Watch Out
for Flying Kids is the book I couldn’t write. I was so convinced—and kept
telling my editor, Kathy Landwehr—that I couldn’t write it, she sent me a copy
of this:
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| Text© 2007 by Watty Piper. Illustrations© 2007 by Loren Long. (Philomel) |
How did I know it was impossible to write this book? Here
are a few of the reasons:
- There are nine—9!—main “characters,” all of them
real-life teenagers.
- They speak three different languages—English, Hebrew, and Arabic. And not all of them speak
English, the only language I know.
- They live in two different countries—Israel and
America—in way different time zones.
- They’re experts in subjects I knew nothing
about—diabolo, firestaff, the difference between rockets and missiles, the tensions in Ferguson.
- Almost all of the information in this nonfiction
book had to come from personal interviews because there were practically no
secondary sources.
- Did I mention that they’re teenagers, with much
better things to do than talk with a nosy writer?
So, how did
I finally write Watch Out for Flying Kids?
- I spent weeks in St.Louis and in Israel with families in the Jewish town of Karmiel
and the Arab village, Deiral-Asad.
- I conducted over 120 hours of interviews,
figuring out ways to communicate through translators over Skype, Facebook,
telephone, text messaging....
- I spent three straight months working here:
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| (The clown nose on my monitor kept me company the whole time.) |
Given these complications, why did
I persist?
Most of all, I kept on because of what these young
people taught me:
- “There’s a universal language between humans,
and it’s not necessarily through speech.” (AlexGabliani)
- “I learned how to rely on myself and believe in
me.” (HalaAsadi)
- “Arabs and Jewish people can be together.
There’s nothing impossible.” (HlaAsadi)
- “Circus is not about competition.” (Shai Ben
Yosef)
- “Without boxes, borders or boundaries, I built
dreams.” (Iking Bateman)
Click
here for more information about circus and how Cynthia wrote this book.
