How Katherine Applegate Created a Classic and Nabbed a Newbery
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THE RESULTS ARE IN THE LATEST BLOCKBUSTER OUTSTANDING! LIBRARIANS BOOST LEARNING MINECRAFT [ALA’S BOOK PICKS] MARCH 2013 How Katherine Applegate created a classic and nabbed a Newbery SLJ130301-MAG_0001 1 2/21/2013 1:22:33 PM n 1993 a certain New York Times article caught author Katherine Applegate’s eye. The piece, called “A Go- rilla Sulks in Mall as His Future Is Debated,” focused on the B & I Shopping Mall in Tacoma, WA, where a 500-pound gorilla languished while the humans around him determined his fate. Something about this ape named Ivan lodged itself deep into the crevices of Ms. Applegate’s brain. It wasn’t until more than a de- cade had passed that she returned to it. During that time, she’d written a pair of Harlequin romance novels, the enormously popular “Animorphs” series (Scholastic), a multitude of books for children, and the verse novel Home of the Brave (Feiwel & Friends, 2007). After agreeing to write two novels for HarperCollins, she rediscovered Ivan’s tale. “I found it so tragic and so compelling, but honestly, I was not sure it would work as a book,” she says. “I really had my doubts.” Now the newest winner of the Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children, IApplegate’s The One and Only Ivan has brought new attention to an author who has worked tirelessly on books for children for de- cades. At 56, she and her husband, fellow novelist Michael Scott, live with their two children (Jake, age 15, and Julia, 13), a cat named Lightning McQueen, and a dog named Stan (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Bob, the dog in her Newbery winner) in Tiburon, CA. Says Applegate, we “can see San Francisco, Alca- traz, and Angel Island from our porch, unless it’s foggy.” Funny and modest to a fault regarding her recent Newbery vic- tory, Applegate spoke with me less than a week after her historic win. SLJ130301-MAG_0024 1 2/20/2013 2:26:30 PM THE How Katherine Applegate created a classic and nabbed a Newbery ONEAND ONLY Fiction n 1993 a certain New York Times article caught author Katherine Applegate’s eye. The piece, called “A Go- BARCELO, François. My Daddy’s Footsteps. rilla Sulks in Mall as His Future Is Debated,” focused on the B & I Shopping Mall in Tacoma, WA, where ISBN 978-1-60754-359-6. ––––. My Mommy’s Hands. ISBN 978-1- a 500-pound gorilla languished while the humans around him determined his fate. Something about this 60754-362-6. ape named Ivan lodged itself deep into the crevices of Ms. Applegate’s brain. It wasn’t until more than a de- ea vol: tr. from French. illus. by Marc CIP. unavailable. cade had passed that she returned to it. During that time, she’d written a pair of Harlequin romance novels, PreS-K–In these French imports, a nameless the enormously popular “Animorphs” series (Scholastic), a multitude of books for children, and the verse boy anxiously awaits his parent. My Daddy’s Footsteps finds a boy and his mother poised novel Home of the Brave (Feiwel & Friends, 2007). After agreeing to write two novels for HarperCollins, 005) and Sally Gardner’s Mama, Don’t Go she rediscovered Ivan’s tale. “I found it so tragic and so compelling, but honestly, I was not sure it would Out Tonight (Bloomsbury, 2002) are livelier offerings for imaginative young worrywarts.– work as a book,” she says. “I really had my doubts.” Laura Butler, Moun Now the newest winner of the Newbery Medal for the most What was the first thing you ever published? distinguished contribution to American literature for children, I really made my way up through the trenches, and the first thing I published were psychology quizzes Electra LH Cursive -ital1 IApplegate’s The One and Only Ivan has brought new attention to in YM magazine—I think it was called Young Miss. an author who has worked tirelessly on books for children for de- It was kind of like Seventeen magazine. So I did a lot Electra Bold -bold1 cades. At 56, she and her husband, fellow novelist Michael Scott, of that, and the first book I published was a Harle- quin romance. I’m almost certain that I will be the live with their two children (Jake, age 15, and Julia, 13), a cat first Newbery winner to have published two Harle- named Lightning McQueen, and a dog named Stan (who bears quin romances. an uncanny resemblance to Bob, the dog in her Newbery winner) ITC Franklin Book in Tiburon, CA. Says Applegate, we “can see San Francisco, Alca- That’s a scoop! You know, I’ll tell you something. They are very Condensed Italic - traz, and Angel Island from our porch, unless it’s foggy.” hard to write. You follow the formula. It was a ital2 Funny and modest to a fault regarding her recent Newbery vic- really steep learning curve. And after that, I did ITC Franklin Gothic a bunch of ghosting. So again, I was learning to tory, Applegate spoke with me less than a week after her historic win. Medium Condensed - bold2 By Elizabeth Bird ITC Franklin Gothic Medium Condensed PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID PAUL MORRIS Italic - bold2italic www.slj.com MARCH 2013 School Library Journal 25 SLJ130301-MAG_0025 2 2/20/2013 2:26:40 PM write to a specific formula. I did, I think, around 17 “Sweet Val- look even at plot, which is probably why plot is a struggle for really fell into place. Anne loves words the same way I do, and ley Twins” [books]. me. I think about what the book looks like and how it feels. so we could go back and forth for three days trying to get a Maybe that discipline is helpful for me in terms of finding sentence just right. I love that. She’d say, “No, that’s not quite Was following a formula valuable? the right words. right.” “OK, we’ll try again.” And when you have that experi- I think it’s a little like basic training. It taught me the discipline But when I look at big sprawly novels, sometimes… my ence with an editor, you just feel so lucky. part of the writing. The stuff you want to get away with and you husband just finished [writing] 500 pages. I marvel at it, be- can’t, the continuity errors, and the inconsistencies in character- cause it’s so symphony and I’m so chamber music. I just don’t The real Ivan passed away on August 20, 2012. It must have been ization. I think for me, it was a very helpful think that way, and it seemed really ap- kind of bittersweet publishing Ivan the same year that he died. I tool. The one thing I never really learned propriate that since I was working with know you didn’t get a chance to meet him, but you attended his well was how to meet a deadline. an animal voice that it would be small memorial. and poetic. Oh, that was so touching! And I almost didn’t go because, Did it feel natural to you to write for a gorilla? But that’s kind of how I write anyway, you know, announcing to the family that I’m jumping on a Well, I have to say, I’m fascinated by ani- left to my own devices. That’s why I love plane to go to a gorilla funeral can be met with a certain mals, and I’ve always been fascinated by Twitter. That 140-character thing I can amount of concern. But it was really amazing. animal communication and experiments deal with, but Facebook to me is like, There were maybe 100 people. There were people from all with primate communication, but I’m not “Oh, my God, that’s so much more work, over the country. His keeper was there and a primatologist who a gorilla person. I’m much more comfort- I can’t go there.” had been vital in getting him moved and people who just loved able with your basic Labradors. [Goril- him. People came who had grown up seeing him in the malls las are] not cute and cuddly, and I think Do you see yourself writing another novel in when they were little kids going in every Sunday and seeing they’re profoundly intimidating because the same style? him, high-fiving the glass…. of their size and their strength. And that You know, I think that there’s a danger They had a big wall with letters of tribute, many from chil- pensive sort of impenetrable gaze of theirs. in writing the same thing. Home of the dren. His photo was in the middle and people talked about So I went into it not knowing. I didn’t I’m fascinated Brave was definitely free verse, and I’ve their experiences with him. He was apparently quite a quirky know a thing about gorillas. I had had a by animals... done a couple of picture books where— guy. Ivan hated to get his feet wet. He did not like damp- gorilla in “Animorphs” that we’d use oc- well, you know yourself, picture books by ness, and when he went outside, one of his quirks was that casionally as one of the characters. That but I’m not a definition are poetry. he would take a burlap coffee bag, which were regularly sup- was back in the day before the Internet, plied to the zoo by a local coffee supplier, and put it under and oh, man, it would have been so much gorilla person.