It's the last Friday Fronts before... before... SUMMER.
And to kick us off we have Barbara Dee! Barbara is the author of several MG/YA books, including Solving Zoe, Just Another Day In My Insanely Real Life and the recently released This Is Me From Now On. It's some great light reading for the first few weeks over the summer.
You traveled all over Europe. Where was your favorite place to go?
Italy, definitely. Everything Italian is fabulous—food, scenery, art, fashion. And Venice is a million times cooler than Disneyworld!
My mother would be jealous. She's dying to go to Tuscany. Me? Ireland or England, any day. If you could travel into any book, what book would you go into?
It would be fun to pop into The Great Gatsby, and go to one of those crazy parties. But I don’t think I’d look too good in a flapper dress.
We had to do a project on Gatsby and got to dress up, the whole nine yards. Flapper dresses are fun to wear. I love the theme you have on all of your covers! Did you have a say in that? Would you change them?
I love them too! Actually, I do have a small say—for example, the sprinkler droplets on the cover of This Is Me From Now On were my idea. (You have to squint a bit to see them.) But I also lobbied against a lizard on the cover of Solving Zoe. My editor told me, Oh no, you’re wrong about that, lizards are cute — and as soon as I saw that iguana, I went, Aww.
Lizards are cute! On the mention of l-animals... what would happen if you were changed into a llama for a day?
Haha. For a second there, I thought you’d asked what would happen if I changed into a LLAMA for a day.
Which of your books was most fun to write?
This Is Me From Now On. I was laughing while typing.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck _______?
Could chuck wood? Glad you asked, because I’ve never known what “chucking” meant precisely, so I’m going to look it up in my trusty dictionary, which I happen to have right here. Okay, here we go. As a verb, it means: 1) To pat or squeeze fondly or playfully. (Um, let’s not even go there, all right?) 2) To throw, toss. (Woodchucks are throwing wood? Why?) 3) To throw out, discard. (What sense does it make to throw out wood in the woods?) 4) To make a clucking sound. (With wood? Not sure how that would work.) Sorry, Nicole, but I can’t answer your question. I tried, though.
You know, I never knew what chucking meant until now, either. This Is Me From Now On came out at the end of April. What is your favorite scene?
Hmm, that’s a tough one. I like the beach house scenes, and the movie theater scene, and also when Evie shows up at Francesca’s aunt’s house with their project. The aunt is so clueless and actressy—she makes me giggle every time I read it.
Summer's coming up! Do you plan on doing anything special?
I plan on eating LOTS of ice cream, which is always special.
I approve of that plan.
Thanks for stopping by, Barbara! Remember, you can order her books online - at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or the store of your choosing - or pick them up in your local store.