Janet Tashjian is the author of the new middle grade novel Hannah Sharpe Cartoon Detective. Her other books include the My Life As... series. She lives in Los Angeles.
Q: What inspired you to write Hannah Sharpe Cartoon Detective, illustrated by your son Jake, and how did you create your character Hannah?
A: Hannah Sharpe Cartoon Detective was a long time in the making. There are so many different formats Jake used in the illustrations – graphic novel, spot drawings in the text, Hannah’s social stories notebook – that it was a lot more work to illustrate than our My Life As… series or Einstein the Class Hamster books.
We worked on most of the novel during Covid, which also made things much more difficult given the anxiety and unpredictability of the lockdown.
It was also a strange blessing to revisit a lot of the autism work Jake did when he was younger: the play therapy, the sensory work, the planned curveballs. We both got to appreciate how far he’s come dealing with his processing issues since he was Hannah’s age.
It made us both realize how much time we’ve all put in helping him process the world around him. Jake, of course, did the lions’ share of the work.
Q: As you mentioned, you’ve worked with Jake on other book projects before this one--how would you describe your collaboration, and what do you think his illustrations add to this new book?
A: Jake’s always been a visual learner; our My Life As… books stemmed from him trying to approach reading from a more pictorial point of view that was easier for him to process.
I’m proud of Hannah’s story and the book itself, but the biggest impact for the reader is certainly Jake’s illustrations. So many kids and parents have mentioned how helpful the pictures were in understanding Hannah’s point of view.
Several parents I know started implementing a lot of Hannah’s strategies into their children’s lives.
Q: The School Library Journal review of the book said, “Hannah is a lovable, relatable protagonist…. Her story provides some clever lessons on life’s grey areas, which are universally frustrating (even if they manifest differently for all of us)." What do you think of that description?
A: I love that review! Love SLJ! Hannah IS adorable and relatable; on the spectrum or not, all kids have to deal with curveballs and learn how to process the unexpected. Gray areas are difficult for everyone. Black and white issues are easier but that’s rarely how life works.
I’m not on the spectrum but I probably spend as much time trying to process things as Jake does. I know a ton of kids and young adults that spend a lot of time trying to wrap their heads around change. It’s not just an autism thing.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?
A: I hope kids take away how much fun kids like Hannah are. Sure, there are things that might be hard for her, but she brings a lot to the party that’s imaginative and funny and cool. She was the only one even close to solving the mystery going on at her school, even more than the teachers did.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Writing, hiking, cooking, and creating YouTube content for kids.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Yes! Vote! Be kind! Make stuff! Get off your phone! Say hello to old people! Don’t be afraid to be a goofball! Read! Write!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
No comments:
Post a Comment