Photo credit: On Jackson Street
Judith Rossell is the author and illustrator of the new middle grade novel The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls. Her other books include the Stella Montgomery series. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Q: What inspired you to write The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls, and how did you create your character Maggie?
A: I wanted to write a story about a team of girls who learn useful skills and then work together to solve crimes. When I was young, I was a Girl Guide (like a Girl Scout in the US) and we learned bandaging and knot-tying and Morse code, and I felt totally ready to solve crimes or save a baby from bandits, or from a runaway train, or something like that.
Unfortunately, I grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and I never got the chance to be the heroine of any kind of adventure, which was a bit frustrating. So it was very satisfying to send the girls of the Midwatch Institute into danger, and see how brave and smart they could be.
At the start of the story, Maggie is in disgrace. She has been thrown out of one orphanage, and sent away to another one. She’s not especially good at anything, and she feels unwanted and useless and grumpy.
During the story, she learns new skills, and makes friends, and learns a bit about courage and confidence and leadership.
Maggie is probably a version of me. I was – at times – a very grumpy child.
Q: The book also includes many of your illustrations--how did you decide where to incorporate the illustrations into the story?
A: I wanted there to be lots of pictures, from full-page illustrations of city buildings, to tiny details of pins and subway tokens. The story is set in the 1920s, and so it was a pleasure to include lots of historical details in the illustrations.
I love that you can flip through the book and see a picture on almost every page. Particularly for young readers, illustrations can make a story feel more exciting and more approachable.
I really wanted to include some big, double-page illustrations at certain points in the story. For example, when the girls first climb up onto the lookout on the roof of The Midwatch Institute and look out at the skyscrapers all around, that’s a double-page picture, which (hopefully!) gives the readers the sense of being immersed in the world of the huge, exciting city.
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book called it a “subversive and captivating examination of adventure, lifelong learning, and sisterhood.” What do you think of that description?
A: I think it’s fabulous! What a lovely review.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I made many changes along the way. At one point, I turned half of the girls in The Midwatch Institute into boys, and then a bit later, I turned them back into girls again.
I don’t find it easy to plan the story, I write it scene by scene and make it up as I go. It’s definitely a longer and more stressful process, but it feels like I’m discovering the story as I write, which is more interesting, I think, and perhaps more unexpected for the reader.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m writing a story for younger readers about two cats, and what they get up to when the people go out. (Mainly, they watch TV and try to order cat food on the internet, which doesn’t work out exactly as they expect.)
The title is Spud and Snowball and the Fancy Fish and it will be published in Australia later this year.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I’m so happy and excited for kids in the US and Canada to be reading The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls. I hope they enjoy it!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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