On Writing About a Reader
The role of books and libraries in KEEPING PACE plus JLG news, ARCs, + a challenge for early readers!
Dear friends,
It’s been a while since I’ve had time to write a newsletter, and I was hoping that when I checked the Notes app on my phone, I’d find lots of topic ideas I’d jotted down over the past few months. But there was only one idea, which I’d put there at the end of November after I’d given my “power of persistence” presentation at a school visit. It said, “My whole journey as a writer has been about overcoming my fear of failure and learning to ‘fail’ in energizing, productive ways–and that’s sort of what Keeping Pace is about! Newsletter topic?”
I was looking at the note, thinking, “Yeah, okay, I can run with that,” but I had this nagging sense of deja vu. And you know why? Because I already wrote a newsletter about learning to fail and Keeping Pace in August!! That pretty much sums up how the last part of 2023 has been for me–enough of a whirlwind that I had completely forgotten something I’d written four months ago.
After I scrapped the duplicate idea, I saw a Tweet from a retired teacher-librarian and avid middle grade reviewer who said she was reading an e-ARC of Keeping Pace and loving all the references to books, bibliotherapy, and the value of libraries. Only a small number of people have read Keeping Pace so far, and no one else has mentioned this aspect yet. Honestly, I had kind of forgotten about it, too, at least as I was thinking about themes that might make people want to read the book. But I was so glad this reader reminded me. It’s so special to see which parts of a story resonate with different people and it was a total joy to write about a girl who loves to read. So I decided to spend a little time today reflecting on that.
Keeping Pace is about a very competitive academic overachiever named Grace and her former-friend-turned-rival, Jonah, who train for a half-marathon during the summer after eighth grade and begin to rethink what it really means to win…and what they really mean to each other. Libraries feature prominently in the book, because Grace brings a little boy she’s babysitting to the library several times and also takes a free creative writing class that’s held there. And books feature prominently, too–especially verse novels.
Grace and Jonah are big readers who clash—but also connect—over books. Grace especially loves novels in verse, and Jonah gives her a hard time about that; one of the many things they compete over is who reads more books, and Jonah claims that verse novels are cheating since they have so few words on a page. Grace’s English professor dad also has some strong opinions about verse novels because he doesn’t think they’re “real” poetry. But Grace loves them anyway.
For most of the book, Grace is extremely focused on external validation. She fixates on other people’s ideas about what it means to succeed, and she’s very swayed by her dad’s opinions. But reading is one place where she’s mostly able to tune out everyone else’s ideas and focus on what she loves.
Almost halfway through the book, when Jonah and Grace are doing a long training run together, Jonah asks Grace why she likes verse novels so much. Here’s an excerpt from their conversation:
“I guess . . . I do like that I can read them fast,” I admit. “Not just to read more books than you. But I like that I can read a whole one all at once. Beginning, middle, end. I don’t have to stop at a place where I’m stressed about whether the character is going to be OK. I can get to the part where they are.”
Jonah nods. “Graphic novels are like that, too.”
I catch my breath and keep going. “Also, I just . . . sometimes I feel like there aren’t precise enough words to describe anything important. But in verse novels—when there’s all that figurative language and stuff. Sometimes everything feels truer because it isn’t literal. Like, I’ll read something in a poem and think—that’s it. I’ve felt that exactly.”
That second part of Grace’s answer is one of my favorite things about reading–that comforting, exhilarating hum of recognition when a writer puts into words something I’ve felt but have never been able to articulate–something I hadn’t known for sure that anyone else felt, too. And like Grace, I’ve found that that this kind of “that’s it” moment happens more frequently when figurative language is involved–whether in a verse novel or in prose. There’s something about loosening our grip on the literal that helps us float closer to the deepest, most complicated emotional truths.
In many ways, Grace is more like me than any other character I’ve written, and some of the traits we have in common (our perfectionism, our focus on achievement, our single mindedness when pursuing a goal) have posed big challenges for me that I’m still working through. But I loved giving her the joyful, grounding relationship with books that I’ve always had, too. And I also loved putting references to real books into this novel!
Since early readers are starting to read Grace’s story, here’s a special challenge (with a prize, because Grace and Jonah would definitely approve of a competition in their honor!).
The Challenge and the Rules:
Grace talks to other characters about three real verse novels I love in Keeping Pace. If you read an e-ARC or physical ARC of Keeping Pace over the next month, reply to this newsletter, send me an email (contact info on my website), or send me a direct message on Instagram or Twitter with all three titles by January 28th. I’ll randomly select a winner, who will get their choice of a signed copy of one of my books OR a copy of one of the verse novels mentioned in Keeping Pace. (U.S. only to mail books, but I can do an e-book/audiobook if there’s a non-U.S. winner.)
I’ll choose a winner in late January/early February when I send out my next newsletter, which will be about another part of Grace’s literary story arc–her complicated relationship with Emily Dickinson poems. (You’re welcome for the pre-planned, never-before-written-about topic, Future Laurie!)
News: Junior Library Guild and ARCs!
Keeping Pace is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection! Grace and I both love libraries (obviously), and I’m honored by this distinction and thrilled that this story will be shelved in more libraries thanks to JLG!
Also, e-ARCs of Keeping Pace are available for request on NetGalley and Edelweiss (please email me if you have trouble getting a request fulfilled because I can help get you access). And for the first time in a long time, I’m getting some physical ARCs thanks to Wunderkind PR, my editor, and the design team at Abrams! I should be getting a batch soon and sending some out to ARC-sharing groups but I got a sneak peek, and they look awesome.
What I’m reading
I recently read Christie Matheson’s Select and re-read Claire Swinarski’s What Happened to Rachel Riley. Both are excellent, and both are giving me the inspiration and vibes I need for a middle grade new project I’m in the early stages of drafting. And fittingly for this newsletter, Anna Hunt, the main character of What Happened to Rachel Riley, is a big reader like Grace, and she also mentions a handful of real books and characters, including “the new Laurie Morrison” book—which my students and I think is incredibly cool!
I’ve also been reading/re-reading some of the selections for a past and present book group unit I’ll be starting with my sixth grade students after winter break. I’m listening to the audiobook of The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert, which I had read and loved when it first came out, and it’s so well done–relatable middle school friendship and family dynamics plus an accessible and powerful look at race and racism in the past and the present. I recently listened to The Lost Year as well, and boy does it live up to all the hype I’d heard.
Thanks, as always, for reading this newsletter! I wish you a wonderful end of the year, and I’ll be back in early(ish) 2024!
Love, Laurie
Love your topic for this month’s newsletter! It is always so affirming when I read a book about book lovers who feel like I do about the printed word.