I Got You Babe: Guest interview with author Paul Coccia

I Got You Babe

Written by Paul Coccia

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459834705

120 pp.

Ages 9-13

Release February 14, 2023

Reviewed here

 

Yesterday CanLit for LittleCanadians reviewed Paul Coccia's upcoming novel, I Got You Babe. Today I present an interview conducted by student Hasini K. with author Paul Coccia. 13-year-old Hasini read I Got You Babe and prepared questions for author Paul Coccia to delve a little deeper into his new book. Paul Coccia, ever gracious, agreed to answer her questions and even visited with Hasini virtually to chat about the book. 

Here is their Q & A.

 

Author Paul Coccia

 • • • • • • •




Hasini:  In the novel, Mac and Amy propose to change the annual Fun Fair into a Pride Carnival theme. Their idea is welcomed and the committee supports the change.  What would you say to your LGBTQ+ readers if they find themselves in a less than supportive environment?



 

Paul Coccia:  My first concern would always be whether a reader is in harm’s way. I wouldn’t want to see someone in physical or emotional trouble due to advocating for something they believe in nor would I want them in an environment that is damaging to their well-being. That aside, I would advise trying to open a dialogue. Be forthcoming about how you see the issue and try to understand why someone may object. The opposition may be something practical like budget constraints as in I Got You Babe. If the environment or people can’t or won’t be supportive, then I would suggest finding spaces and people that can. Too often, we give too much time and space to negative people or situations and, if possible, actively choosing positive things and giving them time in your life is a healthy move.

Hasini:  I really appreciated Mac’s desire for scheduling and organizing all the tasks needed for the Pride Carnival Fun Fair.  Would you say that this represents you or how might you be different?


 

Paul Coccia:  I do enjoy planning and organization and am impressed by someone who can pull off a big event and make it seem effortless. Where I differ from Mac is, as a writer, sometimes it’s a lot more satisfying to plan something in my mind than it is to actually do the work to get it going in reality. When I’m writing (or reading for that matter), there are more possibilities. In my mind, I throw these really elaborate parties with the best food and all my friends get to come. I plan them, but I might need an Amy in my life to push me to get it done.

 

Hasini:  When brainstorming for the Fun Fair, Mac had a lot of great ideas for the Pride Carnival theme.  Naturally, he was disappointed when the committee told him too many were unrealistic and they didn’t have the budget for all of it.  What would you say to kids who have to deal with disappointment?


 

Paul Coccia:  Disappointment, unfortunately, is something we all deal with. Authors and illustrators will tell you, we get these fantastic ideas, and sometimes they don’t end up turning into books. At least not easily. A lot of times, it is due to factors entirely out of our control. I started trying to get published at 17. It took me a couple of decades to get one of my great ideas turned into my first book. Being patient and waiting for a moment to arrive is incredibly frustrating and disheartening. Sharon Jennings’ Unravel is a great example of a book that took her over a decade to get published and it became a Governor General’s Award Finalist. So, don’t give up. Your best ideas will find their time and place if they’re important to you.

 

 

Hasini:  Mac and Amy have a very strong friendship.  How might this friendship inspire the readers of your book?  Also, do you have a friendship that inspired these characters?


 

Paul Coccia:  The backstory! Mac and Amy were inspired by my younger brother and his friend. They met before kindergarten and have remained close since. In eighth grade, they put on a Sonny and Cher routine for the school talent show where she was Sonny and he was Cher.

I hope one takeaway is that in a friendship, there can be room for two divas with lots of mutual respect. That can mean taking time to listen to someone and hear what they want and need not just try to pull them into orbit around you no matter how fabulous you are.

 

 

Hasini:  I noticed that pronouns weren’t used for Mac for the first 50 pages of the book.  Was there a specific reason you delayed using the pronoun ‘he’?


 

Paul Coccia:  I wish I had been clever enough to notice! I would have removed the rest of the masculine pronouns and left the decision on pronouns up to the reader. Readers are already active participants in books so I’d be happy to let them decide. Alas, I was not that smart. From a craft perspective, the story is told from the first-person point of view and Mac usually refers to himself as ‘I’ or ‘me’ while others call him by name or ‘you.

 

 

Hasini:  I love that the name Chandra was used in your book.  I am not used to seeing my culture represented in books.  Was there a reason for the name choices of your characters?  


 

Paul Coccia:  I, and so many authors and illustrators I know, intentionally try to be inclusive when we create stories. Part of that means finding ways and places for all sorts of characters to exist in the worlds we write. First and last names are an understated tool for any writer as they have the benefit of characterizing quickly and efficiently by hinting at cultural heritage. Amy’s and Mrs. Khatri’s surnames did this too. That aside, Chandra is a beautiful name. There is a goldmine of names that are not used enough that authors can look up. When I am trying to include a character that has a specific heritage or background, I look up the most popular baby names or surnames in the country the character’s family would have originated from for the year I imagine the character was born.

 

 

Hasini:  Mac is insistent on representing a strong woman in the Pride Carnival Talent Show.  Why did you choose for him to want this?  How might you have participated in the show if you were one of the characters?


 

Paul Coccia:  Personally, I was so lucky to grow up in a house with many strong women so I tend to bring that into my writing whenever I can. I also really, really love Cher. She is the Goddess of Pop!

The LGBTQ+ community, in particular gay men, has looked toward strong and often transgressive people, notably women, as icons. Often, these women are such strong allies to the Queer Community. When I think of Mac, he really does have a strong sense of who he is and that, like many icons, he’s ahead of his time. He would naturally identify with a larger-than-life celebrity like Cher who has remained relevant for decades throughout her career. 

 

As for a talent show routine, I lean more toward visual art or culinary arts. If I could bake on stage, I’d have a decent shot at winning something. I can’t sing or dance though, not that that stopped Mac.

 

Hasini:  It is mentioned briefly in the story that Mac deals with bullies in the school. What would you say to kids reading the book who are dealing with bullying?


 

Paul Coccia:  If you’re being bullied, seek help. This could mean finding an adult or authority figure to intervene or seeking professional help. This may be hard to do as I’ve found an element of shame and self-doubt accompanies being bullied. Finding a way to stop the bullying and healing from it is important.

If you are a bully, I would strongly suggest you reflect and consider if this is the person you want to be. Perhaps you didn’t intend what happened. Then you should apologize and make amends. If you did intend to hurt someone, I wonder if this is a moment to be proud of. We all make mistakes and our actions have the effect of bringing us closer to a version of ourselves we’re proud for the world to see or farther away.

 

Hasini:  In the book, Mac’s mom makes some creative meals like kimchi hot dogs.  I see on Twitter that you are quite the baker.  Did you have creative meals at home growing up that influenced you and your character, Mac?

 

Paul Coccia:  We are an adventurous family for eating and cooking. I think having parents and grandmothers from different backgrounds in the house helped, as well as growing up in an area of Toronto different from our backgrounds. My family loves trying different foods from around the globe, whether we cook it or it is takeout. Our most inventive and peculiar dishes always come out of repurposing leftovers.  Thanksgiving dinner does really well with a Tex-Mex influence. Spaghetti makes a non-traditional but surprisingly satisfying pad Thai. It’s fun and a challenge to see how we can switch up a dish and turn it into something new. Similarly, in my first novel, Cub, the main character is particularly interested in fusion when he cooks. Food culture is one more place to literally feed my curiosity.

 • • • • • • •

 

Many thanks to both Hasini K. and author Paul Coccia for this interview. Hasini asked wonderfully in-depth questions about the writing and story of I Got You Babe and Paul Coccia gave us great insight into his process and motivation.  I'm so pleased to share their interview with CanLit for LittleCanadians readers.

Graphic from Orca Book Publishers

I Got You Babe (Orca Currents)

Written by Paul Coccia

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459834705

120 pp.

Ages 9-13

RL 2.1

February 2023

 

Twelve-year-old Mac Riley has lots of ideas. He has lots of big ideas. His ideas are so big that they are almost overwhelming. In fact, his ideas may be just a little too big especially if he can't see that they may be jeopardizing some of his relationships.

 

When Charles Middle School's parent association, headed by Mac's dad, meet to discuss their annual fundraising Fun Fair, students which include Mac and best friend Amy are invited to attend. Mac, with Amy's tech assistance, suggests that they redo their boring Fun Fair with a Pride-themed event that is fresh and inclusive. Mac, who loves a bit of flash, from his clothing to his attitude, suggests everything from a rainbow-striped bouncy castle, a dunk tank and multicoloured cotton candy, to fireworks and a talent show with the winner crowned "Sparkling Crown of the Carnival." Though the committee recognizes that it might be too expensive to have it all and that there might be some pushback, they decide to go ahead. 

But Mac goes a little overboard with his plans, convinced he has something to prove.

"I wasn’t sure they were going to go for the carnival idea. Now that they have, it’s like I’ve got something to prove. It has to be great. It has to make money. People have got to like it. It needs to be epic.” (pg. 19)

Though Amy reminds him that the carnival isn't about him, Mac just steamrolls ahead with his plans, including planning on him and Amy winning the lip sync contest by depicting Cher and Sonny respectively. Amy tries to tell him that she's apprehensive of dressing like Sonny while Mac gets to dress in drag, but he just demands they rehearse daily and that she tries harder. 

Mac might be following the "go big or go home" precept but he doesn't realize that he's acting like the carnival is all about him. He may want to emulate the strong woman that Cher is but, instead of focusing on her iconic nature, he's acting like a diva. Will the Pride Carnival be the inclusive success Mac envisions or is he putting his relationships in jeopardy, and about to suffer the same fate as the famous duo, just to prove something?

If you don't know Sonny and Cher's song "I Got You Babe," take a listen to any version, video or audio, of Sonny Bono's song. It's catchy and heartening and will remind you that support doesn't require anything but being there. The song may be about a romantic relationship, but Paul Coccia's story goes beyond that singular type of relationship. I Got You Babe tells us that whether it's a friendship or a parent-child relationship or even self-love, support with understanding for strengths and flaws helps us through. Mac is imperfect–aren't we all?–but he learns from his mistakes and he does so  because there are those that support him, like his friend Amy and his father and his mother. With that kind of support, anything is possible: growth, love, and even winning a talent show.  And Paul Coccia makes us realize that it's all possible. This hi-lo (high interest, low vocabulary) story may be written at an easier reading level for middle-grade readers but its story is accessible to everyone. Paul Coccia writes a story about kids that are thinking outside the box and wanting to do interesting things. But what they get, in addition to a great school fundraising event, is learning that others have their back and that's something we all need to know.

• • • • • • •

 

Image from Orca Book Publishers

We're going to help get the hype going for this new novel that comes out February 14, 2023. Along with  this review, I'll be posting an interview with author Paul Coccia tomorrow with student Hasini. And here is the book trailer for I Got You Babe from Orca Book Publishers.

I GOT YOU BABE Trailer

Uploaded by Orca Book Publishers on January 23, 2023 to YouTube.

The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor

Written and illustrated by Bushra Junaid

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917855

60 pp.

Ages 9-12

2022

Who was the 19th c. sailor whose remains were discovered in Labrador in the 1980s? Where did he come from? How did he live? What was the story of his death?  Bushra Junaid examines these questions and tells us the sailor's possible stories in poetic rhyme of historical depth.

From The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor by Bushra Junaid

In verse, Bushra Junaid speaks of the bones found on the Strait of Belle Isle and exposed by erosion in 1987 near the village of L'Anse au Loup. The bones suggest a young man of short stature and missing a forearm, with kinky hair and strong teeth. Alongside the bones were some clothing, shoes, a knife and a pouch, several carved with the initials W-H. Though the story of WH is lost, Bushra Junaid insists on remembering this man, as a memorial for "all the Black fathers and brothers who plied these waters, For all the unnamed mothers and daughters bound to plantations" and for all they experienced before and after becoming seafarers.

She wonders at his origins and the memories he may have carried from his homeland whether perhaps West Africa, the Caribbean, the American south or even Nova Scotia. Was he taken by force or did he enlist to be a sailor? Did he fight battles, learn to read and write or acquire other skills? Was he treated fairly or discriminated against? And what of his family? With her questions, Bushra Junaid gives WH's life a legacy.

All these things we can't possibly know–

They have only made my curiosity grow

About all the possible lives you have lived.

I don't know from whence you came,

And I don't know your rightful name, but you

Remain.

Respect is due. It's time that you

Were laid to rest anew.

From The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor by Bushra Junaid

Born to Jamaican and Nigerian parents, Bushra Junaid accepts a responsibility to tell the story of WH, in essence claiming his bones as family. And with the telling of these possible stories, Bushra Junaid ensures that WH is honoured and will never be forgotten to history.

Some may say I've got no skin in the game,

Yet if it's really all the same,

This child of the diaspora would like to claim

You as kin.

Bushra Junaid is the respected illustrator of Adwoa Badoa's Nana's Cold Days (Groundwood, 2002) but The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor is her debut picture book as author and illustrator, and I think she successfully tells a story with great heart and lyricism. WH's true history may never be known but he will not be dismissed, and her words make us think about what that history may be and what the artifacts may tell us and what they don't. (Appended to the story are photographs of these artifacts housed at The Rooms in St. John's NFLD as well as extensive background and historical notes and references.)

 

Though WH's story may be a simple one of birth, life and death, that story's context is complex. As such, the simplicity of Bushra Junaid's art of lines and shapes created from pen and ink and watercolours complement her words. There is far too much that could be part of WH's story, so by focusing on simple vignettes of villages or ships at sea, Bushra Junaid grounds the man in the tangible.

From The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor by Bushra Junaid

I know that teachers will undoubtedly be using The Possible Lives of WH, Sailor for teaching purposes, especially for history–a list of discussion questions as part of an appended teachers' guide will be ever so useful–but this picture book should be seen as an exemplar for empathy and compassion for times and people gone and unknown. History, legacies and ancestry cannot always be corroborated but by giving them attention, even through speculation, we honour them.

Crescent Moon Friends

Written by Wadia Samadi and Mo Duffy Cobb

Illustrated by Lisa Lypowy

Acorn Press

978 -1-773660967

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

2022

 

Two girls. Two cultures. Two families. Two sets of traditions. One moon under which their differences are more similar than at first seen.

From Crescent Moon Friends by Wadia Samadi and Mo Duffy Cobb, illustrated by Lisa Lypowy

Aisha joins Amelia's class in Canada after leaving war-torn Afghanistan. When they become reading partners, they also become friends, sharing traditions of their cultures from games and food to celebrations and beliefs.

As they share, they also learn. Amelia's family follows Islamic traditions of peace and prayer while Amelia's teaches compassion and kindness. The two girls also have different dispositions, Aisha leaning to the maths and sciences and Amelia to the arts. One has the heart and mind of a scientist while the other one of a dreamer and a poet. And though they both love the moon, they see it differently.

From Crescent Moon Friends by Wadia Samadi and Mo Duffy Cobb, illustrated by Lisa Lypowy

It's relevant that the crescent moon, an important symbol of Islam, draws the attention of both girls. Still even in their different relationships with the celestial body, they appreciate how it is seen by the other. 

Afghanistan-born Wadia Samadi and P.E.I.'s Mo Duffy Cobb wanted to tell a story of two different girls who find commonalities in their differences. And young readers will learn how being different is okay but also will recognize that the differences aren't as contrary as some might expect. Amelia and Aisha are just to girls who have been brought up in different traditions and, with the sharing of those traditions, their friendship is strengthened.

From Crescent Moon Friends by Wadia Samadi and Mo Duffy Cobb, illustrated by Lisa Lypowy

Whether she's depicting Canada or Afghanistan in her illustrations, Edmonton's Lisa Lypowy uses watercolours to keep them bright and atmospheric. Even with her colours and shapes, Lisa Lypowy shows how similar the girls and their lives are while different in temperaments, landscapes and weather, clothing and customs. 

Wadia Samadi and Mo Duffy Cobb end their book with blurbs about Prince Edward Island and Kabul, Afghanistan. In one last manifestation, they compare and contrast the two locations and help young readers see, yet again, that separating ourselves along lines of differences hurts us but finding our connections makes us better.

Sprout Branches Out

Written and illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner

Roaring Brook Press

978-1-250848789

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

January 2023

 

While some young people are happy to stay close to home, there are others who are driven to see what's out there, to take on a challenge of finding their own way and maybe something different and better. This story is for all who wonder about unimaginable opportunities and take the chance to find out.

From Sprout Branches Out by Jessika von Innerebner

Sprout lives on a porch with an assortment of other plants. But Sprout is not growing. She has only two leaves and she is convinced that if she were in the wild with bigger and wiser trees, real light and loads of water then she would flourish. One day, a flyer comes to the house promising a wonderful experience in nature and Sprout packs her bag and says, "Seed ya later!"

From Sprout Branches Out by Jessika von Innerebner

Sprout is encouraged by what she sees in the woods: loads of trees, some so leafy they have beards; animals; bushes; and grass. Then night comes.

She wanted the woods to put leaves on her chest, not make her shake like one!

From Sprout Branches Out by Jessika von Innerebner

 She heads out again, this time reaching an old growth forest where she is sure that with the knowledge of the tall and wise trees she will begin to grow. But their knowledge is far beyond her reach.

Let's dig in so you can hit a growth spurt. We'll start with math and square roots.

Again, Sprout moves on. This time she finds herself in a moist jungle, convinced the excess moisture will do the trick. But it, like the other places, is not what she expects or needs. Of course, this is when she realizes there is no place like home.

Kelowna's Jesssika von Innerebner has illustrated a number of picture books and chapter books, as well as written her own series, Kevin the Unicorn, but Sprout Branches Out is her first book for me to review on CanLit for LittleCanadians. If her wordplay and artwork in Sprout Branches Out is any indication of her talent, then I've been missing out. It's the playfulness of her art and her words that will tickle a young reader–and this old one–while telling a story about growing up and moving on but knowing that home can still be a pretty great place to be. Sprout's innocence is laced with hope for something better but her puns and those of her co-characters take the reader from the serious message to one of laughs. But, Jessika von Innerebner is first and foremost an artist and her illustrations reflect her expertise in bringing images to her message. They are lively and lighthearted and though she may stick primarily with a green palette–appropriate for a story characterized by plants and the wilds of the natural world–she gives us boldness and diversity of colour to show us the richness of Sprout's familiar and unfamiliar worlds.

 

We all know that the grass isn't always greener on the other side but sometimes you have to go take a look so that you can know how green your grass really is. For some, the journey will encourage us to seek out a new life but for others it will be a reminder that growth can happen at home too. (By the way, if your little one decides to start their own sprout, instructions are included.) For Sprout, she had to go out into the wild to come to the realization that home was a good place for her to grow. I guess branching out can sometimes lead to sticking to your roots.

Anna Maria & Maestro Vivaldi

Written by Jan L. Coates

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-645-2

32 pp.

Ages 6-9

2022

 

Though a fictionalized account of the relationship between historical persons Anna Maria dal Violin (also known as Anna Maria della Pietà) and composer Antonio Vivaldi, Anna Maria & Maestro Vivaldi is a telling story of a child's musicality and a mentorship that galvanized it.

From Anna Maria & Maestro Vivaldi by Jan L. Coates, illus. by François Thisdale

An orphan at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, Anna Maria is guided by the school's music director, Maestro Vivaldi. While other girls laugh at her ways, the child finds family and friendship, as well as her voice, in her violin through the music she sees as colours and textures. As a synesthete –"Music paints beautiful colours for me, and shapes"–Anna Maria is encouraged by Vivaldi who calls it a rare gift. Though she is only eight, he places her in the exclusive orphan choir called the Figlie del Coro. Ignoring the disapproval of the older musicians, she thrives, following his instructions–"Let your bow dance delicately, like a bee sipping nectar"–and pours herself into her music.

From Anna Maria & Maestro Vivaldi by Jan L. Coates, illus. by François Thisdale

When the Maestro takes her to see Marco Ricci's landscape paintings, to witness the inspiration for his latest poems which would become his Four Seasons, he decides Anna Maria will be the soloist for the concertos. And when she ultimately performs the masterpiece, her music paints each season as an image rife with colours and textures and heart. She is no longer alone; she has a famiglia musicale.

From Anna Maria & Maestro Vivaldi by Jan L. Coates, illus. by François Thisdale

Historical fiction does not often take a picture book format though it is an inspired configuration for blending the real with the fabricated. We know that Nova Scotian author Jan L. Coates builds her story on the real Vivaldi and Anna Maria but embeds it in speculation of the child's synesthesia–seeing colours and shapes with the music–and Vivaldi's mentorship of her. By allowing Anna Maria's music to grow and her gift to be nurtured, Vivaldi elevates his music along with the child. Anna Maria dal Violin may be known in musical circles, but Jan L. Coates introduces her here as a child with challenges. By focusing on her humble beginnings as an orphan without family, Jan L. Coates inspires young readers to find their passion, ignore the detractors and focus on that which brings joy and accomplishment. Anna Maria had to find her family in her music and she does so successfully, with Vivaldi's help.

I have always said that there is an ethereal quality to François Thisdale's illustrations. He blends acrylic painting and drawing with photography and digitally creates sublime artwork that may be grounded in reality, here in an 18th century Venice, but it has a heavenly nature with its filmy backgrounds. There may be a very real basilica and a charming tuxedo cat ever present, but Anna Maria's music takes her life into the celestial. Her feet may be planted on a patterned floor or rug but, when she sees the music which François Thisdale helps us see, she and her story are elevated to greater heights.

Anna Maria dal Violin may or may not have had synesthesia but her musicality which was nurtured by her relationship with Maestro Antonio Vivaldi is not in question. The two musicians may have been inspired in different ways but, in Jan L. Coates and François Thisdale's story, they will forever be linked as protégée and master, or rather Maestro, and their story will remain as colourful and textured as the music Anna Maria voiced.

The Tray of Togetherness

Written and illustrated by Flo Leung

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-462-7

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

November 2022 

While one part of the world has just celebrated the shift of the year from 2022 to 2023, another community will be preparing for the Lunar New Year on January 22. Across Asia and Asian diaspora globally, preparations are being made to ensure an advantageous Chinese New Year. There will be cleaning of households, purchasing of new clothes and fireworks, decorating with red lanterns and more, and, finally, the preparing of food for a multi-generational family dinner. And part of that meal will  be a tray of togetherness, a platter of sweets that carries tradition, good wishes and hospitality. 

From The Tray of Togetherness by  Flo Leung

With the arrival of her grandmother, a child knows it's time to start getting ready for the new year's party to celebrate the "new moon that begins each brand-new year." But first, they must head out to the shops to buy all the goodies to fill their tray of eight sections, a lucky number that "means our happiness will grow and grow." Each purchase is selected with care and meaning. From the candied winter melon for good health, candies for a sweet life and the pistachios for happiness, delectables are procured so that they might be shared along with good wishes.

From The Tray of Togetherness by  Flo Leung

Then the child and her family share those treats and accompanying good wishes with others, including at a red-festooned New Year party that brings family together both in person and virtually to celebrate.

Whether you are a young reader whose family will be celebrating the Lunar New Year or a teacher or parent who wants to use this new year as a teachable moment about heritage and diversity of celebrations, The Tray of Togetherness will foster a fellowship of understanding and appreciation. This may be Toronto illustrator Flo Leung's first picture book, but she knows food, she knows art, and she knows her family's traditions. Together she has created an explosion of brightness and comfort in her words and her illustrations and informs about traditions for the Lunar New Year. There is a warmth in her colours, with red, orange and gold emphasized throughout, and an invitation to share in the family's festivities and good fortune. Flo Leung, who specializes in food and culinary illustration, knows how to create enticing food images, whether in the form of a market stall, a tray of sweets or a bowl of fruit. But it's her people who welcome us into their world to bask in their conviviality and intimacy of familial celebration.

From The Tray of Togetherness by Flo Leung

Whether your family is celebrating the Lunar New Year with family and your own tray of togetherness or with a reading of The Tray of Togetherness, I wish you happiness and bounty for the new year.