PRESS RELEASE – Bibi Belford’s second novel, Crossing the Line, set during historic Chicago Race Riots

PRESS RELEASE

For the PDF version, click here: PressRelease-BibiBelford-CrossingTheLine-15July2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Author Bibi Belford’s second novel, Crossing the Line, about young friends and bravery, is set during historic Chicago Race Riots

CROSSING THE LINE by Bibi Belford (Sky Pony Press, 15 August 2017, Hardcover & eBook, ISBN-13 9781510708006, Price $15.99  & $15.19, 304 pages)

(CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) Chicago author Bibi Belford’s second novel tackles social issues in a story of an unexpected friendship during a violent time in Chicago’s history—the race riots of 1919. The teacher-turned-author creates stories intended to resonate with the issues students face today. Belford says of the book, “I wrote CROSSING THE LINE for all those students I’ve taught that face discrimination and prejudice in their daily lives.” Though the middle grade novel is based on a tragic event in history, the author hopes the story will engage today’s young readers to personally stand up for justice in their everyday lives—even if doing so means accepting risk.  She aims “…to write books that bring kids joy and create stories that motivate readers to be everyday heroes.” Belford lives and writes in Chicago in the South Loop neighborhood. She is a retired public school teacher and literacy advocate, who continues to work as an educational consultant focusing on methods for classroom reading instruction.

Having spent time researching Chicago history—after observing the memorial plaque of a victim killed in the race riot—Belford’s idea for the book title comes from an archived political cartoon that depicts the community in 1919 angrily divided. “Researching (the race riots from almost one hundred years ago), I decided to write a book about two boys, Billy and Foster, who become friends despite their race differences and build a raft that crosses over the line (where the community is divided).”

CROSSING THE LINE

By Bibi Belford

“A heart-wrenching, heart-pounding read, set almost a hundred years ago but with themes that still resonate strongly today. The characters are unforgettable, and loyal even as their friendship is tested. A story that will leave you thinking about how you can cross the line.”
―Lisa Ann Scott, author of Back on the Map and School of Charm

“‘We have stories to tell,’ Bibi Belford writes in this powerful novel, ‘if we are brave to tell them.’ And I’m so glad to have read this brave story. CROSSING THE LINE tackles tough issues that didn’t make sense in Billy’s lifetime, and that don’t make sense now―and his journey is infused with hope that even the smallest among us can be a catalyst for big change.”
―Beth Vrabel, author of Pack of Dorks and A Blind Guide to Stinkville

“Readers of all ages will be pulled into this strong, warm, and important coming-of-age story, seen through the eyes of an innocent boy trying to make sense of a racially violent world around him. Blending honesty and humor with history isn’t easy, but Bibi Belford has hit all her marks with courage and conviction.”
―Randall Platt, author of Incommunicado

Book Description

Billy’s family has fallen on hard times, what with his da hospitalized after the Great War and his ma barely scraping by. But it’s no hardship for him when there’s not enough money to pay the tuition for Nativity of Our Lord, the private Catholic school everyone in his neighborhood attends. Billy’s not big on education.

When he transfers to James Ward, a Chicago public school, he finds out there’s a big difference at public school: the kids aren’t all Irish—in fact, they aren’t even all white. It isn’t long before Billy’s found a new best friend in Foster, another fifth grader who also doesn’t have any money, loves baseball, and just happens to be black.

Billy is pretty sure skin color doesn’t matter. Not when he and Foster are just horsing around, playing baseball, working on the docks of the canal, and building a raft at their secret hideout near Bridgeport’s Bubbly Creek. But in the Red Summer of 1919, it does matter.

CROSSING THE LINE is Bibi Belford’s second novel and her first historically-based fiction. It combines a fresh-voiced—if naïve—protagonist with a literary, hopeful narration that will capture the attention of readers of many ages. The century-old setting reveals the importance of daring friendships in a story that is aptly honed for modern readers.

About Bibi Belford

Bibi Belford is the author of books for middle grade readers: CROSSING THE LINE, CANNED AND CRUSHED, THE GIFT, and ANOTHER D FOR DEEDEE (coming 2018). She lives in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois with her husband. She enjoys books, gardening, beaches, and spending time with her grandchildren. Belford also works as an educational consultant and volunteers in public schools. She is a member of CWA – Chicago Writers Association, SCBWI-Illinois, and has served as a panelist for author Success Stories at the UW-Madison Writers’ Institute. For more information, visit Belford’s author website at bibibelford.com.

Publisher Information

Sky Pony Press is the children’s book imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. Following in the footsteps of their parent company, Sky Pony press seeks to publish books for young readers with diverse interests.  To learn more about Sky Pony Press, visit skyponypress.com.

Book Information

Title   Crossing the Line | Author   Bibi Belford | Publisher   Skyhorse Publishing  | Imprint   Sky Pony Press | Published   15 August 2017 | Format   Hardback | ISBN-13   9781510708006 | Dimensions   5.75 x 8.25in.

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Additional information related to this press release:

Author Q & A – Bibi Belford on writing CROSSING THE LINE

Bibi Belford – media kit

Contact Bibi Belford

crossing-the-line-book-cover-bibi-belford

Crossing the Line

 

Photo – Bibi Belford

Author Q & A : Bibi Belford on writing CROSSING THE LINE

Bibi Belford, on what inspired her to write the book CROSSING THE LINE:

“ … I was researching what happened in Chicago almost one hundred years ago, (details of the worst race riots in Chicago) …

I decided to write a book about two boys, Billy and Foster, who become friends despite their race differences and build a raft that crosses over the line (dividing the community)…

Just like Billy (the book’s Irish-American character), I was raised to believe all people were created equal, but both Billy and I had to learn about white privilege and how damaging it is to people of color. I wrote Crossing the Line for all those students I’ve taught that face discrimination and prejudice in their daily lives, something I’ve never had to experience. The fact that they’ve allowed me to be their teacher and treated me with respect, despite racist atrocities of the past and present, humbles me. My students and my four kids are the best things that ever happened to me, and they inspire me everyday.

My goal is to write books that bring kids joy and create stories that motivate readers to be everyday heroes. “

CROSSING THE LINE   –   Book Description:  Billy’s family has fallen on hard times, what with his da hospitalized after the Great War and his ma barely scraping by. But it’s no hardship for him when there’s not enough money to pay the tuition for Nativity of Our Lord, the private Catholic school everyone in his neighborhood attends. Billy’s not big on education.

When he transfers to James Ward, a Chicago public school, he finds out there’s a big difference at public school: the kids aren’t all Irish—in fact, they aren’t even all white. It isn’t long before Billy’s found a new best friend in Foster, another fifth grader who also doesn’t have any money, loves baseball, and just happens to be black.

Billy is pretty sure skin color doesn’t matter. Not when he and Foster are just horsing around, playing baseball, working on the docks of the canal, and building a raft at their secret hideout near Bridgeport’s Bubbly Creek. But in the Red Summer of 1919, it does matter.

READ THE FULL Q & A:

(July 2017 – Chicago, Illinois)Author Bibi Belford answers questions on her latest book CROSSING THE LINE: 

(to read the PDF version instead, click this link: BibiBelford_AuthorQA_CROSSINGtheLINE-media-kit071417 )

  1. Tell us about yourself. Where do you live, and what inspired you to be a writer?

Hey there, I’m Bibi Belford, author of Canned and Crushed (link) and Crossing the Line (link). I used to live in the suburbs with raspberries in my backyard, where it’s so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face at night and so quiet you can hear owls in the woods. Now I live in the Chicago loop where the city lights shine all night and it’s always noisy and busy. I love riding the bus and the L-train and being able to walk to museums and parks and restaurants, mostly restaurants! I try to write every day, but I also love to quilt, sew, read, garden, volunteer in schools, and go to the beach.

Books inspired me. If there were therapy groups for people addicted to books, I would need a lifetime membership. Book reading is one of my earliest memories, but since my family couldn’t afford to buy books, the public library became my bookstore and playground. In the good old days, kids couldn’t check out books until they learned to sign their name. I practiced and practiced, and I remember my hand trembling from both fear and anticipation when the librarian set that card in front of me. Since I loved books so much, I always wanted to write a book. After teaching for many years and raising four children, I finally got serious and decided to quit playing around and actually write that book I always talked about writing.

  1. You write fiction for children and early teens. What was your childhood like?

My childhood was very strict, but because of the era, very free at the same time. After breakfast in the summer, we took off with our neighborhood buddies and roamed wherever we wanted to. During the school year, we rushed home, changed our clothes and disappeared for hours. We played baseball in the open fields, rode bikes on dirt roads with potholes, and invented all kinds of mysterious adventures that involved spying and treasure. We built our own ramps and sledding hills. We climbed trees and made forts with leftover lumber. When the six o’clock whistle blew, we hightailed it home for dinner.

My father was a college professor and my mom had a teaching degree, but stayed home to take care of us kids. We were not allowed to say we were bored or they put us to work. In today’s terms my family would have been considered low socioeconomic. I had two pairs of shoes—my school shoes and my play shoes—which were last year’s school shoes with holes in the toes and soles. We drank powdered orange juice, called Tang and ate Spam. We helped pick fruits and vegetables and “put them up” which is nice way to say we ate our own canned produce because it was cheaper than food from the grocery store. We didn’t own a TV until I was ten so we spent our family time playing games and listening to classical music.

Almost all the gifts I got were used, but lovingly reconditioned by my mom or dad. One year they gave my brothers and me a huge chalkboard by painting the wall of the basement black. And one time I got a kid-sized microscope for my birthday, including slides of little one-celled animals, all because I said I was thinking of being a doctor when I grew up. Weird! My favorite gift was an old two-wheel bike that my dad painted pink and white. I insisted on parking it next to my bed for at least a month after I got it, so if I woke up in the night I could be sure it wasn’t a dream.

  1. Give a brief description of your book, CROSSING THE LINE. 

Billy’s family has fallen on hard times, what with his da hospitalized after the Great War and his ma barely scraping by. But it’s no hardship for him when there’s not enough money to pay the tuition for Nativity of Our Lord, the private Catholic school everyone in his neighborhood attends. Billy’s not big on education.

When he transfers to James Ward, a Chicago public school, he finds out there’s a big difference at public school: the kids aren’t all Irish—in fact, they aren’t even all white. It isn’t long before Billy’s found a new best friend in Foster, another fifth grader who also doesn’t have any money, loves baseball, and just happens to be black.

Billy is pretty sure skin color doesn’t matter. Not when he and Foster are just horsing around, playing baseball, working on the docks of the canal, and building a raft at their secret hideout near Bridgeport’s Bubbly Creek. But in the Red Summer of 1919, it does matter.

  1. Why did you write CROSSING THE LINE?

When I was riding my bike along Lake Michigan, I saw a memorial stone with a tribute on it to Eugene Williams. The date showed he died when he was sixteen and I was curious. I started researching and read about the awful tragedy that happened on July 27, 1919 when Eugene William drowned because someone threw a rock at his raft when it floated too close to the beach known as a “whites only beach”. I grew up in Illinois but I’d never heard of Eugene or any of the details of the worst race riots in Chicago. At the same time as I was researching what happened in Chicago almost one hundred years ago, violence was erupting all over the country because of deaths caused by racial discrimination happening today. Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

I decided to write a book about two boys, Billy and Foster, who become friends despite their race differences and build a raft that crosses over the line separating the “whites only beach” from the beach where blacks were allowed to go. The story is set in 1919 when, in American history, public places in the South were officially separated by race, often called segregation. In Chicago segregation wasn’t as clearly defined, but certain areas were still designated for use by either whites or blacks.

Just like Billy (the book’s Irish-American character), I was raised to believe all people were created equal, but both Billy and I had to learn about white privilege and how damaging it is to people of color. I wrote Crossing the Line for all those students I’ve taught that face discrimination and prejudice in their daily lives, something I’ve never had to experience. The fact that they’ve allowed me to be their teacher and treated me with respect, despite racist atrocities of the past and present, humbles me. My students and my four kids are the best things that ever happened to me, and they inspire me everyday. My goal is to write books that bring kids joy and create stories that motivate readers to be everyday heroes.

  1. Billy, the main character in CROSSING THE LINE, is focused on baseball and especially the Chicago White Sox. What about baseball or the White Sox interests you?

 Ah. Baseball. I have such vivid memories of standing in an vacant field behind my house, with the baseline freshly mown and the katydids chirping, waiting to make that high fly catch, but having it soar over my head instead and then chasing it through the weeds while Bobby, the only sixth grader on the block, ran around the cardboard bases. Those were the days. And always, homemade popsicles or lemonade after the game ended, usually in a disagreement or a thunderstorm. Now, I’m a big White Sox fan. Of course, I don’t really have a choice unless I want my family to disown me. I live on the Southside of Chicago and we go to lots of games during the season. I have five white sox shirts and two hats.

My favorite players are Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, A.J. Pierzynski, Ozzie Guillen, Harold Baines, and this year, I like the three Garcias—Leury, Avisail, and Willy. My husband’s favorite player of all time is Nellie Fox from 1949.

  1. The setting of CROSSING THE LINE adds much to the texture of the story. Can you tell us about why you chose to set the story there, in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood?

More than 189,800 African-Americans moved to Chicago between 1916-1930, during the Great Migration, to take advantage of the offer of better opportunities. Over 22% of those came from Mississippi. A large percentage came to work in The Union Stockyards and factories near Chicago’s southwest side, in a neighborhood called Bridgeport.

It made sense to set the story in the Bridgeport neighborhood, where many conflicts started when men came home from World War I and found competition for their low-paying jobs as bricklayers and stockyard workers. Bridgeport was the home of many Irish immigrants, relocating there since the Great Famine of 1845, and meeting socially at Schaller’s Pump and Nativity of Our Lord. My grandparents came from Ireland and settled in Detroit, with my grandfather working as a butcher, so I understand the Irish-American struggle to survive and deal with anti-Irish-immigrant discrimination. I also wanted to set the story near a creek so the boys could build a raft and Bridgeport was located close to the Chicago River and its tributaries.

  1. The idea of people living in the shelter of each other is an important theme in the book. What about that idea moved you?

 “It is in the shelter of each other that people live,” is an Irish proverb, and so true.

As a teacher I worked as part of a team that sheltered me, both emotionally and practically. Our team collaborated and co-created and knew we could depend on each other for emotional support or to provide resources we lacked. Research shows that people often won’t leave a job, even for more money, if they feel sheltered by their co-workers. The world isn’t always an easy place to navigate, but having a network of friends and family to be there for you makes it a better place. My hope is that reading CROSSING THE LINE will inspire people to knock down the walls of prejudice and be shelters for each other instead.

  1. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

Even though I’ve worked in a diverse school district for my entire public school teaching career, I’m not a person of color and I always worry I don’t have a right to tell a story with characters of color. At first I wasn’t sensitive to this issue. I didn’t understand that I could still have white privilege if I wasn’t a racist and since I grew up poor. But to tackle this challenging topic of racial tensions and people of color (PoC) in historical fiction, I read books, articles and blogs to educate myself and even took a class structured to help writers tackle issues of diversity, race and/or inclusion in their stories.

My editor was very patient with all my early draft mistakes and the final version of the book reflects my new understanding and her astute perception. One of the editor’s best pieces of advice during the process of editing Crossing the Line was for me to consult with sensitivity readers—people who read “unapproved” drafts to make sure the content is culturally appropriate for today’s audience. Of course, no book can please every reader or every opinion, but making sure to get feedback from insiders to the culture I was writing about—especially since some of the characters were from a different heritage than mine—was a challenging and important step of the editing process for the final version of the book. Some things were cut from the book after I received the feedback. For example, originally, Odell, Foster’s older brother, sang a song the family might have sung when picking cotton in the South. One of the sensitivity readers explained that no one who lived in the South in those days would sing a song that reminded them of cotton picking, which many times resulted in being mistreated. I took out the song. Another sensitivity reader felt the father in the story wasn’t reacting strongly enough to what had happened, so I rewrote the scene.

It was hard to hear the criticism from sensitivity readers during the final stage of the book-writing process, but it also made me happy I could fix my mistakes in order to respect people and not offend. Researching and asking people to do sensitivity reads helps to eliminate stereotypes and offensive issues, but it is a poor substitute for being from the culture I’m writing about. I applaud the current trend that encourages diverse writers to take up the torch and write books so kids can see themselves as powerful protagonist of many different cultures in their own stories. As you can see from this chart we have a long way to go to increase children’s opportunity to read books by diverse writers and about diverse characters.

Children’s Books By and About People of Color and First/Native Nations Received by the CCBC*–US Publishers Only 2015-
Year Number of Books Received at CCBC from US Pubs (est) African / African Americans American Indians / First Nations Asian Pacifics / Asian Pacific Americans Latinos
By About By About By About By About
2016 3,200 90 265 8 35 194 224 94 157
2015 3,200 105 243 9 28 156 107 56 78

Data from: https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp (statistics last updated 15 Feb. 2017)

(Note: The chart shows that of estimated number of books received in 2015-2016 from US Publishers:

-on average, about 1 out of every 10 books were by diverse writers (for the groups represented in the chart),

-on average less than 2 out of every 10 books were about diverse characters.)

  1. How did you come up with the title, “Crossing the Line”?

During my research I came across a political cartoon from 1919 that showed a rope across the swimming area. On one side stood African-American swimmers and on the other stood white swimmers. The caption read, “The color line has reached the north”.      

I wondered what it would take to cross the line, and that’s how the title came to be.

The shocking historical illustration

that inspired the title of the book “CROSSING THE LINE”:

Shocking-Historical-illustration-that-inspired-book-CROSSING-THE-LINE

Source:    Cartoon by John T. McCutcheon, Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1919

  1. As the author, what is your favorite passage in the book and why?

 Narrator Billy says this when he’s invited by Foster to visit the fort for the first time:

“They offer me some of their fish and we pull flakes of flesh right off the stick. It’s good. So good. The fire is hungry, too. It prowls around the wood pieces, tasting, savoring, devouring, then lifting its flaming tongues toward the sky. My face is warm and I get a little longing for my da to share this feeling of happiness with me. The woods are quiet but for the fire snapping its teeth and licking its lips. Emmett and Odell and Foster tell stories about fishing in Jackson, Mississippi. Roasting corn on the cob and eating until the whites of their eyes turn yellow. I think it’s the first time I ever had such a wonderful end to my day and I start to sing, real soft:

Too ra loo ra loo ral. Too ra loo ra loo lie. Too ra loo ra loo ral. Hush now don’t you cry.”

I love this passage because Billy and Foster are still innocent, just becoming friends, and I can easily see the group of boys enjoying a campfire in the chilly Chicago spring.  

 

  1. What aspects of your own life helped inspire this book?

Billy and I share the same Irish heritage and love of the White Sox. Both of us played empty-lot baseball at recess and on hot summer days. When I was growing up I built forts in the vacant fields behind my house like Billy does at the creek, and I spent lots of time in Lake Michigan, balancing on inflatable rafts. Billy’s da comes home from the war with “shell-shock,” and one of my grandfathers came home from World War II with “shell-shock” and was institutionalized, and I never got to meet him. I’ve also been naïve like Billy, in not understanding how hate lies like rocks under the water, just waiting for a little drought to show up above the surface, even in today’s modern world.

  1. What can readers hope to learn from this book?

Billy thinks he’s a friend to Foster until he realizes to be a friend means taking risks for them. As his da tells him, “sometimes you have to cross the line to stand up for what’s right.” If everybody starts doing what we can, with what we have, where we are, maybe we can make progress fighting the terrible injustices that go on everyday. I think it’s up to each of us to live honorably. I hold fast to what Foster’s daddy tells Billy. “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.”

  1. Compared to the historical context for CROSSING THE LINE, Your previous middle grade novel, CANNED AND CRUSHED, is a modern-day story. How would you compare your process for writing each type of story?

Canned and Crushed is based on real life experiences I’d had with students so I could use my own memory, but Crossing the Line is based on a real-life experience that happened before my time so I had to depend on the memory of others who wrote about it. Both books required a lot of research, but finding research about something that happened one hundred years ago is much more difficult that researching things I needed to know for Canned and Crushed, such as the complications from Kawasaki Disease or the coolest two-wheel bikes. Making sure that everything in a historical fiction novel is authentic is challenging. Did you know that the word “babysitter” wasn’t used in the year 1919? Or that most people didn’t own vacuum cleaners? I didn’t know until my editor asked me to find out. Then of course, I had to fix my mistakes and rewrite.

In some ways I felt like Billy, the main character, was leading me as I wrote Crossing the Line. I already knew the ending, and the stakes for him and his friends were extreme, so I didn’t need to invent problems for him to conquer, they were already there. I just had to put them in the right order. In Canned and Crushed, since the whole story is created, raising the stakes for Sandro, the main character, required more conscious effort and I had to work harder on pacing and plot. My editor didn’t think my first ending showed that Sandro learned from his mistakes, so I had to rewrite a new ending. My next novel, Another D for DeeDee, coming in 2018, is also realistic fiction, and I worked hard on those same things.

If I had to summarize the answer to this question in one sentence, I’d say I felt like a storyteller for Crossing the Line, and a creative writer for Canned and Crushed.       

 

Q.        Thanks for taking the time to share with readers about writing your books.  
Bonus question—What other books have inspired you?

I love so many different authors. Kate DiCamilo—Tale of Despereaux. Katherine Paterson—The Great Gilly Hopkins. E.B. White—Charlotte’s Web. Madeline L’Engle—A Wrinkle in Time. Christopher Paul Curtis—Bud, Not Buddy. J.K. Rowling—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Jerry Spinelli—Maniac Magee. Sharon Creech—Walk Two Moons. Jacqueline Woodson—Brown Girl Dreaming. Pamela Muñoz Ryan—Esperanza Rising. Laurie Halse Anderson—Chains. Rita Williams-Garcia—One Crazy Summer. Louis Sachar—Holes. Linda Sue Park—A Long Walk to Water. Oh, dear. I could go on and on…

Featured in this Q & A:

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Bibi Belford lives in Chicago, Illinois and is the author of books for middle grade readers: CROSSING THE LINE, CANNED AND CRUSHED, THE GIFT, and ANOTHER D FOR DEEDEE (coming 2018).

Visit Belford’s author website at bibibelford.com.

 

PUBLISHER INFORMATION

Sky Pony Press is the children’s book imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. Following in the footsteps of their parent company, Sky Pony press seeks to publish books for young readers with diverse interests.

To learn more about Sky Pony Press, visit skyponypress.com.

 

BOOK INFORMATION

Title   Crossing the Line 
Author   
Bibi Belford 
Publisher   
Skyhorse Publishing 
Imprint   
Sky Pony Press 
Published   
15 August 2017 
Format   
Hardback 
ISBN-13   
9781510708006 
Dimensions   
5.75 x 8.25in.

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Author Q & A : Bibi Belford on her first book Canned and Crushed – for middle grade readers

For the PDF version of this Q & A :  QandA_for_CANNEDANDCRUSHED-072117

(Chicago, Illinois)Author Bibi Belford answers questions on her first book, now on paperback, CANNED AND CRUSHED:

  1. Tell us about yourself and why you wrote your first book?

Photo – Bibi Belford

Hey there, I’m Bibi Belford, author of Canned and Crushed, Crossing the Line, and Another D for DeeDee (coming in 2018!). Before I became an author, I was a teacher at a public school in Illinois. I used to live in the quiet suburbs with raspberries in my backyard. Now I live in the busy Chicago loop where I love riding the bus and the L-train and being able to walk where I want, mostly to restaurants! I love books. Reading is one of my earliest memories, but since my family couldn’t afford to shop at the bookstore, the public library became my happy place. Since I loved books so much, I always wanted to write a book. After teaching for many years and raising four children, I finally got serious and wrote that book I always talked about writing. I try to write everyday, but I also love to quilt, sew, read, garden, go to the beach, and volunteer in schools.

  1. Why did you write the book Canned and Crushed? 

My reading intervention students worked so hard to learn to read, but then they’d tell me they couldn’t find books they wanted to read, with characters they could relate to. I asked them if I wrote a book, would they read it? They said yes and were so excited when I visited their classroom to read the final chapter of the Canned and Crushed manuscript that their classroom teacher had been reading to them. I revealed that I was the author, and they couldn’t believe it. They went all over the school telling their friends that their reading teacher wrote a book for them.

Later in the week a student I didn’t know came up to me and said, “Mrs. B, I heard you wrote Candy Crush. I love that game.” I was horrified. “No, I wrote Canned and Crushed. It’s a book,” I corrected him. “Oh, that’s too bad,” he said. “If you wrote Candy Crush you’d be rich by now.” My four kids and my students are the best things that ever happened to me, and they inspire me everyday. If I can write a book that brings them joy and motivates them to be heroes, then I’m a happy camper.

  1. Give a brief description of Canned and Crushed.

canned-and-crushed-paperback-book-cover-bibi-belford

Canned and Crushed – Paperback

When Sandro Zapote finds out his little sister needs heart surgery, he is determined to help his parents raise the money they’ll need to help her get better. At first he plans to win the art contest and donate that money, but when that doesn’t work out, he gets another brilliant idea: can collecting. Save the environment. Save his family. Maybe even save some spending money for the fabulous new bike he’s been coveting.

Sandro is the kind of person you can’t help but cheer for. He’s a boy who loves drawing, soccer, and his little sister. And whether he’s fishing a fuzzy, dust-coated turtle out from under his sister’s bed, organizing a school-wide recycling project all by himself, or getting in trouble for picking on the most annoying girl in his class, Sandro is a smart, self-aware hero, who makes just a few mistakes along the way.

  1. Since you write books about school-aged kids, what was your own childhood like?

 My childhood was very strict, but because of the era, very free at the same time. I had two pairs of shoes—my school shoes and my play shoes. When the school day was done, we changed out clothes and shoes and took off with our neighborhood buddies: playing ball games in open fields, riding bikes, or building our own ramps for bikes and sleds. We climbed trees and made forts with leftover lumber. When the six o’clock whistle blew, we hightailed it home for dinner.

At home, we drank powdered orange juice, called Tang, and ate canned meat, called Spam. We helped pick fruits and vegetables and “put them up” which is nice way to say we ate our own canned produce because it was cheaper than food from the grocery store. We didn’t own a TV until I was ten so we spent our family time playing games and listening to classical music.

My father was a college professor and my mom had a teaching degree, but stayed home to take care of me and my two brothers. In today’s terms my family would have been considered low socioeconomic. Almost all the gifts I got were used, but lovingly reconditioned by my mom or dad. My favorite gift was an old two-wheel bike that my dad painted pink and white. I insisted on parking it next to my bed for at least a month after I got it, so if I woke up in the night I could be sure it wasn’t a dream.

 

  1. What aspects of your own life helped inspire this book?

The main character, Sandro, in Canned and Crushed has a sister that gets sick, and I had a little brother that got sick when I was in elementary school. Both my parents were at the hospital a lot and I stayed with friends or relatives. I remember my stomach felt like termites were chewing away in there, while on the outside I acted like a regular kid, getting in trouble and playing with my friends. And just like Sandro, I tried my best to help my parents out by cleaning the house and keeping things that happened at school or with my friends a secret so my parents wouldn’t worry.

 

  1. Sandro, the main character in Canned and Crushed, likes new ideas and shows off difficult vocabulary words. What interested you about those elements of his character?

In some ways I’m like Sandro. I’m always coming up with new ideas. For example I think umbrellas should open sideways so if you want to stand against a wall you can leave the umbrellas half open. I also want to invent an instant cold compartment in the refrigerator, so if you forgot to put your root beer in the fridge you could stick it in the instant cold compartment and voila, instant cold!

I also love learning new words and finding the perfect word when I’m writing. A person’s vocabulary tells others a lot about them, and Sandro, the main character in Canned and Crushed wants people to know he’s smart. He not only uses impressive vocabulary, he gives his readers lots of pointers on how to remember those new words.

  1. The idea of getting to know people before you judge them is strong in your book. What about that idea moved you?

Canned and Crushed – Hardcover

It’s so easy to make assumptions about people based on their outward appearances or your first impression, but people are usually very interesting and remarkable once you really get to know them. Building relationships would prevent so many of the conflicts in schools, communities, and countries.  I truly believe we have more in common than we think, if only we would take the time to find out.

  1. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

Even though I’ve worked in a district with bilingual and ESL students for my entire teaching career, I’m not a Latina myself, and since I don’t share the main character’s heritage, I always worry I don’t have a right to tell Sandro’s story. My goal as a writer is to write books that represent my students, to be inclusive rather than exclusive. I hope to create books with diverse characters represented so that many diverse readers can see young characters like themselves as powerful protagonists in their own stories. In the U.S., the latest publishing facts show that only 2% of the books published in 2016 were written by Latinxs and only 5% had Latinx characters.

As a member of the publishing community, I hope to change these facts, by continuing to write books with diverse characters for middle grade kids, and by promoting diverse authors and books with diversity.

  1. What drew you to this particular story?

'Canned and Crushed' book by Bibi BelfordI’ve had so many really cool and amazing students and I tried to wrap them all up in one incredible character named Sandro. Many of the things Sandro does in Canned and Crushed were things my students did. For example, I really did have a student who spit over the third floor railing. I also had a student who brought a comb to school that looked like a pop-out jackknife.

Abiola, another important character in Canned and Crushed, was developed because of an experience I had with a Pakistani student, being bullied. Her family almost transferred her to another school, but after a few meetings, the situation was resolved and the two girls became friends.

 

10.What other books have inspired you?          

I love so many different authors. I guess my favorite books have everyday, unlikely heroes, just like Sandro in Canned and Crushed.

The little mouse, Despereaux, from Kate DiCamilo’s book, saves the princess, and who would think a spider could save a pig—like Charlotte did in E.B. White’s book, Charlotte’s Web. Of course who doesn’t cheer for Harry Potter, a boy who came from living a sad life under his aunt’s stairs to defeat the greatest wizard of all time. Then there’s Esperanza from Esperanza Rising by Pamela Muñoz Ryan, whose whole life is turned upside down when she escapes from Mexico, but she never gives up hope, and works to make things better for her family.

I love hundreds of other books, but there’s just one more I want to share. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, has a hero that reminds me of Sandro. He’s artistic and turns a tragedy into a reason to make something that will help others. And just like Sandro, he cares about his sister.

  1. How did you come up with the title?

Canned and Crushed book by author Bibi Belford now out on paperback!The book was originally titled Canned, but one day I googled “Canned” and was shocked to find out that another author had written a book with the title Canned. I quickly changed it to Canned and Crushed and realized that was a better title anyway, because of the double meanings of the words canned and crushed.

When the main character, Sandro, starts a recycling program, they don’t want the cans to be crushed. So Canned (for the cans) and Crushed (for not crushing). That’s the surface meaning.

But another meaning of canned is fired, and Sandro makes so many mistakes that get him “fired” from lots of things. And when so many things go wrong, it’s easy to get discouraged and have your hopes crushed. So Canned (for Sandro’s mistakes) and Crushed (for how he feels when everything starts going wrong.)

  1. What is your favorite passage in the book and why?

When everything starts to go wrong for Sandro, he blames Franklin, the school mascot turtle, that’s become a temporary pet since his sister accidentally brought home from school.

“I need a sinkhole to swallow up me and my problems. I need a time machine to take me back to that moment when things started to go belly up. Help me out here. When did my life suddenly take a turn for the worse? Are you thinking what I’m thinking? I’m thinking of a cold-blooded, snaky-eyed, shell-packing stowaway—that’s when it all started. Well, Franklin, mi casa no es su casa. That’s over.”

I love this because it’s such typical human behavior. We always like to find someone to blame when things go wrong and yet poor Franklin, the turtle, had nothing to do with all the problems Sandro faces.

  1. What can readers hope to learn from this book? 

    Sandro learns to trust people to help him with his problems, even though help comes from the most unlikely person. Some of the lessons he learns are proverbs.

  • Nothing is as it appears.
  • Look below the surface.
  • Worry about yourself.
  • Be the better man.
  • Never bite the hand that feeds you.
  • One man standing is always alone, but two equals eleven.
  • A good dog deserves a bone.
  • Visualize it and it will be.

Thanks for taking the time to share with your readers about this book.

 Bonus question—your main character in this book is a boy. Do all your books feature boys, or are you writing any books with other types of main characters?

 Hey, are you trying to get me to tell you secret information? You already know that I wrote Canned and Crushed for some boys that couldn’t find any books with interesting characters, and that is a passion of mine. I know boys can be picky about what they want to read, so that’s why I wrote Canned and Crushed and Crossing the Line, both books with main characters that are boys. But guess what? Three girls came up to me last year. “We have a question, Mrs. B. Why do you only write books with boys in them?” “That’s not true,” I said. “Abiola is a girl and she’s in Canned and Crushed.” “But she’s not the main character. We want a book with a girl main character.” So, I’m excited to tell you that Another D for DeeDee will be coming next year. DeeDee isn’t just any girl. She’s wildly creative, a super dancer, and a skateboarder. And she’s trying to get control of her diabetes while she secretly searches for her dad that she thinks got stuck in Mexico. I’m also working on three more books and one of them will have a boy and a girl share the main character role.

Featured in this Q & A

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Bibi Belford lives in Chicago, Illinois and is the author of books for middle grade readers: CROSSING THE LINE, CANNED AND CRUSHED, THE GIFT, and ANOTHER D FOR DEEDEE (coming 2018).  Visit Belford’s author website at bibibelford.com.

PUBLISHER INFORMATION

Sky Pony Press is the children’s book imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. Following in the footsteps of their parent company, Sky Pony press seeks to publish books for young readers with diverse interests.  To learn more about Sky Pony Press, visit skyponypress.com.

BOOK INFORMATION

Title   Canned and Crushed   |   Author   Bibi Belford  |   Publisher   Skyhorse Publishing 
Imprint   
Sky Pony Press  |   Published   20 June 2017   |   Format Paperback  |   ISBN-13   9781510716612    |   Dimensions   5.75 x 8.25in.

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