Leon Levels Up: Q & A with author Paul Coccia

Leon Levels Up 

 (Orca Currents)

Written by Paul Coccia
Orca Book Publishers
978-1-459837355
112 pp.
Ages 9-12
RL 2.3
February 2024

Reviewed here

 

On Feburary 16, 2024, I reviewed Paul Coccia's latest novel, a hi-lo middle grade story titled Leon Levels Up. With the official launch coming soon, Paul Coccia graciously agreed to a Q & A with me about the book. This is that interview.

 

 • • • • • • •

 

Author Paul Coccia

Helen Kubiw:  Leon Levels Up is definitely a story embedded in gaming. Why choose this is as a vehicle for your plot?

Paul Coccia:  There were the inspirations of my nephew and friend to whom I dedicated the book. My friend got a rather expensive virtual reality gaming system during the pandemic (when the book idea was conceived) and I realized that during isolation, the online world and gaming allowed a lot of people to connect virtually when we couldn’t in-person. My nephew loves video games and it seemed like a story premise that would appeal to kids.
     This next reason will sound writerly in some ways, but I was thinking about the child main character and their agency. When I thought of my chubby, non-athletic Leon who (like me) is not very good at sports, I also thought about where he would feel empowered. The virtual world provided the opportunity for Leon to feel strong and do things he’d never be able to do in the real world. Thinking about why a person would gravitate to video games gave me insight into Leon’s character and how he could be an action hero.

HK:  You acknowledge help from others with the topic of gaming, but do you do any gaming or did you try gaming to understand it better?

Paul Coccia:  I’m a very casual video game player and tend toward classic big-name franchises you’d likely find on the Nintendo systems. I’ve tried and found out that the first-person perspective a lot of games (and virtual reality) use is a sure way to have my character stuck in a corner. I can’t figure it out! Give me one of those dance competition video games though and I can get that choreography down quickly though.
     I do enjoy playing video games though, especially with one of my brothers or my nephew. I find it relaxing and entertaining, but I can go long periods without missing playing them. I enjoy the interactions with them more than I do the actual games.

HK:  Though Leon Levels Up is a piece of fiction, how real is the possibility of the tech that Leon and Nico play with at Pix Grid?

Paul Coccia:  All the technology presented in the novel is already in existence.  Nanobots, for example, have existed for years. I read they were being used for medical procedures and thought that was a cool use of modern technology.
      I wanted the game to be entirely possible in terms of technology and where it is today. However, someone making a game that involves tanks of nanobots in a gel is unlikely. Besides safety, there are hygiene concerns for cleaning the tank. The big deterrent would be the cost of making it combined with very few people being able to afford it. No video game company would take this on because it would cost a fortune. Is it possible though? Absolutely! 

HK:  Do you think Nico only used Leon so that he could get Gabs to let him play Dragon Hunt? Or do you think he saw something beyond what Leon could do for him?

Paul Coccia:  This question is very insightful. Nico is a character who thinks a lot of himself. When he invited Leon to play Dragon Hunt, Nico honestly felt the only person who had the skills worthy of playing with the great Nico was Leon. Nico wanted someone on his level of gaming. Leon was the only one who could possibly match or rival Nico’s skill in Nico’s eyes. This made Leon a worthy opponent/co-gamer. I don’t think readers would be surprised I think of Nico with this level of hubris.

HK:  Too many people see themselves only in terms of others, as does Leon. So, it’s not surprising that someone like Leon sees himself as “low level” when he compares himself to someone like Nico. What would you say to teens who only see themselves in terms of others? And would this be the same thing you would tell your teen self now?

Paul Coccia:  I think comparison is natural as is wanting and liking external validation, although it is not always fruitful. If all we look for is external validation, we will always be looking for an outside source for it. Internal validation, while it can be a difficult process, is a better investment for emotional energy. You can and should also consider if the person’s opinion you value is worth valuing and why.
     For my younger self, I would advise the sooner I stopped focusing on what people who don’t matter in my life thought I should do, I’d free up a lot of time and energy. With those, I can not only do things fulfilling to me, but appreciate, admire, and celebrate others without the negative effects of comparison. I can only be the best me; I can’t be the best someone else.


HK:   The hi-lo genre (high interest, low vocabulary) like that of the Orca Currents series is a popular one for older readers who may be challenged by reading. What are the challenges for you as an author to write a hi-lo novel?

Paul Coccia:  I find the length of hi-los the most challenging aspect. I find it easiest naturally to work in longer novel form. Things like word choice, sentence length, or complexity of the plot can be challenges, but they’re also incredibly rewarding when you know you’re hitting the mark. I find certain elements that make successful hi-lo books (e.g. dialogue tags like “he said”) are used more and can sound a bit clunky when writing or reading, but they are important for the hi-lo reader. Using a dependent clause as a sentence is another that technically is incorrect writing, but a hi-lo writer needs to break the rules for their readers’ success.

HK:  Leon Levels Up is a true coming-of-age story as Leon recognizes worth outside of materialism and popularity, becoming more grounded in realism as he immerses himself in the unreal. How hard is it to write a coming-of-age story in which a character must progress or develop in such a big way but in fewer pages than other novels?

Paul Coccia:  I’m a character-driven writer. It’s all about the character with me so length affecting character arc wasn’t as bad as the action was. Because Leon is running for his life quite literally a big chunk of the book, it became harder to build in situations where the character could stop and reflect. He’s too busy reacting physically to stop and have complex emotions beyond fear. In editing, I went back through to find where those moments could exist and build them out to help the reader get into Leon’s mind and understand his inferiority.
     One element of Leon that was very enjoyable to write was his age. Leon isn’t so young he is unaware of the world around him. He also isn’t too old to hide his vulnerabilities or emotions. Leon had a sweetness and sincerity to him I particularly liked writing.
 

 

HK:  I know you have a picture book coming out, and have written middle grade, young adult, and a short story as part of an anthology. Which genre was the most satisfying to write and which was the most difficult to write?

Paul Coccia:  One of the nice things about switching genres or audiences is getting to flex writing muscles I don’t always use like with articles or personal essays I’ve written for adults or the short story in Acorn Press’ The Annethology. Each project has helped me learn and deepen my respect for literature, particularly children’s literature.

     I’ve gotten a lot of satisfaction from each stab at a genre but know that my comfort zone is young adult novels.

     Picture books are a whole new challenge. They are hard! Writing them does not come easily to me. I have such admiration for picture book authors and illustrators who make it look easy. You need to be concise, choose few and just the right words, and still craft great stories and characters. They’re very rewarding, but less words do not equal less skill required. I think the opposite may be true.

 

• • • • • • •

Many thanks to Paul Coccia for being open to a Q & A, for taking the time to answer my questions, and for giving me a different perspective on a fabulous book which I had already enjoyed. Now I have more to think about, particularly, "I can only be the best me; I can’t be the best someone else." These are words to live by.

• • • • • • •

 

Great news: there's a book launch coming! 

Join Paul Coccia 

 

at

A Different Drummer Books

513 Locust Street

Burlington, Ontario

on

 

Saturday, April 6, 2024

1 PM (local time)

It's a great opportunity to pick up a signed copy of Leon Levels Up, meet Paul Coccia, and learn more about his book. 

Hope to see you there!

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.

• • • • • • •

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.  

• • • • • • •