MacKids Spotlight: Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
This month’s Author Spotlight highlights Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass, co-authors of The Lost Library, a middle-grade novel that follows three characters—an eleven-year old boy named Evan, a fluffy orange cat named Mortimer who guards a little free library, and a ghost librarian named Al—in one small town, all mysteriously linked by an unfortunate event that happened years prior.
Wendy, we love The Lost Library! Can you tell us what inspired you both to write this book?
Wendy: We wanted to tell a story that would celebrate books and reading, libraries both big and small, along with the idea of experimenting with weaving a story together using different genres.
Rebecca, tell us a little bit about what it was like to work in tandem. As an author duo, what was your favorite part about the creation process and writing together?
Rebecca: 2020 was a lonely year, and we started talking about writing a story that felt genuinely fun—something really playful and inventive. We wrote Bob, our first labor of love, by surprising each other—passing chapters back and forth—but The Lost Library took a different road. This time, we talked a lot before writing anything, hammering out the structure of the story, the genre-mixing, the idea of a mystery that’s also a ghost story, and also a cat-and-mouse story, and also a story about real kids and real feelings. That was my favorite part—sharing ideas over the phone and getting excited.
The Lost Library has three different narrators: eleven-year-old Evan, a fluffy orange cat named Mortimer, and a ghost librarian named Al. Each narrator shares a different piece of the same story, which, when put together, makes the novel whole. What made you choose to use this narrative structure?
Rebecca: We loved the idea of using these (very) different characters from the start, and loved the idea that each one could hold a different piece of the puzzle. Originally, each character was written as his/her own separate story from start to finish. Then our editors (the wonderful Liz Szabla and Anna Roberto at the wonderful Feiwel & Friends) asked if the stories could be broken up and braided together. So we have a lot of head-hopping until everyone comes together at the end.
Do you have a favorite character in the book, or one that you relate to most?
Rebecca: For me, it’s Al the ghost librarian. She’s full of fear and full of love.
Wendy: Gotta be the cat. It’s always the cat. Mortimer is both a curmudgeon and a dreamer, full of hope and sass.
How do you hope The Lost Library will be used in classrooms and libraries?
Rebecca: I hope it’s a story that kids—and teachers and librarians—will truly enjoy reading. I don’t think there’s anything more important than that. But The Lost Library also says a lot about the ways in which books can touch our lives and help form who we become. I would love it if kids felt connected to some of those ideas, such as the notion that anyone can be a writer, or that there is no “one way” to be a great reader.
Tell us about a library, librarian or educator who made an impact on you as a child (or as an adult!).
Wendy: Libraries in general are my happy place. I got working papers at 14 so I could shelve books after school at my local public library. I’m sure the librarians knew I was mostly hiding in the stacks reading the books instead of putting them away.
Rebecca: The writer Frank McCourt was the creative writing teacher at my high school, and he read to us from his work in progress (a.k.a Angela’s Ashes). I don’t think I uttered one word in his class, but I remember sitting there and feeling “yes. this.” It was the first time anyone read their writing to me.
What was the first book that made you fall in love with reading?
Rebecca: It might be Bread and Jam for Frances, by the Hobans. It’s the first book I can remember reading to myself that contained emotions I could actually recognize inside myself. It’s a great story about getting exactly what you want and feeling 100 percent miserable about it.
Wendy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was my first “ordinary kids having extraordinary adventures” type of book. I’ll never forget the moment in third grade when my school librarian surprised me with the sequel and I learned what a series was. I literally jumped for joy.
The Lost Library is such a beautiful ode to books, libraries, librarians, and the love of reading. Why is it important for middle grade readers to see this reflected in the pages?
Rebecca: Libraries are essential to our communities, places where everyone belongs and where everyone should be able to see themselves reflected. Everyone should know that the world of books (and audiobooks) is for them. The earlier a connection can be made, the better. For me, fiction has always felt like a way to know other people, and a way to better know myself.
Wendy: What books each of us are drawn to is such a personal thing. We hope that kids will see that whichever books call out to them are great—love what you love and don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your choices.
What advice would you give to students who are aspiring writers?
Rebecca: Take your work seriously, but don’t be afraid to play. Always stay friendly toward whatever ends up on the page, even if it disappoints you at first. Revision is more than half of the process. Don’t let your own inner critic (or anyone else’s) stop you from making exactly what you want to make.
Wendy: A writer is someone who writes, so as long as you’re doing it, you’re getting better every day. When you’re reading a novel, pay attention to how the author is introducing characters, blending dialogue and narrative, ending chapters on cliffhangers, using description, and it will soon become easier for you to use these tools in your own stories.
About the Book
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Rebecca Stead is the New York Times bestselling author of When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy, First Light, Goodbye Stranger, Bob, and, most recently, The List of Things That Will Not Change. Her books have been awarded the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Fiction and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Rebecca lives in New York City, where she is always on the lookout for her next story idea.
Wendy Mass is the New York Times bestselling author of The Candymakers series, Bob, and many other novels for young readers, including the Schneider Family Book Award-winner A Mango-Shaped Space, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (which was made into a feature film), Every Soul a Star, Pi in the Sky, the Twice Upon a Time series, and the Willow Falls series that began with 11 Birthdays. She and her family live in New Jersey.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Lost Library
On Sale August 29th!
The New York Times bestselling authors of Bob, Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass, introduce readers to a little free library guarded by a cat and a boy who takes on the mystery it keeps.
When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.
Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys start asking questions whose answers will transform not only their own futures, but the town itself.
Told in turn by a ghost librarian named Al, an aging (but beautiful) cat named Mortimer, and Evan himself, The Lost Library is a timeless story from award-winning authors Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. It’s about owning your truth, choosing the life you want, and the power of a good book (and, of course, the librarian who gave it to you).
