Steven B. Frank is the author of a new novel for kids, Armstrong & Charlie. He also has written The Pen Commandments. He is a middle school teacher at Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles.
Q: You say on your website that Armstrong & Charlie was
partly based on your own childhood. Were most of the 1970s-era details things
you remembered, or did you need to do research to fill it out?
A: One of the perks of living in the same neighborhood where
I grew up is that my daily walks take me through past and present in a single
stride.
If I want to, I can flash back to memories that are so
vivid, I can taste the Razzles from the Helms Man's truck, smell the eucalyptus
leaves at our canyon fort, or hear the steady clatter of click-clacks in a
friend's hand.
I did have to research some things, like the price of a box
of Ho Hos or the year "Shining Star" was released, but most of what I
mined, I mined from memory.
Q: You're a middle-school teacher--how much of your writing
is inspired by your students?
A: We tell a lot of stories in my class. Kids share their
earliest memories; they write letters to themselves in the future; they make
graphic novels about their families' journeys to America. Right now they're
working on poems about their most embarrassing moments.
So much tempting material for a writer to poach. But I never
do. I want them to grow up and write their own stories the way I grew up and
wrote mine.
I will say, though, that a writer needs company, and for me
there's no better company than a room full of emotional, passionate, whacky and
wise young humans. It's like spending time with puppies, only better because
they're smarter than me. And they can talk. Man, can they talk!
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started
writing, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: The original ending was an epilogue in which Armstrong
& Charlie meet up again as adults, having lost touch with each other for 30
years.
They have an unexpected and very emotional reunion, which I
loved, but my editor said no. Better to leave the two boys at the end of 6th
grade, unsure what the future will bring. It took me awhile for the new ending
to come; I was afraid it wouldn't be as emotional as the old one.
Now that I've seen many readers come to the end of the book
without its epilogue and tell me what they think will happen in the future, I
know that my editor was right. And this way I'm open to writing a sequel.
Q: You alternate the story between the voices of Armstrong
and Charlie. Did you write the chapters in the order in which they appeared, or
focus on one character at a time?
A: My first draft of the book was written entirely from the
grown-up Charlie's point of view, looking back on his childhood. The story
unfolded in pretty much the same order as it does in the published book, but I
didn't like the voice or the adult perspective.
Then, one night, Armstrong woke me up and started telling me
his side of the story. His voice was what had been missing from the book.
From then on, I got out of the way and Armstrong and Charlie tell their own
story the way they experienced it, not the way I remembered it.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Something pretty ironic coming from a teacher: an
underdog tale about a group of kids so fed up with homework that they sue to
have it declared unconstitutional. With the help of a cranky old neighbor and
each other, they take their case all the way to the Supreme Court.
It's really a book about the rights of children to have a
childhood. As soon as it comes out in spring, 2018, I'm going to have a hard
time assigning homework.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: As part of my book tour for Armstrong & Charlie, I'm
collecting anonymous stories of discrimination. If you and/or your readers
would like to add yours, please follow this link.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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