Guest Author: Catherine Austen!

Today's guest is Catherine Austen, a Canadian author with two brand new books out this fall.  26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6 is a fun, light-hearted romp through the perils of kidhood.  All Good Children is a teen dystopian that reminds me a little of Lauren Oliver's Delirium (only better).

Catherine's in the midst of a blog tour, and will be dropping by throughout the day to answer your questions in the comments.  And please do comment!  I have a copy of 26 Tips and a copy of All Good Children to give away, which means you have two chances to win.  All comments must be received by 11:59 PM Atlantic Time, Sunday Dec 4 to be eligible.

LEC: With its episodic structure, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6 reminded me strongly of Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume's Fudge books. Were you a fan of their writing as a kid? What influences, literary or otherwise, led you to choose this type of plotting?

CA: I wrote the first part of the book years ago as a self-contained story, and it seemed more sensible to add new episodes with the same characters rather than stretch a story into a novel.

I did like Judy Blume as a kid. I have no recollection of Beverly Cleary’s books (but I have no recollection of much of my early life, so I might have led a Ramona fan club for all I know).
 

LEC: The story revolves around the friendship of Becky (our everygirl heroine) and Violet (the "super-talented new kid"). Tell us about how you created these characters, and how their interactions are key to Becky's sixth-grade survival.

CA: When my oldest son was in kindergarten, he made a friend who was smart and kind and beautiful and athletic and everybody just loved him – man, what an annoying friend to have! I took that premise and wrote the characters as girls. Once I delved into it as a story instead of a life lesson, Becky’s personality took me over. Or I took over hers. We are a blending of minds, that girl and me.

Friendship is vital for most of us, especially in the savage jungle that is grade six. While Becky’s interest in Violet is mixed with status issues at first, their friendship grows because of genuine caring. They see each other’s flaws and like each other anyway – that kind of friend can help you survive anything.

LEC: I agree - those are the best kind of friends!  I've read reviews and articles about other books for grade sixers that are quite critical of authors' decisions to include dating content in stories for this age group. And yet, that was the year a boy first asked me on a date (I didn't actually go on one until I'd graduated high school, but that's a different story entirely). Were you concerned about gatekeeper response while writing about Becky's crushes? Do you think the reason many adults condemn contemporary children's literature is because they don't (or choose not to) remember what it was really like to be a kid?

CA: I do expect some criticism, and I shake my head at it. To say a book shouldn’t show kids this age excited about a date or a cute boy suggests there’s something dirty about those feelings. (Damned Freudians.) This is not the kind of date you went on after high school.

The circus story – Becky out with Scott and friends, being smitten with the acrobat – is based on my sixth grade life. (Alas, I never saw the acrobat again.) I also had a crush on one of my older brother’s friends, like Violet does. These things are authentically eleven. 

I don’t think such critics remember what it’s like to be a kid. And they seem to project an adult sexuality onto these scenes - something that doesn’t exist in the text or the characters or the kids they’re based on. (“Those kids must be up to no good,” I can almost hear them mutter.)

The criticism may stem from fear – we don’t want to pressure girls to grow up too fast. I get that. But fear can become paranoia. There is a lot of anxiety and danger in kids’ lives today, but there is a lot of silly innocent fun, too. And kids need that in their novels. They need funny books that show boys and girls interacting goofily as part of young life, and that show older boys and men responding appropriately to crushes. I cannot stress that last point enough. We can’t close the gates on dates and crushes in books like this and just leave kids with gritty stories of predators.

Open the gates and let kids go to the circus, for god’s sake.

LEC: Tip #3 - "Be yourself - unless you're mean and jealous and a total jerk, in which case try to be someone else," - got the biggest giggle out of me. Which one of Becky's tips is your favourite?

CA: Honesty is not the most convenient policy. (That’s a life motto for me.)

LEC: So why 26 tips? Is it purely for alliterative reasons, or is there an inside alphabet joke here, too?

CA: No, there is no inside alphabet joke. (Damn, I wish we’d talked before it was published.)

LEC: Many writers find their niche and stick comfortably within it. You, however, have just released two books that are completely different in age group, audience, subject matter, approach, and tone. I'm curious - did you write them together? And was it difficult finding two such distinct voices?

CA: I didn’t write them together, but it wasn’t difficult finding the two voices. I felt completely immersed in each of them.

I do sometimes think I could use a niche, marketing-wise, but I don’t expect I’ll ever have one. I’m moody.

LEC: All Good Children unfolds in three parts, and at the beginning of each section, you quote children's poetry from the 19th century - a time when children's literature was much less about entertainment and more about teaching kids how to behave. These quotes are a vivid reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Tell us what you think parents really mean when they tell their kids to "be good."

CA: They mean “be easy on me” - don’t cause trouble, don’t demand too much, do what is asked of you and do it well.

Raising children is hard - they have so much energy and so much to explore, and they will take all your time, your money, and your last stick of Kit Kat without saying thanks. There are days when parents just can’t handle any more demands. One shot in the arm and it’s so much easier...

Then, too, it is the role of parents to raise their young to survive on their own in the world, and that often conflicts with real goodness. A compassionate self-actualized critical thinker who can’t hold a job might croak, “Thanks, Mom,” as his last words.

Parents are often conflicted over wanting their kids to be successful (“good”) vs. authentic. But I think there’s something like that in all relationships – with children, parents, lovers, friends – we want them to be who is easiest and best for us, who fulfills our needs and fits our aspirations, instead of who they really are. It’s this horrible controlling thing we do to each other. We have to fight against it. And that’s not easy. (But it’s good.)

LEC: Many books in the teen dystopian category extrapolate an aspect of society so far to the extreme that they're almost comforting, because it's hard to believe things could ever get that bad. It seemed to me that All Good Children takes a different approach. The differences between your society and our own are so small, it's all too easy to envision the future you create. That's what makes the book so terrifying. Tell us how you became interested in behaviour modification, and how it became central to this riveting story.

CA: I took a course on child development a few years ago and one student admitted that she spanked her children. The rest of the class was horrified; the teacher referred to it as abuse. But no one raised an eyebrow when we studied medications commonly used to control the exact kinds of behaviour people used to spank their kids for.

At the same time, I read a news story in the US about a school board that took a family to court to force them to medicate their unruly child. The school lost, but I could easily see how, in a more precarious economic climate where you’re lucky to get in school at all, a school would win.

Cosmetic pharmacology is big business. We live in a medicated world in North America and we are never satisfied. Throw in economic crisis, a widening gap between rich and poor, and a lot of bratty kids raised by today’s toddlers, and who knows what will happen.

LEC: Despite (or maybe because of) his prickles, his trouble-making, and his very smart mouth, I fell in love with Max on the very first page. How did his character develop? What makes him so suited for his rebellious role?

CA: I think Max suits his role because he’s so bright and he loves so hard. He has a great combination of arrogance and vulnerability.

I didn’t have a full grasp on his character until my first revision. He changed age, colour, and habits. His attitude was always there but it was only when I had his language that he became complete and intensely real.

To show how well-educated he is, I got rid of the casual phrases and words from my first draft, replacing them with better, brighter wording because that’s what he is. Max wouldn’t say “got rid of”, he would say “eliminated”. He doesn’t speak like I speak. He is so not-me. He sees things like an artist. He describes things with metaphors. He carries themes of colour and history through his entire story. He loves language, though his wording fails a bit as he falls apart through the book.

Once I had his way of using words, I was right in his head. And I got stuck there a bit - I took on some of his odd vocabulary, started calling my kid Dallas by mistake, saw my life from his perspective as old and dry as dust. It was great.

LEC: The idea of initiative is an important one in this story. Let's say all children in New Middletown received their "vaccinations," losing their incentive, and another 50 years went by. What consequences would you predict for this society? How do you think surviving, untreated adults would respond at that point?

CA: They would regret it because they’d be heading to their own treatment in the old folks’ home by then.

I would hope that the top students left untreated would bring down this horrible dystopia rather than continue it.

Encouraging initiative is central to a free society. Openness and creativity and trial and error and wacky individuality are behind some of the very best things about the USA and it would be disastrous to lose those. They’d be left with nothing but their massive war machine.

LEC: As in 26 Tips, friendship (between Max and Dallas, and Max and Xavier) is a key component of All Good Children. Is this a common theme in your other books as well?

CA: Finding friends, losing friends, lacking friends – they’re in all my stories. I have always desperately wanted one of those fictional friendships that are so close you wonder if the friends are gay at heart, like one of those Sam and Frodo things. (I’d want to be Frodo. Who on earth would want to be Sam?)

LEC: Will Max return in a sequel to All Good Children? What are you working on now?

CA: Yes he will. I’m not quite done it. I’m also working on a horror-comedy called Dead Dogs. And I’m always writing and polishing picture books. 

LEC: Thanks for a fascinating discussion, Catherine!

Remember, Catherine will be hanging out in the comments section today, to answer your questions!  I'm also giving away a copy of 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, and a copy of All Good Children - comment by 11:59 PM Atlantic Time, Sunday Dec 4 for your chance to win!