Find more great Horn Book content at these links:

Interviews with authors and illustrators
Recommended books: reviews and themed booklists
App and e-book reviews
Movie reviews
Event news and recaps
Events calendar

Jennifer L. Holm on Full of Beans

by Betty Carter
Aug 02, 2016 | Filed in Authors & Illustrators
holm_jenIn our July/August 2016 issue, reviewer Betty Carter asks author Jennifer L. Holm about the inspiration for her new novel Full of Beans. Read the full starred review.

Betty Carter: You have a knack of making a story so time-specific (the Great Depression in Full of Beans, for example), yet so universal in theme. What inspires you first, the setting or the human condition?

Jennifer L. Holm: Definitely the human condition. For Full of Beans, I had a photo stuck in my head from when I was doing research for Turtle in Paradise. It was of a little lane in Key West simply towering with huge piles of rotting garbage. The town couldn’t afford to pay trash collectors, and this was the obvious result. I couldn’t help but wonder what a kid would think about that garbage (or that smell).

Betty Carter
Betty Carter, an independent consultant, is professor emerita of children’s and young adult literature at Texas Woman’s University.

Be the first reader to comment.

Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.

RELATED 

NOTES FROM THE HORNBOOK

Five questions for Kusum Mepani and Yasmeen Ismail
by Horn Book
INTERVIEWS

Carole Boston Weatherford Talks with Roger
by Roger Sutton
INTERVIEWS

Publishers' Preview: Fall 2024: Five Questions for Sharon M. Draper
by Roger Sutton
INTERVIEWS

Publishers' Preview: Fall 2024: Five Questions for Christie Matheson
by Roger Sutton
INTERVIEWS

Publishers' Preview: Fall 2024: Five Questions for George M. Johnson and Charly Palmer
by Roger Sutton
INTERVIEWS

Publishers' Preview: Fall 2024: Five Questions for Codie Crowley
by Roger Sutton
More
RECOMMENDED
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?