Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and numerous state reader’s choice awards.
To know more about the author and her entire body of work, visit her website by clicking the link.
1. Congratulations on the 25th-Year Anniversary of the book release of “Among the Hidden”? What sparked the idea for it?
I started thinking about Among the Hidden when my kids were one and three, and my husband and I started talking about whether or not we wanted to have a third child. It’d been an easy decision to have kids in the first place, and we’d always known we wanted more than one. But we were not so decisive about the question of having more than two. One of the issues we discussed was the idea of overpopulation—were there already too many people in the world? Should that affect our decision? One night, in frustration, I thought, “Well, if overpopulation were really that bad of a problem, there’d be a law--nobody could have more than two kids!”
And right away, my next thought was, “What if there were a law like that?”
At that point, I kind of put my thoughts about being a parent (or potential parent) on hold, and completely went into author mode, and began imagining Luke’s life.
Of course I was aware of population control laws in various countries—particularly China, where the rule at that time was that no one could have more than one child per family. But thinking about my own family size made me see those population control issues very differently.
2. What was your writing habit when you wrote Among the Hidden?
Remember that I had a one- and a three-year-old then? Everything about my schedule at that point was determined by their schedules. My only writing time then was during their naps and during a few hours of weekly play group time I traded off with other mothers who, like me, were sort of stay-at-home, sort of working part-time. My writing career wasn’t at a point then that I felt I could justify paying for childcare in order to write. So I worked out a lot of the book in my head while I was doing other things, and then wrote intensely during the brief times I could sit down at the computer. It wasn’t an ideal system, but it did make me pretty efficient when I actually did have writing time.
3. Did you have other titles in mind beside Among the Hidden? What were they?
No, I didn’t. That is kind of unusual for me—I often do waver about titles. But I don’t remember ever considering any other title for this book. It just always felt right.
4. What is the biggest reward you gained after releasing such a classic book for the world to read?
Thank you for calling it a classic!
This was the book that established my reputation, so I can’t downplay the opportunities it opened for me. This book, more than any other, enabled me to keep writing, and to have a writing career without having to also juggle a second job when I was ready to go back to work full-time once my kids got a little older.
But thinking a bit wider—and thinking about the impact of the book—the most rewarding thing is when I hear from readers that they had no interest in reading until they read Among the Hidden, but then after reading it, they became huge readers. I love the thought that a book I wrote played a role in getting more people to love reading.
5. What was the hardest thing about writing Among the Hidden?
Being emotionally attached to the characters, and yet realizing that they were going to have to go through hard things.
6. What’s your favorite sentence/dialogue from Among the Hidden?
The last time I re-read the entire book was in preparation for writing the last book in the Shadow Children series (Among the Free) more than a decade ago, so perhaps this wouldn’t stay as a favorite if I read everything all over again. But I’ve always liked the moment when Jen is lecturing Luke about standing up for himself, instead of just letting everything happen to him—letting others make all his choices. She sarcastically challenges him, “You can be a coward and hope someone else changes the world for you. You can hide up in that attic of yours until someone knocks at your door and says, ‘Oh, yeah, they freed the hidden. Want to come out?’ Is that what you want?”
7. Silly-Game question: From the novel (with your eyes closed) could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the full sentence? And what is the page number of this random sentence?
I landed on a sentence where Luke is just bored and lonely: “When Dad left, Luke went back to his room to read and watch the houses again.” So it’s not anything terribly profound. (This is on page 33.)
8. The first book spawned a book series titled “Shadow Children series,” did you plan on writing seven books in the series after the first one came out?
Perhaps this is surprising, but no. At the time, I had no intention of writing more than one book about Luke or any other shadow child. I saw myself as completely a stand-alone writer, not a series writer. My agent and editor (and lots of other people) were strongly suggesting the idea of writing sequels, and for the longest time, I just couldn’t see how it could work. I have to give credit to my agent, Tracey Adams, for being persistent about the idea without pushing me too far. She was very patient. Even when I finally agreed to “just try” writing a series, I struggled with being able to plot out or imagine more than one book ahead at a time. So I think I needed that patience!
9. If (or when) Among the Hidden becomes a film or TV series, which scene are you eager to see on screen?
The scene where Luke goes to Jen’s house for the first time. As I wrote it, I was picturing that scene as being comparable to the scene in the “Wizard of Oz” movie when Dorothy arrives in Oz—when everything shifts from black and white to color. I wanted to be able to depict that same kind of impact, of Luke meeting Jen, and having that change everything about how he sees the world. I would hope that could come across equally dramatically on the screen.
10. Would you like to make a cameo in the film/TV adaptation of Among the Hidden?
I’ve always thought it would be great fun to have a cameo in a film or TV show of any of my books. I have a feeling, though, that it would be harder than I think.
11. Have you ever considered writing a screenplay?
The thought has crossed my mind, but I know that writing a screenplay is a very different thing than writing a book, and it would in many ways be like starting over as a beginning writer. For many reasons, it’s not something I’ve thought about very seriously.
12. Which author (dead or alive) would you love to invite over and chat with?
Once you give the option of bringing some author back from the dead for this, of course that’s what I want to do. In the realm of an author who also wrote for kids, I think I’d go with Madeleine L’Engle, who was one of my favorite writers as a kid.
13. After twenty-five years of the book release, is there anything you would change from the novel?
I’m sure if I went back and re-read it, there would be many, many line-editing type changes I would want to make. (Because, I hope I’ve learned something as a writer over the past 25 years!) But off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything large I would want to change about the book.
14. What was your favorite book as a child and what is your favorite now?
I had and have many, many favorites. L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time was one I loved as a kid, as was E.L. Konigsberg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. One of my favorite books for kids now is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. But if you asked me the same question tomorrow, I could easily come up with about a dozen different answers for both parts of that question!
15. Last question, what is the one thing everyone should eat, drink, or check out if one should visit Ohio?
You’re giving me a chance to be an Ohio booster? One of the best things about Ohio is its great libraries. The main downtown library in Columbus is a marvel, and it’s an easy drive from there to some pretty amazing bookstores, too: Cover to Cover, the Book Loft, Prologue bookstore, and Beanbag Books are all great.
Foodwise, I highly recommend buckeyes—not the poisonous nut, but the chocolate-and-peanut-butter candy that looks like the poisonous nut. I’m also very partial to Graeter’s ice cream (though it’s now available in grocery stores all over the place, so it’s not like when I was a kid and you had to be in the Cincinnati area to get it.)