Q&A with Christina Uss

  

 

 

Christina Uss is the author of the new middle grade novel Midnight Mayhem. Her other books include The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle. She lives in Western Massachusetts.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Midnight Mayhem, and how did you create your character Kaz?  

 

A: Some ideas bubble inside my brain for a loooong time before they are ready to be written down. Eight years ago, I wanted to write a story about a kid who stops sleeping for the rest of his life. That idea waited quietly in The Pot of Possible Book Ideas until I saw a magazine ad that said, “The only cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”  

 

Boredom! Aha! I knew facing boredom would be part of my sleepless story, so I added this thought to my pot: “Boredom is the worst, how do kids face it?”

 

The final step that got the Pot of Possible Ideas cooking was rereading a childhood favorite, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death. This book by Daniel Pinkwater makes me laugh every time, and I knew, “This! This is what I want to write! A funny story of midnight adventures gone wrong!” And here we are.

 

Q: The Booklist review of the book says, “Uss guides readers on a raucous romp that shows even nighttime boredom can be busted.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Boy oh boy, Booklist, I absolutely appreciate alliteration! I am so glad the review calls it a raucous romp. First and foremost, I want readers to know this story is funny. And I really, really look forward to hearing how readers would cure their own eight hours of daily boredom if they ended up as characters in my book.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Kaz and Floyd?

 

A: Even though they don’t realize it, they become true friends at first sight. They’re both very accepting, imaginative boys who want to find a friend who likes them for who they are.

 

However, due to past bad experiences, they’re both also very nervous about whether other kids will like them. The story follows them getting brave enough to commit to their friendship.

 

I originally thought that Floyd was going to be pretty hard to get along with, someone who didn’t listen to other people’s needs. Instead, when I wrote the scene where Floyd first knocks on Kaz’s hospital door, he’s not annoying or forceful; instead, this wonderfully hilarious, kind, interesting, extremely likeable kid shows up.

 

Sometimes it happens that way – characters come into my books fully formed and I’m not sure where they come from.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: I want every reader to ask themselves: if I stopped sleeping for the rest of my life, how would I fill the extra 25 years of life standing in front of me? Who would I want to spend that time with, and what would we do together?

 

Also, I hope we can all agree – boredom feels bad, you want it to end, it’s your body’s way of saying “Go find a friend.”

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A ridiculous new series called The Neverending Field Trip, about two friends whose parents were the only ones who signed the permission slip for them to bike across all 50 states with their fourth-grade teacher.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I rarely get bored. I think it’s because I almost always have a book with me. And if I get trapped somewhere without anything to read, I’ll start writing a book in my head.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Christina Uss.