1. What drew you to begin telling stories in comics form?
When I'm on school visits with a classroom, I always tell students that most authors write stories to answer a question. With the CAPE, MASK, and BOOTS trilogy in The Leagues of Secret Heroes series, the entire project began from a simple question I had one day: Who came before Wonder Woman? I love the WWII period as just a history nerd, and one day I was thinking about the rise of superheroes. I started wondering what her story was. I'm a big Wonder Woman fan, but I wanted to know if there were other female superheroes before her. And ohmygoodness, there were! Fantomah, who started it all, and an awesome early Black Cat, and this fun one with some ridiculously cool superpowers called the Magician From Mars.
So it felt natural to me to present some of the chapters in the series in comic book form. I was immersed in these early superheroes, I wanted them to serve as sort of mentors for my three kid protagonists, and though I was writing the books in a traditional narrative format, I really wanted young readers to SEE the story play out too. So the mashup felt organic.
2. What do comics allow you to do when sharing a story or information/informational text?
I'm married to a neuroscientist, so we chat brain stuff over dinner. Haha. And my theory about comics is that they're perfect for emerging readers and frankly readers of all ages because they work our brains on two levels. The interplay of words and images has us firing on all cylinders! With readers having such a range of strengths, the visuals are great for some and the text great for others. We can take in comics so easily, and that reinforcement of language and image working together just builds our understanding and our skills as readers.
I have been lucky to work with First Second publishers on their "History Comics" series, and I loved being able to tell a nonfiction story in a comics format. The Great Chicago Fire is a fascinating part of American history, and with the fires raging now in the west and south, we have this window back to the early days of firefighting. I feel like the comics format for the Great Chicago Fire: Rising From the Ashes made this historical moment accessible to young readers who might find history kind of dry. I've gotten wonderful feedback from teachers about it pulling in reluctant readers, so that is great to hear!
I have another book in this "History Comics" line coming soon!
3. What message would you share with young authors and with the teachers who work with them?
History rocks! Learning about where we were helps us better understand where we are now and what we can be down the road. One of my favorite things about working with young students is that moment when they ask, "Is that for real? That actually happened?" Because then you know you've got them! History can be shocking and amusing, and best of all thought provoking. Eat it up!
And comics rock! Take in stories however we can. Read fiction and nonfiction, series and standalone, mystery novels and graphic novels! And push back when someone says that comics or graphic novels aren't worthy. Think about the earliest civilizations, going all the way back to the cave painters. They were our earliest storytellers, and their illustrations resonate with us today. The visual story works on our minds just as powerfully as the written one. When they can work together, all the better!