{fiction, instead of lies}

Justina Chen Headley’s been out and about throughout the ‘blogosphere’ this week. At HipWriterMama’s place, we learned she doesn’t always write the greatest pf titles, and once, she had to name a book in just three days. (She rocked it, though: Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) is a pretty cool title.) At Big A, little a, Justina let us in on the name of her brother’s vineyard (Patton Valley!) and introduced us to the idea of REAL green tea frappucinos. Sounds like they could be tasty.

And here at Finding Wonderland, we’re really pleased to welcome our final Summer Blog Blast Tour interviewee, Justina Chen Headley, to our humble treehouse, and we beg you to forgive us for forgetting, and to remember yourselves: Patty Ho is Taiwanese. Taiwanese. Don’t forget, okay? We won’t either.

FW: With the Nothing But the Truth Scholarship Essay contest, and your donation to the American Optometrics Association’s InfantSEE program from the proceeds you earned from The Patch, you’ve really lived the idea that every writer should give back to the world, not just with words but with actions. Why is philanthropy so important to you, and what do you see as the writer’s role within the larger community?

My job as a writer is to write down the truth—in all its silly, improbable, joyous, crazy, and ugly truth. But personally, I want to be more than a truth-scribe. I want to be an ambassador for the truths I feel passionately about. That’s what my mom taught me.

Put it this way: if I’ve devoted a year (or more) to writing a book and exploring a specific theme, then I’m usually fired up when I’m finished. I *have* to do something about what I’ve learned—put actions behind my words.

So why not help a worthy teen with a college scholarship—when my parents had to sacrifice to put me through college? Why not promote awareness for the need for childhood eye exams—when I myself had no idea that babies are supposed to be tested! And why not inspire teens to change their world with a Challenge Grant that I’m co-sponsoring with Burton Snowboards in honor of my forthcoming novel, Girl Overboard?

FW: Many people are uneasy with the idea of confronting racism in their fiction and in themselves. How have people responded to Patty Ho’s rage, which her friend Jasmine seems to encourage?

To be honest, when adults talk to me about my debut novel, Patty’s anger rarely—very rarely—comes up. Instead, they describe the book as “fun” and “funny.” I’m glad—because certainly I hoped my novel would be a pleasure to read while still exploring deeper questions, such as self-identity and self-esteem in the aftermath of racism. But I am truly baffled that so few adults even reference the spitting scene, which is neither fun nor funny.

That said, my teen readers will talk specifically about racism with me—whether they found the spitting scene shocking (they had no idea that stuff like this happens) or that it was therapeutic (because something like this had happened to them). I find that openness extremely heartening.

FW:Mark Scranton and Steve Kosanko are two racist characters who humiliate Patty and keep after her about her Asian heritage. Patty is angry with them, but most of her anger turns inward as humiliation. Do you feel that anger/humiliation have fueled creative responses to racism in your own life?

I hate confrontation, and to this day, I struggle with the right response when people cut in line, when I see a friend’s kid talk back to her, when someone says something hurtful. I am not quick on my feet; I need time to deliberate, which is why I love writing and rewriting. I get to mull the situation over. I get to play with different scenarios. I get to react across a spectrum of responses.

The problem is, life is real-time.

So I do have to say, the things that have happened to me—whether it was being spit upon or called racist epithets while I lived in Australia for a year—inspired this book. I’m rewriting history. I’m not sugar-coating it, but I am giving it a more fulfilling ending.

FW:The Mama Lecture Series is hysterical, and certainly bypasses all ethnicities and cultural boundaries to unite us all in groaning loathing at being preached at. In your own experience as a Mom, have you felt that lecture series creeping up on you as part of your parenting?

It is terrible to hear The Mommy Lecture Series spewing from my mouth.

Lecture 1: Your room is a pigsty.
Lecture 2: You have two feet; get it yourself.
Lecture 3: When you take something out, put it back. In the same place. Now.

So, yes, I am guilty of reciting my own set of lectures. I can only imagine what my children will write if they ever choose to become novelists.

FW: Attitude is a big deal in NBtT. At one point, Patty wonders if it’s only her attitude holding her back. “Is attitude truly the only thing separating embarrassment from triumph? That a little sass could turn you from a social zero to a social hero? (page 174)” Can you talk a little about that little bit of “sass” in terms of dealing with racial discrimination? Is sass a way to survive?

Let’s face it: in certain situations nowadays it’s better and safer to walk away. And in some cases, to run away. Running away sometimes takes more courage than confrontation.

That said, sass is certainly a way to maintain your self-esteem when you’ve been trod upon. I may live to regret it, but I do encourage my kids to practice sassiness. In the right circumstances. Sassy humor—getting someone to laugh in the midst of a heated argument—now, that’s a gift.

FW:Many people feel empowered by the reclamation of a word. ‘Hapa’ means “half,” and is a word of Hawaiian origin. How have people responded to your non-Hawaiian use of the word ‘hapa’? or, Have people suggested other words to suggest ‘half’ or a biracial origin?

Some wonderful women at Swirl, a mixed race organization, warned me that there would be people who would not take kindly to my use of the word “hapa.” So, yes, one Hawaiian has expressed—shall we say, displeasure over my use of that word. The nice thing is that 99.9% of readers have agreed that in the case of this novel, hapa was the right word to use.

See, what Patty learns is that labels are just that: labels. They’re just manufactured syllables, no different from the words she creates. Or the ones that naming company creates for a huge paycheck.

We all have the power to define ourselves, using whatever words—real, made-up, co-opted—that feel right and good to us.

FW: In choosing to write about a mixed-race protagonist in NBtT, you had various choices to make, such as giving her a strict first-generation Chinese mother rather than someone more culturally assimilated. What made you decide on the specifics of Patty Ho’s background? Are there real-life people or events that inspired her character?

(Egads! Taiwanese, not Chinese, ladies! You can bet that Patty’s Taiwanese mom is having an ultra-conniption now!)

Anyway, I wanted to emphasize the experience of feeling other —- not fitting in to one community or another. That’s why I decided to have a first-generation (Taiwanese) mother.

So the characters—every last one—has a tiny piece of me inside him/her. Even the awful characters.

FW: NBtT was, in part, about finding one’s place in the world, whether that involves blazing your own trail or finding kindred spirits to make the journey easier. Do you think this story will help mixed-race and/or Asian-American youth to find their own place? Do you plan to write other stories with similar themes?

Books help people find their own place, understand their experiences, identify their dreams. Growing up, I didn’t have books featuring girls who looked like me. That’s one of the reasons why Janet Wong (TWIST), Grace Lin (The Year of the Dog), and I went on our Hi-YAH! Tour last spring. We wanted to encourage more mixed-race and Asian-American youth to write about their experiences and to share their stories.

My next novel, GIRL OVERBOARD, coming out in January, 2008, also explores the notion of finding your place in this vast world—but from the viewpoint of a snowboard girl who seemingly has the Midas touch. After all, her dad is a billionaire. And still with all her open doors and all her golden opportunities, Syrah has this overwhelming sense that she doesn’t belong. That she’s not good enough. That she’s not worthy. And that impostor feeling is something, I think, we have all experienced.

FW: In light of your role as one of the readergirlz, what do you see as the advantages of virtual meeting places such as MySpace in promoting literature—and literacy—among teens?


People who care about teen literacy—whether authors or publishers or librarians—need to make literature as accessible as possible. And that means being where teens are. These social networking places are today’s community centers. That’s why the readergirlz co-founders—YA novelists Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, Lorie Ann Grover and I—decided we needed to have a strong presence on MySpace. 70% of girls are on MySpace! And in September, we’ll be rolling out our profile on Facebook since so many college students have been clamoring for readergirlz.

That’s why to support YALSA’s Teen Read Week in October, readergirlz will be rolling out a new program on MySpace called “31 Flavorite Authors.” Every day throughout October, a different, acclaimed YA author will be available to chat with readers for an hour on our readergirlz group forum—groups.myspace.com/readergirlz.

I love being able to connect readers to authors. I love being able to talk to my own readership about my books and learn how my words have impacted them. These virtual meeting places made it easy and immediate…and best of all, they create community.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a big rock, you know that one of Justina’s ongoing books-to-readers babies is found at readergirlz, which kicked off this past year. Questions about who they are and what they do can be answered here, and here. For more on Justina’s philosophy of philanthropy, click here.

And we at FW feel a little bit like we’ve been a part of bridging the gap between readers and books, and it’s been a lot of fun. We owe so much to our participants, Gene Yang, Ysabeau Wilce, Kazu Kibuishi, Svetlana Chmakova, Chris Crutcher, Julie Anne Peters, and of course, Justina Chen Headley for giving us the opportunity to take a closer look at their writing, their philosophy and their lives. It has been a privilege, and we look forward to doing it again!

No one who really knows YA lit doesn’t know his name, and most who hear his name have some kind of a reaction – either clear affection and respect or the most vituperative hatred.

Chris Crutcher – the man who inspires students to stand up for the right to read, who speaks to packed auditoriums wherever he travels, who is an advocate for abused children and speaks in support of young adult athletics — is also the man whose books are banned or challenged at least five or six times a year.

Chris grew up with what can only be called “old-fashioned values” – hard work, hard play and a more ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ style of life than many teens have today. Living in such a small town, the mistakes he made were… noticeable, so Chris knows what it feels like to be known for your reputation – and to have people talk. As a boy, Chris remembers his father shaking his head at the blurring of church and state when they added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance back in 1954, and this may have been the beginnings of the strong opinions on religion in the public sector which reappear in some of his books. Coming to the Bay Area in the 70’s with degrees in psychology and sociology further fed his curious mind, and as Chris began teaching, he encountered the multicultural world that fueled his later stories.

In so many ways, the story of Chris Crutcher could be folksy and sweet, but somehow, some way, the buck-toothed kid with a coonskin hat from a tiny logging town in Idaho grew up and managed to be controversial. Really controversial.
He writes about race. Censorship. Child abuse. Abortion and teen sexuality. He writes about the harsh realities of the lives of some young adults, the unrealistic expectations and unattainable standards to which others are held, and he uses the language they might use – full-force and undiluted. He does not lie, nor indulge in the swaddling, cushioning myths about God and sex and success and failure and patriotism that many adults use to ‘protect’ the younger generation from reality. And left right and center, his books are banned.

“He does that on purpose,” some people grumble. “Being controversial sells books,” others assert. Maybe. But no writer of his caliber spends all his time thinking about anything but the way he’s going to tell a story. There are no easy endings to the books Crutcher writes. There is no ‘happily ever afters’ that promise rose-strewn highways ahead. But there is …survival. And in some small way, triumph. Crutcher leads readers to learn to relish that ‘I am not alone, and I will survive’ mentality. And that is no small thing.

Years ago I had the opportunity to hear Chris Crutcher speak at a conference in Los Angeles. I discovered his books just after college, and having been raised at times with some unspoken but rigid Christian ideas, what he said in his books just seemed so huge to me. I had so much I wanted to say to him, so much to express that I could say nothing at all. Too shy to actually approach him, I instead trailed him around the huge conference center, watching as he interacted with librarians, teachers, parents and star-struck amateur writers (Okay, yes. The LAPD might call that “stalking.” Just hush-it and listen to the story, all right?!) I observed him as genuine, direct, funny, off-the-cuff casual and even cute. (You know you’re all trying to picture him in that Speedo.) It is a tremendous honor to have been given this interview. Chris Crutcher will talk to just about anybody with honesty and candor, and will even answer fan email in his spare time. FW is still honored to present this very complex, interesting author, Chris Crutcher.

FW: “Chris Crutchers are a dime a dozen,” Billy says in The Sledding Hill, but we think maybe Mr. Crutcher is the only one who believes that! You have had an impact on a generation of readers and thinkers. Who inspires you to read and think?

If I have had that impact I feel truly blessed. Any good book inspires me. I’ve never picked up a Vonnegut book that I didn’t come away full of wonder. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. I could go on all day.

FW: The Sledding Hill is mostly, if not entirely, free of profanity, unlike many of your other books. Is there a reason for this choice?

Yeah, I did that on purpose. Neither Billy or Eddie are particularly tough kids and neither has had a truly rough life leading up to the story, so there’s not a need for the language, but the big reason I did it was to take away the B.S. excuse the censors often use for attacking books. They make a big deal about language, which by the way, never hurt anybody. I thought I’d draw them out and make them take on the issues.

FW: Your novels include a lot of very clear and unflinching contrasts between good parents and bad parents, especially dads. How has your career in Child Protection and as a child and family therapist influenced your writing over the years? What percentage of your time is still spent working in counseling?

It’s true a lot of my parents, both “good” and “bad” are inspired by my years of work as a therapist in the world of abuse and neglect. All my writing has been influenced by my life; my experiences and things I’ve seen. I don’t spend a lot of time counseling any more. I do some consulting, and I’m still the chairperson of the original Spokane Child Protection Team, but I travel so much that a client has to have a very flexible schedule to see me.I do still see a few, but I do it all pro-bono, partly because I feel hugely fortunate to be able to make a living writing and talking and partly because I’d never to be able to follow a client as closely as some need to be followed.

FW:. Recently, The Sledding Hill has been crafted to be put on as a stage play; Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Whale Talk, The Crazy Horse Electric Game and The Sledding Hill are being developed into film by Riverrock Entertainment. How do you feel about the adaptation of your novels to performance? Which of your books have you most wanted to see in film or presented on stage?

I’m pretty removed from any feelings about adaptations. I pretty much hang my hat on the book, and let the directors and writers of the other media hang theirs on what they do. I am involved with RiverRock, so I have quite a bit of say about any of my projects with them, and I’ve done some writing with them, but in the end I’m quite aware that a movie belongs to the director. I’m working with an amazing writer now who is working on Sarah Byrnes and I believe he’s going to get it right. The head of RiverRock also focuses on getting the story from the book to the screen, so I feel pretty fortunate. I’d feel more fortunate if something actually got made. (And I’d get closer to a fortune.)

FW: Many of your books contain people who profess a Christian faith but are closed-minded, petty, and cruel. An example to the contrary is T.J. in Whale Talk, whose faith is quieter and more matter-of-fact. A third, entirely different character is Dillon Hemingway in Chinese Handcuffs, whose spirituality seems connected to testing his physical boundaries. Could you talk a bit about your portrayals of religion, Christianity, and faith/spirituality in general in your writing? Are you trying to convey any particular messages to young readers, Christian or otherwise?

Mostly I’m trying to portray the truth that says inflexibility is toxic. Belief in God isn’t what makes the likes of Brittain in Sarah Byrnes such an unbecoming character. It’s his black and white, right and wrong look at the world. We are a trial and error species; we learn by our mistakes. When we start calling those mistakes sins, we make ourselves sick. T.J, Ellerby, Dillon, have a different take on spirituality, as do a number of my adult characters. Those adult characters – Lemry, Mr. Nak, Max, to name a few – reflect my spiritual take on things. I think there is huge spirituality to be found in testing physical boundaries. I have come to many conclusions in a state of near exhaustion.

FW: Some of your books are set in small towns or otherwise insular environments, where seemingly outdated prejudices can still loom larger than life, such as the mixed-race issues and other forms of difference from the norm in Whale Talk. What led you to choose these types of settings to tell your stories? Were you influenced by any experiences in your own life?

I’ve been quite influenced by my own history. I grew up in a town of 943 people, so I know that isolated life. It has as many positive things to say for it as it does negative ones. But I live in Spokane, Washington now, and I travel all over the country, sometimes the world, and I can find those outdated prejudices almost anywhere. People are more careful of showing them, but if you hang around and pay attention, they are there. I think there has been a lot of progress in the area of race relations and bigotry, but we have a long way to go and we need to get with it. Bigotry is as toxic a thing as there is.

FW: In The Sledding Hill, Eddie’s friend Billy says, of Chris Crutcher, “He’s scared too. But he’s not scared to tell his stories. That’s probably the only place he’s not scared.” How do you feel that you evolved past that point of fear in your writing? Especially in light of how vociferously people have reacted against what you have said? How do you avoid that fear in your writing?

That happened from the start; from the very first book. You’re insulated writing a story. It’s just you and the computer and you can be as brave as you want to be because it will be a while before anyone else sees it. And when you write there is nothing but the story. The story drives everything, so you have passed by all the fears by the time you sit down to tell it. Plus, those vociferous people don’t scare me a bit, and they never did. They speak from ignorance. They know almost nothing about child development, and they make up things to be afraid of. If they weren’t scared they wouldn’t be so loud. I have seen some amazing atrocities and some amazing generosities in my life as a therapist and in my life as a regular ol’ human, and I feel a need to portray those things as I see them. They are truths – truths from my perspective to be sure – but truths all the same. When I try to portray some bit of heroism I’ve witnessed, it’s hugely important that I do it in spades. The fears Billy talks about are Chris Crutcher’s fears of not being a good enough human being; fears of being too selfish or of not easing pain when I could; the same fears everyone has. I was born with survivor’s guilt. I’ve often said that the only places I’m not afraid in the world are as a writer and as a therapist. There is no story I won’t tell, and no place I won’t go with a client, if that client is willing, because if they trust me, I owe them that.

FW: You contribute to the blog AS IF!, Young Adult Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom. What do you see as the role of AS IF! in the national discussion on intellectual freedom, especially with respect to what young adults are “allowed” to read? How do you feel that concerned parents can deal with their fears for what their children read while still allowing them the intellectual freedom to choose? Would you support content labels (such as music and music ratings) to alert readers to potentially objectionable content?

I don’t support content labels because they’re subjective. I love it when I see that something has “adult language.” What the hell is adult language? Kids use that language as much as adults do. It’s just language. It’s expression. If something exists in the world, it deserves to be talked about. That isn’t to say I don’t think people can do that badly, but something talked about is far better than something not talked about. The monster out of the closet is a lot less scary than the one hidden in there. Parents have the right to censor things for their kids and I wouldn’t change that. I would, however, encourage any parent I work with as a therapist to think at least twice before doing that. It’s the fastest way in the world to show your kids what you are afraid of and to create that fear in them. And it’s a great way to take yourself off the short list of people to turn to when a crisis comes.

FW: Being true to yourself seems to be part of the message of many of your books, which share the characteristics of strong main characters with a lot of potential who choose to seek their own paths rather than conform to what some of the adults around them expect—for instance, with respect to playing high school sports, or carrying on an established prejudice, or embracing a spiritual belief system. Do you see these as coming-of-age novels? What do you hope young readers will take away from reading your work

I see them as coming of age novels because that’s what society calls them. Most of the people I’ve worked with who are having “mid-life crisis” say, “I’m acting just like a teenager. I don’t understand it.” I do. Most of us don’t resolve a lot of the issues that come up in our teenage years and end up dealing with them later on. We see many of those issues as teenagers for the first time, but any thinking adult will tell you they pop back up again and again. So I guess I just see them as stories. They get marketed to people “coming of age,” but the truth is, we’re all coming of age. Developmental stages don’t stop until we die. We all have one thing in common: we’re as old as we’ve ever been. It’s as true of a teenager as it is a seventy year old. We have our histories, which we know, and our futures which we don’t. We’re all have a lot more in common than we’re sometimes willing to admit.

Did we already say we are honored? If not – Mr. Crutcher, we truly are. Thank-you.

We are also honored to have possession of Chris Crutcher’s latest book, Deadline, helpfully facilitated by his awesome assistant, Kelly Milner Halls, a full-time freelance writer in her own right. Thanks, Kelly! Since Deadline emerges unto the reading public in the fall, you can look forward to our review at that time, but until then, Bookshelves O’ Doom has, with dampened keyboard, given you just a taste. Don’t miss the mini-movie book trailer here, where you can whet your curiosity bef0re it goes on sale. And you can also figure out many boxes of tissue you need to put on order… And hey, wanna do something neat? (Insert sinister chuckle here.) Drop by CafePress for ironic Crutcher-wear. It’s what all the coon-capped kids are wearing.

Did you know that Chris Crutcher once upon a time wrote a novel for adults? Suspense readers might want to check out The Deep End. It looks seriously scary to me.

Chris Crutcher is one heck of an opinionated guy. CC sounds off occasionally, every once in awhile gets out to his MySpace page, and he’s not afraid to talk back to censors, or the passing politician, either.

More than an author, in his capacity as a family therapist, Chris Crutcher is a resource to parents. iParenting has an online Q&A in hyperspace where parents can leave him a question. Chris also has an in-print presence in Family Energy, and helpfully lends his thoughts to exploring his books in a classroom setting, complete with a teaching guide.