This interview originally appeared in the July/August 2018 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Debut Authors, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a chance to each highlight a book from its current list. They choose the books; we ask the questions.

Sponsored by

“Am I disturbed? School says I am. Social worker says I am. Teachers say I am.” But as The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary makes clear, Macy is also passionate, loyal, and determined (and, yes, a handful).

1. Did you know a Macy?

I grew up with and have fostered and taught many Macys. I may be part Macy.

2. How do you get readers on the side of someone so determined to be unlikable?

Maybe Horn Book, Booklist, Foreword, VOYA, etc., and my Dear Readers have been reading books about unlikable male characters (written by males) so long, they’ve had practice? Or maybe it’s worth scaling Macy’s barbed-wire fence to see the rioting beauty of her soul? Both?

3. Do you have a favorite “diary” novel?

Nope. My writing is inspired by Márquez, Neruda, and other Latinx greats. I have been accused of drawing from The Odyssey and Huck Finn, however.

4. What was your survival strategy for high school?

I almost didn’t. BOOKS!

5. Macy dreams of going to Canada. Would life in fact be better there?

With Trump in power here in the United States, I’m tempted to say YES. And, I mean, the diversity in Toronto is off the hook. But since Canada has gotten called out by the UN for its treatment of Indigenous people, that’s a hard no. Macy will learn there’s no escaping injustice. She’ll learn to use her voice to confront it head-on right where she stands.

Sponsored by