zed has all the colour of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's first book, The Fabulous Zed Watson!, but it's a fresh new mystery with a different set of characters. Readers will be pleased to visit again with the quirky Zed and Gabe, a pair of young friends with strong but different personalities.  There's non-binary Zed who approaches life at break-neck speed, enthusiastic about vampires and ghosts, eager to interact with the supernatural, and lover of all things Halloween. Gabe is less forward, but still fascinated by and knowledgeable about opera and plants, and loves playing the piano and wearing multi-pocketed clothes. And he's a little ghost-shy. In addition to a host of regulars, like Ph. D. candidates Sam and Jo, and a plethora of named inanimate objects–there's Sam's vehicle Carssandra, Zed's stuffed jackalope Aloysius, and their pumpkin nightlight Willoughby–readers meet Bertie and Hyacinth who are Charlotte's relatives, and a pair of treasure seekers called Soraya and Dean (often called Dan by Bertie).

The characters are wacky and the dialogue between them is priceless. It's this humour, including their gaffes that take Night of the Living Zed from mystery to a romping good time. From doing their Halloween-O-ween inspection–and learning Mrs. Gianelli is upgrading from licorice sticks to candy bars–or Gabe explaining to Zed that "i.e." is Latin for "Id est" and they answer, "You dest? What's a 'dest'?" (p. 80), there's a rich but underlying humour that will make readers smile and laugh out loud. And then there's the mystery. It is not easily solved, neither by Zed and Gabe nor the readers, so we have to hang in through all the ups and downs, and twists and turns, to get our "Aha!" moment.

I know it's a long way off until Halloween–maybe we can look at January as pre-pre-pre-Halloween-O-ween–but a mystery is a great read anytime, and Night of the Living Zed is a great one. With their open heart and enthusiasm for life and for exploring the unknown, Zed can take us and Gabe along on any new adventure they want, ghosts or no ghosts.

 

 • • • • • •

 

The Fabulous Zed Watson (2021)

Night of the Living Zed (2024)

 

Night of the Living Zed: Book launch (Toronto, ON)

Join authors

  Basil Sylvester & Kevin Sylvester 

 

for the launch 

 

of their newest middle-grade collaboration

and

sequel to their Governor General Literary Award-nominated book The Fabulous Zed Watson!

HarperCollins Canada, 2021
 

 

Night of the Living Zed

Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

HarperCollins Canada
978-1-4434-6920-3
256 pp.
Ages 8-12
January 2024

Review here

 

on

 

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

at

7:00 -9:00 PM

at

Another Story Bookshop
315 Roncesvalles Ave. (at Grenadier)
Toronto, ON

416-462-1104 

 

If you thought The Fabulous Zed Watson! was a fabulous mystery with lots of twists and turns, then you're going to love Night of the Living Dead as young sleuths Zed and best friend Gabe set out at Halloween to solve the mystery of Glyndebourne Manor. It's a weirdly wonderfully romp through a house filled with opera costumes and magician's props, trap doors and secrets, and ghosts and plenty of laughs.

 

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of): Q & A with author-illustrator Kathleen Gros

Today is the release of Kathleen Gros's new graphic novel Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of).  Yesterday I reviewed this new book and today I am pleased to present this interview with author-illustrator Kathleen Gros.

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of)

Written and illustrated by Kathleen Gros

Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-305766-1

304 pp.

Ages 8-13

Released October 25, 2022

Reviewed here 

 

Helen Kubiw:  As Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) is a modernized graphic novel of a Canadian classic, you would have had to make many decisions about which elements to keep and modernize (e. g., Gilbert pulling on Anne's braid) and which to eliminate? How did you make those decisions?

 

Kathleen Gros:  Choosing what to keep and what to cut is the hardest part of making a graphic novel adaptation. Comics is a very different medium than prose. One page of a prose novel can turn into upwards of 5 pages of comics, depending on how the cartoonist handles it. So, of course, when looking at adapting a novel there’s a lot that has to be cut out.
 
The way I approach making a modernized adaptation is to start by making a lot of lists. I make lists of what I think the overarching themes for the story are, the themes of the relationships between characters, as well as the key scenes that stick in my memory after I close the book. Having a strong idea of what I feel the themes of the original narrative are helps guide me as I muddle my way through deciding which scenes to keep and transform, and which scenes to omit.
 
One of the big themes in the original work is the idea of a somewhat insular community. In the novel, that’s the rural town of Avonlea. I wanted to reflect on what community means to me in the 21st century. I’ve lived all of my adult life in apartments, which are their own unique kind of community, so it felt natural to turn the town of Avonlea into an apartment building! While some readers might wonder about this decision, I tried to give a few nods to L. M. Montgomery by using imagery from my own childhood in Toronto to inspire the setting of Anne. The original book is set in Prince Edward Island, but Montgomery actually spent a significant amount of her life in Ontario and Toronto!
 
One of my favourite parts of the original novel is when Anne starts a story club with her peers. I feel like this part of her story doesn’t get enough love! In my adaptation, I expanded this part of the narrative and gave it a bit of an update. My love of comics and creative writing was, in part, fostered by a teacher I had in high school who ran our school’s zine club (thank you Ms. Kim). Around the time that the original novel was written, people were really into the art of collage. Montgomery, herself, even kept collaged scrap books! Having Anne join a zine club felt like a way to give a wink to that history, while also incorporating my own connection to the original work. Anne’s storyteller side and creativity was something that really resonated with me as a kid.


 

HK:  Though you've included all the key characters from the original Anne of Green Gables–Anne, Diana, Marilla, Matthew, Gilbert, Josie, Ruby, Mrs. Lynde–they are similar and yet different. For example, though Marilla was initially reluctant to take on Anne, unlike Matthew, she actually comes around far more quickly to supporting the girl in your book than originally. Why did you do this?

 

Kathleen Gros:  This kind of comes down to the economy of storytelling necessary for a graphic novel. The original book spans years of Anne’s life, while my adaptation is translated into just a few months. My favourite parts of Marilla and Anne’s relationship come once Marilla has softened a bit. So I chose to kind of expedite the whole process in this new version.


 

HK:  Some fans of the original story may not appreciate a retelling, sort of, in a contemporary setting and with similarly-named characters with different characterizations. How would you address their need to leave the original unaltered?

 

Kathleen Gros:  I don’t think I’m ever going to manage to persuade a fan like that! And that’s okay. My feelings about adaptations is that they’re a way to continue a conversation about a work. To me, an adaptation is a way to examine the work, the cultural values around the work, the themes of the work, and find ways to respond to and reflect on those things. If that’s not how someone enjoys engaging with media, that’s okay. The original work still exists, and they can reread it forever. But I would say: I think you’ll have fun with my adaptation if you decide to give it a try.


 

HK:  What was the toughest decision you had to make about your adaptation?

 

Kathleen Gros:  The toughest decisions were all the stuff I had to cut out! I wish I had about 100 more pages to be able to fit in a chapter about Marilla’s amethyst brooch and the Raspberry Cordial Incident—but there just wasn’t space. I hope readers will forgive me for those omissions and enjoy the other elements I expanded on.

 

HK:  You've changed a key relationship from friendship to a romantic one. Was this a key premise upon which you based your adaptation or is it something that evolved as you wrote the story?

 

Kathleen Gros:  A big commonality shared by many of my friends who are queer women is that when they first read about Anne and Diana’s friendship, they felt their childhood crushes reflected back at them. Rereading the book as an adult, it’s so easy to see that connection. Anne and Diana profess their love for each other over and over again. They exchange locks of their hair. Anne is inconsolable when she accidentally imagines Diana marrying a man. I really wanted to honour the experiences of my friends with this adaptation. I think a couple of them would have been livid if I hadn’t approached the work through a queer lens. I’m joking, but I do want to acknowledge that it’s a huge privilege to get to queer classic works the way I have been able to. In classic literature, queer people mostly exist in subtext. There are people today (in both Canada and the US) who wish that they wouldn’t enter the text at all. It’s a very special thing to be entrusted with bringing that queerness into the actual text.

 

HK:  Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) is your second retelling, having previously written Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of). Do you have any plans for reimagining other classic tales as contemporary graphic novels? (Please, please, please do Pride & Prejudice!)

 

Kathleen Gros:  Ha ha I’m open to doing another contemporary retelling! Little Women and Anne of Green Gables are two books I absolutely adored growing up—and I want to make sure that if I do another retelling that it’s coming from a similar place of admiration and celebration. It would be nice to round out the (Sort Of) adaptations with a third book, don’t you think? Three books is always a satisfying number.
 

• • • • • • •
 
Many thanks to Kathleen Gros
for answering my probing questions
 
and to Shayla Leung, Publicist
at HarperCollins Canada, for facilitating this interview.

• • • • • • •

Santa ABC

 

Written and illustrated by George Fewster

Collins

978-1-443466059

26 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2022 

Santa definitely has an important job but is that all that he's about? Does he do any other jobs? What does he feel?  In this playful board book, George Fewster takes children–though older readers will enjoy it just as much–through the ABCs of Santa in all his forms.

From Santa ABC by George Fewster

From an astronaut and barista, to Viking and zombie, George Fewster shows us a multitude of active and feeling Santas. Santa may be wearing an ninja outfit or dancing to disco or experiencing ennui and hanger–hunger and anger–but Santa is always still Santa, adorned in red with candy cane-striped props and spreading his "Ho Ho Ho" greeting.

From Santa ABC by George Fewster

Author-illustrator George Fewster takes Santa into the 21st century, engaging in contemporary activities and interests that many children will recognize, even if it's only through their families or teachers. And while they'll be learning the alphabet, the objective of this kind of concept book, they'll learn a few words and definitely smile at this talented Christmas character.

From Santa ABC by George Fewster

They'll especially smile at George Fewster's illustrations. His bold colours and clean lines will be much appreciated by young readers. Because of the unmistakable depictions–except for Ennui Santa–Santa ABC can become a guessing game, as well as an alphabet activity, a visual literacy lesson and more. Perhaps that's why, though Santa ABC is a concept book in board book format aimed at our youngest readers, it will be just as entertaining for older children. If you're a parent of a young child or a Kindergarten teacher or ECE, Santa ABC will definitely meet its goal of playful learning of the alphabet, especially with a favourite theme of Christmas and Santa. (George Fewster has a colouring page and word search based on the book at https://www.georgefewster.com/morestuff.) But, teachers of older students could benefit from using Santa ABC as a template for fun alphabet activities, with students creating their own alphabet books based on Santa or other characters, especially when challenged with coming up with a theme such as feelings, or sports, or history. The possibilities are endless, as George Fewster has demonstrated.

From Santa ABC by George Fewster

Whether your children are learning the alphabet or would love a lively romp through a menagerie of whimsical Santas, George Fewster's debut picture book will be a fun lead-in into the holiday season and lesson launcher for all.

You Were Never Here

Written by Kathleen Peacock

HarperTeen

978-0-06-300251-7

392 pp.

Ages 13+ 

October 2020

 

I used to think that once things broke, you couldn't put them back together, that the cracks would always be present and there was no point in trying. (pg. 388)

Seventeen year old Mary Catherine Montgomery a.k.a. Cat undoubtedly thinks of herself as broken, or at least not normal, and it has nothing to do with her physique, though she often deprecates herself for her wild red hair and chubbiness. What Cat can do, since puberty, is feel others' desires and fears when she has skin-to-skin contact. Consequently, she wears long sleeves as much as possible and avoids crowds and any chance of close contact with anyone. She's learned from experience how damaging it can be to reveal what she knows. The first time was with Riley Fraser, the boy next door to her Aunt Jet's in Montgomery Falls, New Brunswick. Now after another incident because of her gift, Cat is leaving her home in NYC and going to stay with her aunt. But things are much different now. Oh, she still has her gift, though she generally knows how to avoid its consequences. It's Riley. He's disappeared.

At her aunt's home, now a rooming house, Cat meets eighteen-year-old Aidan Porter, as well as his friends Chase, Joey and Skylar, and reconnects with Riley's older brother Noah who returned from university when his brother disappeared three months earlier. As Cat tries to fit in with her horror film-loving new acquaintances and piece together the bullying that Skylar is experiencing related to Riley, as well as help Noah learn what happened to his brother, Cat gets caught up in another incident when they discover the near-dead body of another student, Rachel Larsen.

In a thrilling YA novel of a suspicious disappearance, a supernatural gift and the natural need for acceptance and human contact, Kathleen Peacock sends us into the community of Montgomery Falls and into the heads of Cat and several others to recognize that,

Sometimes... people fear the things they want or want the things they fear. (pg. 154)

Discovering what happened to Riley is paramount in You Were Never Here but learning about Cat's ability and how that has impacted her relationships with Riley, her NYC friend Lacey, her father, and others is also relevant. Because of that power, Cat avoids getting close to people, including her own family, and can't trust herself to feel for anyone, worried that they might run out on her or accuse her of being a monster. How do you trust others when you can't trust yourself? Blending Cat's gift with regular teenage angst, a craving for friendship and a bit of romance, and a mystery or two to be solved, Kathleen Peacock has created a story teeming with emotions and tension, and reminds us what it takes to be human, and Cat most certainly is. She's bright, realistic, compassionate, and cautiously trusting, though not always of herself. She is not the monster but there is one around. And, as with any good mystery, the reveal is both unexpected and convincing.

Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds

Written and illustrated by Elise Gravel

HarperAlley (HarperCollins Canada)

978-0-06-298222-3 

64 pp.

Ages 5-9

October 2020

 

Elise Gravel has endeared herself to young readers with her Disgusting Critters series but her new series, Arlo & Pips, undoubtedly will draw in more children particularly those early readers intrigued by graphic novels. With a pair of new feathered friends to teach through sharing, and Elise Gravel's trademark humour and artwork, Arlo & Pips will swoop onto bookshelves everywhere.

From Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

Arlo is a crow and Pips is a little yellow bird. When they meet, Arlo seems to think he is the grandest of birds. In fact, he claims the crow is the "king of the feathered world," hence the crown he places on his head. But little Pips is both curious and diplomatic, asking questions of the crow, rather than shaming him for his bravado. (Though, even after his little feathers get a  tad ruffled upon hearing Arlo sing, all Pips says is "You have an unusual voice.")

From Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

After the first story–the book is set up with three connected stories–which introduces Arlo and Pips and focuses on establishing some background about crows, like their ability to mimic sounds and to count because of their bigger brains, Elise Gravel has Pips take the newcomer Arlo on two trips, one to the big city and another to the beach.  In the city, Arlo is introduced to the noisy and littering humans before he enjoys some fries and uses his impressive acting to thwart a looting by another crow. In addition, readers will learn of crows' eating preferences and their predilection for shiny objects, of which Arlo has a remarkable collection.

From Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

 

At the beach, after tricking some awk-ing gulls and displaying his fine memory, Arlo becomes fixated on a shiny fork which he uses to pry open a shell before gifting it to Pips. The little yellow bird is most appreciative though Pips does make a point of telling Arlo, "You know, you really brag too much."

 

From Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

I think Elise Gravel is going to have a long and multi-volume relationship with Arlo and Pips as she blends a perfect combination of information, graphics and humour into her storytelling. Though Elise Gravel periodically notes key features of crows (red stars in the text are linked to a footnote with related details), it's the dialogue between the two unlikely friends that truly drives the story. The play of bravado and sarcasm with mutual respect helps teach and entertain. Moreover, as the digitally-rendered illustrations consistently place the emphasis on the main characters, Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds is all about the birds. But with Elise Gravel at the drawing board or rather her computer, learning is fun and funny, and I look forward to more learning with Arlo and Pips in their second book, Join the Crow Crowd!

Hatch

Written by Kenneth Oppel

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-44345-688-3

416 pp.

Ages 10-14

September 2020

 

When readers first met Anaya, Petra and Seth in Bloom, Book 1 in Kenneth Oppel's The Overthrow trilogy, the three teens were helping to battle an alien invasion of plants–black grass, vines and pit plants–that threatened their community on Salt Spring Island and around the world. They had also discovered that they all dreamed of special powers–running, swimming and flying, respectively–that corresponded with the unusual growths that had plagued their bodies, namely claws and excessive hair for Anaya, a tail and scaly skin on Petra, and bony growths akin to wings for Seth.  Now a new threat has arrived.

From a weird rain that deposits eggs, strange new creatures develop that Dr. Weber and the others look to study. But then the military, as led by Colonel Pearson alongside the new Dr. Ritter, having learned of the kids' cryptogenic DNA, announce that brain scans reveal transmitters in their brains, and fear that they have been communicating with the cryptogens who intend to invade. The kids are "detained as a threat to national security under the War Measures Act" (pg. 33) at a secret underground bunker with other young hybrids who are numbered and classified as runners, swimmers and flyers. 

This did not seem like a good sign. If you gave someone a number, it was because you were taking away their home. And once you took away someone's home, it was a lot easier to take away whatever you wanted. (pg. 41)

Under the direction of Dr. Ritter, the young people are measured and tested and drilled to develop their skills. Meanwhile, Anaya, Petra and Seth make new friends within their groupings, with Petra meeting the muscular Darren who is convinced they are being trained to be soldiers and Anaya making the acquaintance of the brilliant Charles. But it's Seth fraternization with the quiet Esta that becomes the most intense, as he makes a real connection with her though she evokes dissension between the friends with claims of the flyers' superiority.

But everything changes when Anaya is taken to the surface and allowed to connect with the cryptogens to pinpoint their location. Instead she learns that they can communicate telepathically and she is able to do so with a cryptogen, learning why they are targeting Earth and involving the hybrids.

Kenneth Oppel got our attention with Bloom but he keeps us breathless with the unrelenting action in Hatch. From dealing with dangerous and toxic plants to evolving insects of massive destruction force (the worm has a mouth with "spiraling blades that looked like the turbine of a drilling machine"; pg. 10) and the protagonists learning more about their capabilities, and sadly also their shocking predilections, Hatch reveals a precarious world where aliens i.e., cryptogens look to communicate with humans through hybrid beings like Anaya, Petra and Seth. But who is friend and who is foe both on earth and from other worlds is ever-changing and poses problems for all as the kids try to do the right thing for their families, communities, planet and themselves.

Hatch, as did Bloom, brings one story to an end but introduces a new one with its last words. When the third book in the trilogy, Thrive, finally drops in May 2021, we hope Kenneth Oppel will finally share with young readers the true nature of the aliens and whether they, or even some of them, offer hope or harm. Eight months seems almost too long to wait when the world is in the balance because of an alien invasion.

 

The Overthrow series from Kenneth Oppel:

Bloom (February 2020)

Hatch (September 2020)

Thrive (May 2021)