#varsha bajaj
From Monday April 15 through Thursday April 18 librarians from across Texas are gathering together in Austin to caucus, learn, meet and discover at the annual Texas Library Association Conference. Dozens of authors are present for the event with panels sprinkled throughout the week.
This morning’s panel was filled with Texas authors of books for children and young adults. Crystal Allen,Varsha…
What inspired you to write Count Me In?
In 2013 Dr. Singh, a practicing doctor and professor from Columbia University was attacked by a group of young men in upper Manhattan. It was unfortunately not the first such news story I was reading. The story stayed with me. It could have been me, or someone from my family.
In the following years, the prevalence of hate crimes had risen – and I was alarmed at the escalation in bullying in schools. I felt compelled to write a story that would address this, and help readers process the events going on around us.
At the time I also saw people coming out and speaking against hate and supporting each other. These positive voices gave me hope.
Count Me In is therefore an uplifting story, told through the alternating voices of two middle-schoolers, in which a community rallies to reject racism.
You’ve written both picture books and middle grade – how is the writing process different for each?
With picture books I have help from a partner, the illustrator. We bring the characters and the story to life together. In my latest picture book, The Home Builders, I didn’t even name The Home Builders, till the babies are born. I didn’t need to. The illustrator, Simona Mulazzani did it for me.
With middle grade books, it’s my words alone that have to go forth and make the characters breathe and the story feel real.
Count Me In features a heartwarming intergenerational friendship. Is that something you particularly wanted to include and why?
I wanted to highlight the difference in perspectives within immigrant families. Papa is the immigrant and his generation’s thoughts and actions are different from Karina, who is born in America. Generations have so much to give each other. Their stories, their experiences and their viewpoints. When I visit schools and interact with children, I grow as a person.
What do you hope readers will take away from reading Count Me In?
This book is an open letter to America and the values and ideals it embodies. I remember watching President Obama speak at the DNC in 2004 when he said that “in no other country on earth is my story even possible.” His story, he said, was possible in a “tolerant” and “generous” America.
I hope readers realize that each one of us can make a difference to make sure that this country continues to live up to its ideals.
Tell us a little about how the wonderfully diverse cover came to be!
The cover is magnificent and the work of the talented Eleni Kalorkoti (www.elenikalorkoti.com). Without giving away the story, it looks a whole lot like a project that Karina and Chris undertake.
All those beautiful faces reflect the diversity of my community, my city, and of America.
Karina and Chris show us how a few voices can make a difference. What are the things that give you hope about this generation?
Having both Chris and Karina’s voices tell the story was so important to me because it was yet another way to show different perspectives. The younger generation in most cities and towns in America has only known a diverse student body. They have grown up eating different foods, they have been exposed to different music, and cultures through social media. When I see not only their acceptance of their diverse reality, but their excitement at its richness, it makes me happy. When I see the courage of young people like Malala and others it is inspiring.
Varsha Bajaj(varshabajaj.com) also wrote the picture books The Home BuildersandThis Is Our Baby, Born Today (a Bank Street Best Book). She grew up in Mumbai, India, and when she came to the United States to obtain her master’s degree, her adjustment to the country was aided by her awareness of the culture through books. In addition to her previous picture books, she wrote the middle-grade novel Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood, which was shortlisted for the Cybils Award and included on the Spirit of Texas Reading Program. She lives in Houston, Texas.
