TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe!
Give us your elevator
pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?
The Black Kids is a coming of age story about a
privileged teenage Black girl set against the backdrop of the 1992 LA Riots. As
the city burns around her, she’s forced to question who is the “us” and who is
the “them”.
Which character did
you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the most trouble,
and why?
I most enjoyed creating LaShawn. I think so many portrayals
of young Black men from South LA are so reductive and I really wanted to write
a character who reflected the humor, thoughtfulness, sensitivity, ambition and
frustrations of people I’ve known and loved. I also wanted to make sure he was
a complex character who makes his own mistakes and wasn’t just a symbol.
I most struggled with my lead character, Ashley. Some things
about her came to me easily, and some did not. I wasn’t like her as a teenager
at all, but many of her concerns and struggles were the same ones I had as a
Black girl in decidedly non-Black spaces for most of my life. I wanted to make
sure she was somebody who was messy, delicate, a little lost. She’s somebody
who makes some serious mistakes, but she’s able to learn from them and come out
the other side of it as a better, more thoughtful and more empathetic human
being. I think some readers struggle with characters being unlikeable,
especially female characters. The fact that Ashley was an occasionally unlikeable
Black female character at that was a bit scary to write.
Tell us a bit about
the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.
Highs - I was elated and super fortunate that Simon &
Schuster Books for Young Readers pre-empted it. I had been absolutely terrified
of people not understanding Ashley and her journey and not seeing the value in
this book, so for an imprint I respected to have such a vote of confidence in
it and me was incredible. I’ve worked with such a great team of people, and
I’ve felt super supported throughout the publication journey.
Lows – In the midst of writing the book, both of my maternal
grandparents died and it had been so important to me that they get to
experience it and be proud of what I’d accomplished. Overall, I had an
emotionally chaotic few years while writing it and there were plenty of times
that I was ready to give up on it and myself. I think in a lot of ways the book
kept me going and focused on something other than the weight of my feelings. In
terms of the actual editing of the book, my wonderful first editor switched
houses, and I was kind of afraid of what that would mean for the book, but
luckily all my worrying was for naught.
What’s your favorite
piece of writing advice?
Kill Your Darlings – Sometimes you just have to hold your
nose and do it! We fall in love with passages or characters or even whole
sequences that don’t end up serving the narrative. I actually kind of love
cutting things out and moving things around and seeing if there’s a way to make
something even more beautiful out of what was there. It’s frustrating for a
while, but when it finally works, it’s like you get to fall in love with your
story all over again.
How did you find the
title of your book?
For such a simple title, it really is multifold. The
Black Kids, as a title, originated with the short story. At first, I wasn’t
sure if I should use it for the book, but it really feels like it encompasses
the book as nothing else does. It reflects on Ashley’s journey of coming to
embrace her blackness and what it means to be one of “the Black kids”. In a lot
of predominantly white institutions, I’ve found that there’s often this othering
and lumping together of “the Black kids” as a monolith and I wanted to confront
that head-on. The title is also reflective of all the Black kids throughout the
story—everyone from Latasha Harlins, whose death was among the real-life
catalysts for the unrest, to the experiences of Ashley’s parents and her
grandmother as Black children moving through a world that often doesn’t
celebrate, protect and uplift black innocence.
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