Robin Benway, creator of the Nationwide Guide Award-winning YA novel Removed from the Tree, makes her first foray into center grade with The Women of Skylark Lane. Twelve-year-old twin sisters Aggie and Jac have blended emotions about shifting from San Francisco to Los Angeles with their fathers. Aggie worries about change and becoming in; Jac is worked up for a recent begin. The twins quickly be a part of a classmate’s ragtag softball crew, and whereas each observe appears to finish in chaos and drama, Aggie and Jac bond with their new mates as they cope with first crushes, first durations, rising up, and rising aside. Benway spoke with PW in regards to the challenges of writing for a youthful viewers and pulling from her personal childhood to craft an genuine narrative.
What prompted you to put in writing a center grade novel?
Each ebook that I’ve executed, I’ve tried to do one thing completely different. Removed from the Tree was my first ebook with a 3rd particular person POV; A Yr to the Day was written backwards; The Depraved Ones—the Disney ebook I did in regards to the stepsisters in Cinderella—was my first IP venture. I felt like the following step could be center grade. It’s a barely youthful viewers, but it surely’s additionally such a special world perspective.
I used to be additionally pushed on by the truth that, whereas I don’t have kids, loads of my mates do, and loads of these youngsters, particularly their daughters, are turning 9, 10, 11, 12 years previous. Seeing how they’re shifting by the world and seeing how they expertise issues and take care of issues was inspiring as properly.
Numerous The Women of Skylark Lane is predicated alone childhood. I feel loads of ladies and ladies can converse to this concept of how, proper whenever you grow to be a tween, like proper earlier than puberty, all of your feminine friendships form of implode. Immediately there’s fights, there’s backstabbing, there’s all these various things occurring. It may be so complicated that folks you’ve been mates together with your complete life are instantly your enemies. What introduced me loads of consolation in these instances was that I used to be obsessive about the Child-Sitters Membership. I’d learn these books on a regular basis, as a result of on the finish of every ebook, the women have been nonetheless mates. That friendship has endured far past these books right into a TV present, into documentaries, into the graphic novels. That was one thing that I actually wished to place within the ebook. These ladies aren’t excellent. They make errors. They’ll say and do hurtful issues. However on the finish of the day, they apologize, they usually have one another’s backs.
Was there any private significance behind the twins becoming a member of a neighborhood softball crew?
I actually was not a sports activities child in any respect. I used to be the reader of the household. However I bear in mind my brother and all of the neighborhood youngsters would play baseball on the street. We lived on a road that was intersected by a cul-de-sac, so it was very simple to play. This was the ’80s once we weren’t actually being supervised the best way that children are actually, and I simply have these recollections of individuals taking part in on the street and yelling, “Automotive!” and you then’d have to maneuver as a result of there was a automobile coming by. I keep in mind that feeling of operating round and simply, whoever was round, that’s who you performed with.
That was a really completely different time. However whereas the issues and the subjects are completely different, I actually wished to see neighborhood youngsters taking part in and being outdoors and doing issues like that, as a result of I feel loads of youngsters wish to do this and wish to expertise that, however due to so many various circumstances, it’s not all the time potential.
Did writing The Women of Skylark Lane problem you in a method that your earlier books didn’t?
Skylark Lane was difficult as a result of I’ve written eight YA books. It would solely be a four- or five-year distinction in age, but it surely’s a really completely different voice. It was a problem to verify I wasn’t writing 12-year-olds who gave the impression of 17-year-olds having very complicated ideas about feelings and emotions. I don’t assume that children don’t have complicated feelings about ideas and emotions, however they don’t all the time have the language to clarify it. Center grade characters perhaps have extra outbursts or larger emotions that they aren’t all the time nice about expressing, which I feel is age-appropriate.
What else are you engaged on?
I used to be saying earlier this yr to my buddy Katie Cotugno—who’s a tremendous author as properly—that after I look again on this summer season, I’m going to recollect being actually joyful.
I used to be collaborating with Omid Scobie on an grownup novel known as Royal Spin, which has simply been probably the most enjoyable inventive initiatives of my life. I’ve been an grownup method longer than I used to be a child, and I loved having the ability to discover that aspect of writing. I used to be on the point of begin selling The Women of Skylark Lane, sending ARCs of it out to my mates’ youngsters and getting their wonderful responses again. I simply adopted a brand new canine. Her title is Marnie.
I’ve had such an exquisite few months, and I’m so grateful for them, as a result of this enterprise doesn’t all the time provide you with an important few months. It may be such a curler coaster of experiences. I’m engaged on two initiatives that I like, I’ve a canine that I like, and I’m simply actually joyful proper now.
The Women of Skylark Lane by Robin Benway. HarperCollins, $19.99 Oct. 1 ISBN 978-0-06-331159-6
