Featured Author: Rebecca Upjohn

Bibliography at Orca

[New!] The Last Loon: Spending Christmas holidays in the wilderness with his ex-con aunt Mag is not Evan's idea of a good time. What's worse is that everyone he meets—even his new friend Cedar—is making a big deal about a loon that is hanging around on the lake. Why should Evan care about a dumb bird? When he discovers that the loon will die without help, he realizes he does care, but rescuing the wild bird turns out to be whole lot harder, and more dangerous, than he expected.

Interview

Why do you write, and why children's books? I like to tell kids when I visit schools that as a fiction writer I am a liar and a thief. The truth is I love stealing details from people's lives and making other stuff up to go with it. It's like putting a puzzle together to make it all work. I suppose some people might think it a bit odd that I spend most of the day with people who don't exist but once I begin to understand a character it's sort of like having an invisible friend. It makes life interesting. I love the way kids do everything 100%. You can't fool children when it comes to writing. If they don't like what you write they won't read your books. If they do, they'll tell you. You have to really earn their respect. I love that challenge of getting it right enough to receive a fan letter from a young reader or a hug around the knees when I visit a school. And I find kid's books make me laugh and cry more than any other kind of book.

What kind of research do you do before writing a book? It really depends on the story. But I always want to make sure that facts are correct. With The Last Loon, I did a lot of observing loons and reading books but I also interviewed a biologist who is a loon expert. He told me all kinds of details about loons that I wouldn't have found out other ways. It's really important to ask questions and I learn all kids of very cool things.

What is your favorite children's book? How can you ask me to choose just one?

I still have a soft spot for The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. I think I was really old—like practically a grown-up-before I discovered that corks don't grow on cork trees the way the illustrator Robert Lawson drew them. I also still love my old Babar books. I would dearly like to live in Babar's castle and have his lifestyle. My mother used to translate the Babar stories from French while she read to us.

And I'm still hoping that one day I might find my way into Narnia the way Lucy did in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I keep looking, every time I find a wardrobe.

What's the funniest of most interest reader response you'v had? I was once told by a grade two girl that I was very rude because a character in my story gave away her favourite quilt and the reader didn't think she should have done that. I also once had a boy ask me in a letter how old my brother was. I don't know how he knew I even had a brother (I do and he's three years older than I am) or what it had to do with my book, but it was a great letter because of his question. I started wondering about if he had a brother.

And my all time favourite response was during a school visit. I was explaining to a group of kids what it was like to grow up without a TV…and video games…and computers…and DVD players…and cell phones. One boy raised his hand, looking worried. He asked: "But did you have clothes?"

Biography

When Rebecca Upjohn was growing up, she spent her summers listening to loons, and she has never lost the trill of hearing their calls. She has worked herding sheep, photographing buildings, selling books, releasing trees and producing a short film. She and her husband live with their two teenage sons and a dog in Toronto. To learn more about Rebecca, visit her website: www.rebeccaupjohn.com.