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March 4, 2015 by Travis Jonker

Breaking Barriers: An Interview with the Creators of This One Summer

March 4, 2015 by Travis Jonker   8 comments

Of all the surprises at this year’s Youth Media Awards, none was bigger for me than when This One Summer was announced as a Caldecott Honor winner. Full of stunning illustrations, this book scrapes the top of the Caldecott-eligible age range (0-14)

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I had a chance to chat with illustrator Jillian Tamaki and author Mariko Tamaki about their barrier-breaking book.

Travis: Okay, so it seems like a backhanded compliment to say that your book winning a Caldecott Honor was the surprise of the Youth Media Awards, so please try to take it as a fronthanded compliment. What was your level of surprise when you got the Caldecott Call?

Jillian Tamaki: Very surprised, in that I wouldn’t have even considered our book Caldecott material. Very thrilling and surprising.

Travis: What did you say when you first talked to each other after receiving the news?

Jillian: We texted. Some smiley emoticons were part of that exchange.

Travis: I don’t want to pigeonhole, because I think your books work for a lot of different readers, but I think most librarians would call them YA (or at least “YA-ish”). Does this in any way open up your brain to a new, younger audience you didn’t have in mind before?

Mariko Tamaki: We’ve never paid too much attention to “audience.” I think when you focus on “audience” you spend less time thinking about story.  I leave it to publishers and librarians and booksellers to decide “audience.” Although, you know, ultimately it’s up to a reader to decide.

Travis: This One Summer was one of most well received books of 2014 – in general, how do you guys respond to the love of starred reviews and awards?

Mariko: They are lovely.  Also lovely are people coming up to you and emailing you and talking to you about the book.

Travis: How do you feel about breaking the Caldecott graphic novel barrier?

Jillian: It’s cool! It felt inevitable that a graphic novel would be recognized eventually, though. I’m just pleased it’s ours. Comics has been deepening and diversifying for years, it’s nice to be recognized by a broader book community.

Travis: How do you feel about breaking the Caldecott f-bomb barrier?

Jillian: Frickin’ awesome! I didn’t know that was another new thing. That feels maybe as significant as the fact it’s a graphic novel!

Mariko: F yeah.

Thanks Jillian and Mariko for taking my questions. Thank you to Gina Gagliano at First Second for arranging the interview.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ed Spicer says

    March 4, 2015 at 7:52 am

    Nice! And, Travis, do you do translating?

    • Travis Jonker says

      March 4, 2015 at 8:25 am

      Ha! Having a spam comment issue right now, apparently – I went in and deleted

  2. Jonathan Hunt says

    March 4, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    THIS ONE SUMMER was just named as a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Graphic Novel category! 🙂

    • Travis Jonker says

      March 4, 2015 at 3:56 pm

      The awards keep coming!

      • librarylady says

        March 5, 2015 at 7:44 pm

        Do you really think this is appropriate for an elementary library setting? The Caldecott use to be my go to for award winning illustrations with a good story….not just award winning illustrations. Sorry I won’t be purchasing it.

        • Travis Jonker says

          March 5, 2015 at 8:26 pm

          I think This One Summer is a tremendous book all around, but it definitely throws a wrench in the sight-unseen Caldecott purchase for the elementary collection. I work in a K-4 school and there are Newbery books we don’t have in our collection because I felt older kids would get more out of them. Same situation here (in my experience, a first for a Caldecott winner) – 13-14 year olds and up seems to be the age that will get the most out of this book.

      • Mary says

        March 11, 2015 at 11:00 am

        Speaking of awards for this book…I noticed that it also won the Canadian Governor General’s award for children’s illustration. Which made me wonder….when was the last time a Caldecott or any ALA award was given to a book published initially in Canada (or elsewhere in the English-speaking world) written by a Canadian or non-US resident? Apparently the artist (Jillian) as opposed to the author (Mariko) lives in the US, which made the book ALA award-eligible?

        As a comparison, Neil Gaiman’s and Jon Klassen’s award winners were not initially published outside of the US, and both are longtime residents of the US.

        • Travis Jonker says

          March 12, 2015 at 1:24 pm

          I love all of these questions, Mary. I want to find out how many books have won a CGG and Caldecott in the same year. Also interesting to me is the publication date – I’m guessing the committee is considering this a simultaneous pub, because the release dates in the US and Canada are only weeks apart (with Canada being in April, and the US in May). As far as a Caldecott book being written by a non-resident, I don’t know the answer to that question, but I would like to find out. It could be tricky to track down that information, however. Thanks for your comments, Mary!

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