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This month Edge of the Forest sat down in our cyber café with children's book author and writer Brenda Ferber and two of
her three children, Faith and Sammy, to talk about books, writing and Blogging
for Mom.
Brenda is the author of Julia's Kitchen, a VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2006,
Junior Library Guild Selection 2006, and winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner 2007 and Bank Street's Best
Children's Book of the Year 2007.
Faith (age 12) and Sammy (age 11) are the authors of Blogging for Mom, a blog about writing children's books written by
children of a children's book author, because as Brenda puts it, she's "too busy writing books to get sucked into blogging."
The Edge of the Forest: Welcome, Brenda, Faith and Sammy!
Brenda: Hello! We're so happy to be here.
Faith: Hey.
Sammy: Hola!
The Edge of the Forest: Brenda, your book, Julia's Kitchen is the story of a young girl dealing with the
aftermath of a house fire. Your story is told with grace and humor, and your 11-year-old heroine Cara is honest and
unforgettable. What inspired you to tell Cara's story?
Brenda: Thank you. I've found that stories never come directly from one specific thing. For Julia's Kitchen,
the main inspirations were: a house fire that happened in my neighborhood when we were living in Austin, Texas, the fear
people felt right after 9/11, the worries I had during childhood, the crisis of faith I experienced when undergoing
fertility treatments, and ultimately, the optimism and resiliency with which I live my life. I put all these ingredients
in a big pot and let them simmer for about a year. Then I wrote the book.
The Edge of the Forest: Faith and Sammy, what do you think about your mom's book?
Faith: I'm really excited that she wrote it because it's the exact type of book I love to read, and I'm really
proud of her.
Sammy: I loved the book even though it's not my type of book. It made me cry.
Faith: Me too.
The Edge of the Forest: Do you see anything in the book that reminds you of yourself, other family members, or
growing up a Ferber?
Faith: The Jewish part is similar to our family. They honor Judaism in their family the way we do. My mom also
bakes really good cookies, just like Cara's mom.
Sammy: Well for one thing, the place where the dad works is called ADF advertising, and those are my dad's
initials. And we have a cat that has a freckle on its nose, just like the cat from the book.
The Edge of the Forest: Brenda, your next book, Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire, is due out from
FSG in March 2009. What can you tell us about it, and how will it differ from Julia's Kitchen?
Brenda: Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire is a friendship, sailing, waterskiing, growing up story set
at an overnight camp in northern Wisconsin. I am so excited about this book because I think summer camp is the best place
in the world to grow up, and I've always wanted to write about the magic that happens there. The most obvious difference
between this book and Julia's Kitchen is that nobody dies, and there is no mention of God or religion in
Jemma Hartman. And here's a biggie—the only readers who will cry from Jemma Hartman are the
ones (like me) who cry at the end of a good book when the character triumphs by growing and changing in an
important way.
The Edge of the Forest: Faith and Sammy, are you excited about your mom's new book? If so, what about it excites
you the most?
Faith: I'm really excited because it's pretty much based on the camp that my mom used to go to and that I go to now,
so I'm excited to read about it in the book because I love it. (Woo hoo, Camp Birch Knoll!) Also, a lot of friendship
situations I've been in have inspired certain situations in the book.
Sammy: I'm excited to see what she's going to come up with next, although I'd rather have the book be about me.
But you can't always get what you want, can you?
The Edge of the Forest: Sammy, in a recent post you mentioned that your mom asked for your help in thinking up a
name for the new card game she created for Jemma and her friend to play. Any luck yet? Or do you plan to keep the name
super secret until the book comes out?
Sammy: There has only been one idea posted in the comments concerning the name of the game so far, but Mom thinks
she's going with "War Madness."
The Edge of the Forest: Faith and Sammy, Blogging for Mom is the first children's book writer blog we're aware of
in the kidlitosphere that's written entirely by the author's children. Congratulations! The blog is well-written and fun
to read. What inspired you to blog for your mom?
Faith: Thanks! Well, I was addicted to instant messaging and myspace. Then I got grounded, and it all got taken
away. When I got ungrounded, I wasn't allowed to instant message as much, and I wasn't allowed to have a myspace. I wanted
to get in my cyber time, so I asked Mom if I could blog for her. I knew Mom liked to read other author blogs, but she never
had time to start her own. Miraculously, she said yes!
Sammy: Um, it seemed like a good idea?
The Edge of the Forest: Brenda, what advice do you have for other children's book writers (or sons and daughters of
children's book writers) considering venturing forth into cyberspace via a website, blog, MySpace or more?
Brenda: I love having my kids blog for me. They don't even realize it, but they are getting an education in writing
and voice. And they are able to dip their toes into the cyber world under my protection. But my advice would be that it can
only work if your kids really want to do it. I have a third child (Faith's twin brother) who has no interest in this
whatsoever, and I would never push him to do it. But Faith and Sammy love to write, so this has been a fun experience for
us. It's a win-win situation. Faith and Sammy have fun blogging. And I have fun reading what they write.
The Edge of the Forest: Faith and Sammy, same question.
Faith: You should blog because it's really great to get so much attention.
Sammy: You should blog because it's a really cool feeling when you look at the comments, and there are people, say
from India (which happened), who are looking at the blog and reading what you wrote.
The Edge of the Forest: Faith, in The Handy Dandy Post-It post you wrote recently, you share with readers that
you "love how my friends can walk into the house, take one look at the office door, and know that your mom's working on a
new book." Tell us more. What do you love about your mom's job? And why do you think you love the way your friends act
when they see the rainbow wall of Post-Its?
Faith: I love my mom's job because she always comes up with really creative ideas, and I like to write too, so she
inspires me. I also like it because she works from home. My friends think it's really cool that my mom is an author because
you don't always get to meet an award-winning children's book author. I feel really happy when my friends do book
reports on Julia's Kitchen. Oh pshya! That's my mom!
The Edge of the Forest: Sammy, following up on Faith's question…what's it like having a mom who's also a writer?
Sammy: It's really cool when you go to school and everyone is saying that their parents have the coolest jobs, like
working at Motorola or at a toy factory, and I can say, "Well my mom's an award winning children's book author! Oh diss.
Burn. Ouch."
The Edge of the Forest: Brenda, as a writer mom who loves Post-its, I'm intrigued by the possibilities your
Post-it method offers for mapping a novel from beginning to end. Tell us a bit more about it. How does the technique help
you write a book, and how did you discover it and make it your own?
Brenda: It really helps me with the revising process, not so much the first draft. I invented it out of necessity.
When I got my manuscript for Julia's Kitchen back from my editor, Beverly Reingold, there were comments and
questions on practically every page. But just because the question was on page 16 didn't mean the answer should be on page
16. Oftentimes one question led to changes throughout the book. It was overwhelming, to say the least. I decided I needed a
way to see the whole book at once, so I made a map of the book using Post-its. I gave each scene its own Post-it. Then I
addressed all of Beverly's comments with smaller, color-coded Post-its. For example, Beverly might have commented, "We
need to see more of Justin." By looking at my map of the book, I was able to see where exactly it would make sense to
create more scenes with Justin, so I would add Justin Post-its here and there. Then, when I sat down to revise, I was not
so overwhelmed. I simply tackled the revision one Post-it at a time. It was incredibly gratifying to take the Post-its off
the wall as I made progress!
The Edge of the Forest: Brenda, I can't help but wonder how I might work this method into my process. Where do you
post your Post-its?
Brenda: I happen to have beautiful French doors separating my office from the foyer of our home. So I put them right
there, on the glass panes. But I have some writer friends who have used the Post-it method on a big poster board. That's
nice because you can take it with to school visits. I show kids pictures of the door during my PowerPoint presentations.
The Edge of the Forest: So, you leave them up for the duration of the book, even during parties and family
gatherings?
Brenda: The Post-its are really only up during revision (which can sometimes last a looooong time!). I leave them
up for anyone to see. They're a conversation piece!
The Edge of the Forest: Faith and Sammy, tell us the one cool thing we should know about your mom.
Faith: Cool or weird?
Brenda: Cool!
Faith: Oh, that's hard. I can't think of one right now.
Sammy: Ditto. Sorry Mom.
Brenda: Fine, how about weird?
Faith: Oh, I can go on all day. Once I came home and Mom was crying because two of her characters had gotten into a
fight. Hello! They're fictional characters!!!
Sammy: One weird thing… that's an easy question. Every day Mom sings every day stuff, such as, "What do you want for
breakfast?" and "Why don't you go pack your backpack?" Did I mention my mom can't sing? She also likes to dance around the
kitchen.
Brenda: Oh very nice, kids! I'd like to go on record saying my kids are cool. Very cool. Each one of them
(Jacob, too) is strong, fun, loving, smart, and unique. I always tell my kids, "Nobody can be you better than you can, so
you might as well be the best you you can be!" It's kind of a tongue twister, but it makes sense, and my kids have taken it
to heart.
The Edge of the Forest: Brenda, Faith and Sammy, thanks for interviewing with us. It was great fun.
Brenda: Thank you. We had a blast!
Faith: Thanks!
Sammy: Thank you, thank you! Make a single file line for autographs, please.
Brenda Ferber is the author of Julia's Kitchen (FSG 2006) and Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire
(FSG 2009). You can find her on the web at www.brendaferber.com or Blogging for Mom.
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