Pauline David-Sax is the author of the children's picture book Everything in Its Place. She also has written the picture book The Time Machine. Also a playwright and an educator, she's based in Brooklyn.
Q: What inspired you to write Everything in Its Place, and how did you create your character Nicky?
A: The inspiration for this book came from getting to know some members of Sirens MC, NYC’s oldest all-women’s motorcycle club. My friend Rebecca’s sister KT and sister-in-law Jen are both members, and I found myself thinking how cool it was that Rebecca’s kids had these motorcycling aunts as role models.
Plus, as I got to know more about the group, I was impressed by how diverse its membership is. The 40-plus members range in age, race, sexual orientation and gender expression. As one member put it, “You never know if a woman is a Siren until you see the patch on her back.”
I knew I wanted to write something about this group, and this was around the time I was reading a lot of picture books to my younger daughter, which is what gave me the idea to create a picture book story that included a women’s motorcycle club.
But then I realized I wanted to have a child at the center of my story who encountered the women in the club, and that’s how I came up with Nicky. Nicky’s love of libraries and introverted nature were definitely inspired by me (both as a child and now!).
Q: What do you think Charnelle Pinkney Barlow’s illustrations add to the book?
A: I am completely in love with Charnelle’s illustrations. One of my favorite aspects is how she incorporated old library material (check-out cards and cards from old library card catalogs) into the illustrations.
I also love how Charnelle played with scale. Early in the book we see Nicky in the school library with this big starry sky up above her, and it gives me this clear sense of how much Nicky loves being in that world.
Later when Nicky is nervously watching her classmates at recess we see the swirl of a giant jump rope encompassing all the other kids, which reflects the swirl of emotions Nicky is feeling.
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, “Using emotionally astute prose and collage art that resembles a personal scrapbook with crayon-textured sketches, debut author David-Sax and Pinkney Barlow honor their protagonist’s rich interiority, never minimizing Nicky’s pain or yearning, nor her preference for books and (some) solitude.” What do you think of that description?
A: I felt really gratified by that review. Nicky is meant to be a complex, multi-dimensional character, and I’m so glad that came through.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?
A: One thing I hope kids come away with is the idea that it can be useful to stretch outside your comfort zone. Another is that you might have things in common with other people even if that’s not apparent at first glance. I also hope kids (and adults!) come away with an appreciation of the diversity of the motorcycle group Nicky meets, and how important experiencing that diversity is to her.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on lots of other picture book projects as well as a middle grade novel. I’m also in the process of adapting my second picture book (The Time Machine, Cardinal Rule Press) into a musical for kids.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: If you want to learn more about the real-life motorcycle club that inspired this book, you can go to https://sirensnyc.org/. And if you want to learn more about me, you can go to my website: paulinedavidsax.com.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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