When I decided to get more serious about writing, I looked for books that I felt were similar to my manuscript. I had read Judy Moody and Clementine, a few well-known series for my target age group, but wanted to expand my knowledge of this section of the middle grade market. I was quite happy to stumble upon
Cinderella Smith by
Stepahnie Barden!
Book Description: (from Amazon) Cinderella Smith has problems with a capital
P. Her new teacher laughs
at her name, she has to sit at the smart-boys table, and her old best friend is
ignoring her. Now the new girl, Erin, has asked for her advice on wicked
stepsisters. But Cinderella doesn't have any stepsisters, wicked or otherwise!
And to make things worse, she's got to find her ruby red tap shoe before the
fall dance recital!
How will Cinderella solve her capital
P problems before it's too late?
Why it is Marvelous: This book is full of great material for the lower middle grade crowd. What happens when you loose your best friend, and the joy of finding a new best friend. How it feels when you are not allowed to get your ears pierced and what you do when your friends think you are being a baby for holding your mom's hand in the mall. Cinderella Smith handles each situation with great integrity. She stays true to herself which is why I have enjoyed this series so much.
Cinderella is a very likable character. She is a good kid who tries her best to make everyone happy, and shines with the support of her parents and a few friends she can trust.
Diane Goode's illustrations bring life and such wonderful expressions to this fun cast of characters!
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Interview with Stephanie!
1.
I have read about how you landed an agent and it is an inspiring, and sad, and
hopeful story. Can you talk a little about that and what you learned from the
experience?
Craig
Virden plucked me out of the slush pile, signed me up and helped me polish up Cinderella
Smith. He had just sent it out to potential editors when he unexpectedly died.
When his agency called me with the sad news, I feared that was the end of my
writing career. However, in his honor, his co-workers “vowed to get my book
published”! Craig was highly respected in children’s literature, so I’ve always
felt it was his “stamp of approval” that got editors to look at my manuscript.
I dedicated my first book, in part, to him and feel like he’s my
writing-guardian-angel.
What
did I learn from the experience…hmm…
Knowing
that Craig believed in me, I gained the confidence to start thinking of myself
as a writer. I’m sure if his agency hadn’t kept me on, I would have persevered
and looked for another agent.
2. When I met you at the Western Washington SCBWI this past April we only had a
couple minutes to chat, but you admitted to not reading a lot of MG books. You
said this was because you didn't want your writing to mimic other authors. I
think I would be lost without all the MG reading I have done this year. Why
does this work for you?
I
love MG books and read a ton of them, but not while I’m actively writing first
drafts. When I’m chatting with someone with an accent I find myself adopting it
~ and I’m always afraid that will happen when I write too! I know Cinderella’s
voice now, so it wouldn’t happen with her, but I’m afraid a new character in a
new book might end up sounding like Wilber in Charlotte’s Web or Arrietty in
The Borrowers!
3. I also read that you didn't have a critique group when writing Cinderella
Smith. Do you have one now?
Last
spring I started meeting with two writer friends every week. We haven’t
critiqued each other’s work yet, (although we always intend to). Instead we’ve
been sharing potential story ideas, writing challenges and helpful hints.
Sometimes we do some writing, but usually we just chat, chat, chat!
4.
Your job at the Woodland Park Zoo sounds like a lot of fun. What is your
background (job-wise) and do you think writing will ever become a full-time
career?
I
came to work at the zoo after several years as a docent. I didn’t have any
teaching experience when I started, just a love of kids and animals and an
appreciation of the natural world.
As
much fun as the zoo is, I’d love to be a full-time writer. My goal this fall is
to create a writing schedule, keep with it…and NOT let the dog, crow or my
darling neighbor singing “Puff the Magic Dragon” at the top of her lungs
distract me!
5. Does working with kids in your job give you any particular insight when
writing for that age group?
Absolutely!
I think it’s critical to spend time with the age group you’re writing for in
order to sound “authentic”. I probably ask my students as many questions about
them as they ask about the animals! I counter the students: “Why is the ocelot
doing that?” with: “What words would you use to describe him? Handsome? Scary?
Weird?” The third Cinderella book, coming out in April 2013, actually begins on
a school field trip to Woodland Park Zoo. I used an awful lot of my
zoo-experiences in the first few chapters.
6. In my opinion, Cinderella Smith is such a wholesome character who (while
flawed) is able to stand up for what she believes in. Did you intentionally
write her this way?
Not
initially ~ I didn’t have a real game plan when I started this series. I had a
basic idea, (a shoe-losing kid), and a name, (Cinderella Smith), but no plot
and no character sketches. (And I admit, this isn’t a very smart approach!) I
just launched right in and CS came to life as I wrote. She became the kind of
kid I was friends with growing up ~ respectful, courteous and always trying to
do the right thing. She’s a good kid, but not a “goody-two-shoes”. My favorite
description of her came from a student during a school visit:
“Cinderella Smith is nice, but not so nice
that you can’t stand her.”
7.
Also, I love the character of Charlie! Can you talk a little bit about his role
and why (from a writerly angle) he is there?
Oh,
Charlie. He’s based on two little boys I grew up with. “Tarles” was my very
first friend and Tommy was my first crush, (at four years old). Every day I
asked him how he thought I looked. If he approved, I stayed in what I was
wearing. If he didn’t, I went back inside and changed. (Just like Cinderella does
with Charlie.)
Charlie
Prince is certainly Cinderella Smith’s “prince charming” ~ although I’m not
sure what that really means today. If I can convince HarperCollins to let
Cinderella grow up, perhaps there will eventually be a YA romance between the
two!
8. I love your promotional photo for your books and website. Is that in your
house, and did you go through a professional photographer?
That
is my house in the background. I had a professional photographer, (and a
friend), come over and take my picture ~ and my dog, Otis, raced around us the
whole time! He nearly knocked over lighting-umbrella-things several times. Twas
a bit of a circus, as is life, I suppose.
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And now for the giveaway!
Stephanie has offered a paperback copy of Cinderella Smith and a hardback copy of Cinderella Smith: The More the Merrier for my giveaway this week! All you have to do is leave a comment
and I will draw one name next Monday and announce the winner then. It would be
nice if you signed up to follow my blog, but not necessary to be entered in the
drawing.
No international
entries. US and Canada only.
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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) was created by Shannon
Messenger. To find other bloggers participating in MMGM go to her blog for a list of links.
Book Description: (from Amazon) Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile,
abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even
though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland,
California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will
have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the
missing pieces of the past. 
Why it is Marvelous: I read the paperback version of this book and now that I see the hardcover version I just had to add an image of both covers... they each have a different feel, yet both convey important aspects of the book. I think the one thing that sticks with me the most from this book is the voice of the narrator. It is told in first person from Delphine's POV and the reader knows what she is all about from the get go. She is the oldest and has to take care of her sisters... she promised her father and Big Ma. Delphine is absolutely up to that challenge, but you can tell there is something missing. Whether she admits it out loud or not, she needs to know her mother cares about her, approves of her, and it just might take all summer to build some new, fragile bridges, not only with her mother but with the new people she meets at summer camp. 
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM)
was created by Shannon Messenger. To find other bloggers participating in MMGM
go to her blog for a list of
links.
Not everyone has an e-mail connected to their blog account. So when I try to reply to a comment via e-mail sometimes it goes to a noreply-comment@blogger.com address. I have sent many e-mails to this address before I realized I should check first. So if you would like to add an e-mail to your account here is what you need to do... in Blogger anyway.