Readers always assume I love to fish because my first novel, Crossing the Pressure Line, is about a 12-year-old girl who desperately wants to catch a musky.
I don’t love to fish. (Clarification: I love sitting on a boat and reading a book while my husband and kids fish. Does that count?)
Marvelous Jackson, which launched September 10, centers on a 13-year-old boy who throws himself into making brownies, scones, and cookies as a way of finding a sense of purpose and reconnecting with his late mom. You must enjoy baking then, right? I get asked.
Nope. But I really love it when others do.
I adore watching people get into their flow state, whether it's with baking, cooking, designing, drawing, or gardening. Show me someone working with intense focus on something, and I'm hooked.
Recently, for BookTrib I wrote a fun article spotlighting five middle grade novels that celebrate kids in the kitchen. The main characters are committed and creative, and even if I would never undertake the baking projects they throw themselves into, I find their stories riveting.
I hope you get some good book ideas for the budding bakers in your life -- especially if they're boys, like my own Jack Wilson.
Happy reading!
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