1. What draws you to write and create for young readers?
I have been a college professor for a couple of decades. Students have been and continue to be a source of inspiration, hope, and creativity. Combine that with a deep love for stories, and it’s a vortex of inspiration. (Sorry - it’s a bad metaphor - but it does all feel that chaotic sometimes). There is no doubt in my mind that having children of my own is my strongest inspiration. They have such incredible hope and strength, and magic. For them, the world is full of everything that is possible, and they are hungry for stories that let them know more about life backwards and forward through time.
At Bedtime, they always ask me to tell them a “kid” story—a story from my own growing up. They don’t just want a “happily ever after.” They want every detail, every nuance, every joyful moment, but also every sad moment. They are listening for how things happen in the world. Stories are how they want to learn.
Books saved my life. Growing up was not easy, and I always found safety, escape, and most of all–hope in the pages of stories. Things are always clearer in books. –from reading Bridge to Terabithia to Narnia and Middle Earth, books have always been there for me even in the most difficult times!
I asked myself, could I be a part of a tradition like that?
Here is one little anecdote I consider a “launch pad “story. When my book of (adult) poetry came out a few years ago, at the release, I was reading to a theater full of people, and some of the poems were extremely serious. I decided to read some of the lighter poems about growing up, and about my own children. I will never forget what happened after that. I read this poem “First Kiss.” Here are just a few lines…
“Fat kids don’t have girlfriends.
Friends yes, but not kissing,
not even in third grade.
So imagine my surprise…”
The audience laughed with relief, but I remember looking out and seeing a good friend of mine, a pretty amazing YA writer who would later become one of my greatest supporters, looked at me wide-eyed from the crowd. After the reading, he ran up to me, grabbed me by the shoulders and said, “Dude, you have got to write a Middle Grade Book!” I read Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming, Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, and he gave me a stack of other books to read, and then I read everything I could find.
2. What message(s) do you want to share with your readers?
I hope readers find adventure, joy, friendship, magic, history, and inspiration. Is that a lot? The thing about books that is always amazing is that the reader experiences a story in long form…ALL the ups, downs, and in-betweens. That’s what life is. Things are not always immediate. It’s often all about the journey. Through it all, I want readers to find hope, new perspectives, identity, and a chance to be good.
3. Please tell us about Magical Imperfect and any other titles you'd like to share about.
The Magical Imperfect tells a story of deep family connections and finding empathy in the most difficult and unexpected places.
It takes place in a small town between the Redwoods and the Sea in Northern California where a community of immigrants who came through Angel Island, accept each other and form meaningful bonds even though they come from so many different places.
It’s a story of an unlikely friendship between outcasts: Etan, who is selectively mute and spends most his days working with his grandfather on main street learning about Jewish traditions and so many other things, and Malia who lives near an ancient grove of redwoods and never leaves the house because of her skin condition.
And of course, it’s about baseball, earthquakes, and the magic that brings them together and changes their world.
My other novel in verse, All Of Me, came out from Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends in 2019. It’s a Middle Grade novel that the LA Times called a “fictional retelling of Baron’s life.” Set in San Francisco, it is the story of Ari Rosensweig, an overweight, seventh grade boy who loves cryptozoology and role-playing games. Ari is tired of being bullied and letting his weight define him. His parents’ marriage is struggling. They are too busy to focus on his life, much less help him with his already late bar mitzvah, and things take a turn for the worse. Ari’s mother, a painter and sculptor, decides to open an old gallery at the beach that summer. She puts him on a diet, and with the help of some unexpected friends, he tries to make a change physically, but that’s only the beginning of their adventures and the real change that comes.
I also have a few more books coming out soon. The Gray and Forest Heart in 2023 and 2024, as well as The Secret Of the Dragon Gems, (23 Little Bee Books/YellowJacket) a MG novel co-authored with Rajani Larocca.
4. Where can we find more information about your work?
There are many good places-but my website works–and I like the good parts of social media
website: chris-baron.com
Twitter: @baronchrisbaron
Instagram: @christhebearbaron