This month’s Author Spotlight is acclaimed author and poet, Julian Randall! Julian joins us to discuss his incredible new middle grade novel-in-verse, Shook. Plus, enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win an advance reading copy of Shook!
“Absolutely vibrating with energy and heart, Shook is a masterful middle-grade novel.”
—Newbery Honoree Jasmine Warga
What inspired you to write Shook?
Julian Randall: During quarantine my normal anxiety began to mutate and intensify to the point it was becoming debilitating (again.) I turned to one of the only things that has always made me feel better, which is shooting free throws. Everywhere in the world, there’s a kid like me dribbling an invisible ball to keep the worst of the anxiety at bay. The more I imagined what does a book for that kid look like, a kid who loves ball but may not yet realize how much they love to read, the more I found myself imagining Malik. The more I thought about Malik and the thousands of kids like him, the more I realized I needed to write Shook.
Your previous books were middle-grade fantasy, and now, with Shook, you’ve written a contemporary novel-in-verse. What inspired you to write a novel-in-verse for middle grade readers?
Julian: Poetry will always be my home genre, since the days I was a college slam poet just trying to win the slam and enough money to catch the train back home. Since those days a decade ago, folks have been asking when I would be coming out with a novel in verse. I’ve spent the last five years learning from writing my fantasy novels, getting to talk with awesome kids all over the country and it’s only affirmed my belief that middle schoolers often speak in poetry even if they do not always recognize poems. Alongside that, we’ve had so many kids who are not feeling confident as readers, going margin to margin can be intimidating for them and I wanted to make a story where the page was a bit more active and approachable. I hope somewhere in Shook is a reader’s first time realizing poems and verse can be fun!
What, if anything, about the writing process changed for you while writing this novel-in-verse compared to writing middle-grade fantasy?
Julian: There’s some overlap in the processes but when making the story bible of Malik’s world I wanted to push myself to be as detailed as possible because the verse format is more episodic than traditional prose. Because my background is in poetry, I wanted to be careful to remember what I loved about the first poems that I loved, lean away from being too lyrically dense or high concept. I needed to make sure this was my most tightly plotted book yet to make sure no pages were wasted and to keep myself aligned with what I really was aiming for with Shook; to help a kid like me see that they love books and maybe could write their own someday.
Basketball plays a central role in this story, even though much of main character Malik “Shake” Page’s journey occurs off the court. What inspired you to write about this sport?
Julian: I’m a 90’s Chicago kid at heart: I think, therefore I hoop! But in all seriousness, when I was Malik’s age I wanted to go to the NBA too. I woke in the morning to shoot, basketball was the sun I orbited around. I dribbled even when I had no ball. And even after I gave up my hoop dreams, the instinct to dribble when I felt overwhelmed remained. It was years before someone identified that as an anxiety coping mechanism. I think you don’t at all need to love basketball to love Shook because it’s a story about mental health both on and off the court. I really couldn’t be prouder of Malik’s comeback story!
In Shook, Shake contends with anxiety and panic attacks, learning to manage them in a healthy way through therapy. Why was it important for you to depict this as a part of Shake’s journey and incorporate this mental health representation into the story?
Julian: I never knew I was anxious in middle school, nobody really named it as that. I was in college before someone said it was a possibility and, when it was named, I was devastated. It felt like seeing a therapist would mean game over; so I wrote Shook to show that sometimes therapy actually can mean game on. It can mean having new tools to understand and help yourself. It’s been cool in recent years to see pro athletes getting more resources and reducing stigma around mental health challenges. I’m really excited for Shook to join that conversation, to be the book I wished I had.
Toward the end of Shook, there’s a line that sums up this story quite beautifully: “The subtle art of the comeback begins with a layup, or a dribble or a breath. It’s a kind of magic, stealing back hope one play at a time.” At its core, this book is about Shake’s comeback. What do you hope readers take away from his comeback, and from reading Shook overall?
Julian: I hope they are excited to find more stories where the kids speak like them and love what they love! Comebacks are kind of a magic, almost holy thing to witness. Sometimes when I felt lost with this book or unsure of myself, I would watch footage of great basketball comebacks as I edited. Injuries, anxiety and just the challenges of being in middle school all test our faith in what we can come back from, who we could be. I hope that readers finish that final word in Shook and feel what I did when I finished it—anything is possible!
Can you share a teacher or librarian who has inspired you?
Julian: I’ve been blessed with many legends in terms of teachers but today I want to throw a special shoutout to the teacher I trusted to give me notes on this book, David Fuder. He taught me English in 8 th grade and taught me how to be a friend ever since. He has always kept up with me, uplifted what was promising in my work since I was thirteen years old and I wanted to be a rapper when I grew up. We’ve seen each other, really seen each other, through a lot of life. When it became clear that Shook was becoming something truly special, I knew Malik would be in safe hands with Fuder; I always have been.
What advice would you give to aspiring young writers?
Julian: Make playlists for your characters! It’s the first step for me when I’m getting to know a new character/story. The blank page can, at first, feel like it stretches forever. But music can remind us why we came to a character or a story in the first place. When I listen, I can make up a backstory for this character’s connection to this song and on the flipside if a song doesn’t fit anymore I know that I’ve learned something or felt something different about that character and that might unlock the whole thing. I’ve lost count of how many times I have been stuck in a story and coming back to that playlist, even if it’s just five songs, has shown me how to get back on track.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. His poetry and essays are published in New York Times Magazine, POETRY, and Vibe. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Julian holds an MFA in Poetry from Ole Miss. His first book, Refuse, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. Julian has previously worked as a youth mentor, teaching writing workshops to children on house arrest. He is the author of the Pilar Ramirez duology, The Chainbreakers, and Shook.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Shook by Julian Randall
Ages 8-12
Shake’s dream of making the varsity basketball team is in peril when he gets injured. Can he rebound and make his way back onto the court—and back to feeling like himself? For fans of Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds.
Beautifully designed with illustrations.
Malik Page—though unless you’re his mama, call him “Shake”—dreams of making the Marshall Grove varsity basketball squad as an eighth grader. Then he’ll be on his way to joining the ranks of Chicago legends like his pops and late Uncle Kenny. But when Shake fractures his ankle in a championship game, he’s sidelined for the first time since his first dribble.
As his world is turned upside down, Shake feels like there’s ginger ale bubbling in his chest and sweat slicking on his palms. With a best friend who’s getting more distant by the day, a growing silence between him and his dad, and varsity tryouts fast approaching, Shake will have to cross up every obstacle to find a way back onto the court—and back to being himself. Thankfully in Marshall Grove, the sky is always full of hope.
PRAISE FOR SHOOK
“Absolutely vibrating with energy and heart, Shook is a masterful middle-grade novel.”—Newbery Honoree Jasmine Warga
“Readers, make permanent room on your shelves—and in your hearts—for this witty and poignant novel.”—National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo
“Witty, electric and profound, Randall’s verse dribbles, twists and weaves highlighting the complicated inner world of a middle-school boy with nuance and care.”—National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride
“Stunning. Heart on the page and poetry that feels alive—this book is powerful.”—Newbery Medalist Tae Keller
“In Shook, Randall does what the poet does best, which is to trick the heart into feeling by using sleight of language. In this case, basketball is metaphorized, transformed from a tale of physical injury and disappointment into one that explores what it means to try to fix the fractured bits of our emotional lives, regardless of age. A gift!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds
