Ken Baker news with Jessica Day George

From dragons to redheaded heroes, Story to Book Highlights with Jessica Day George

Here are a few excerpts from my recent conversation with Jessica Day George, bestselling fantasy author for young readers.

Me: Jessica, tell us what books you liked to read when you were little.

Jessica: All I liked to read up until fifth grade were the Beverly Cleary books. I was a Ramona Quimby girl. The teacher at our school very strict about boy books and girl books. So, if it was exciting, like surviving in the wilderness, or you might be attacked by a panther or wolves, she would be like that, that's for boys. Here's a girl book that's probably about babysitting or getting a pony and then your pony gets sick.

So, I was not into books until we had to do a book report and a biography of a famous person or someone you admired. And my teacher took me aside and told me I was not allowed to do another Beverly Cleary book because they're way below my reading level. So, I found on her classroom shelves Robin McKinley's, The Hero and the Crown about a redheaded princess whose horse doesn't die, who has adventures and slays dragons and stuff. And because it was a Newbery winner, there was actually a little bio at the back of the book about the author.

So, I did my Person I Admire Report on Robin McKinley because I'm like, this woman's whole job is to just write books about teenage girls having adventures, slaying dragons, you know, falling in love with handsome wizards and stuff like that. I sort of went from there to this is what I'm going to be when I grow up. This is what I'm going to do.

Me: When did you start writing?

Jessica: I was 11. Someone had given me a diary that had a teddy bear on the cover with a pencil that had four different colored leads. The first story I wrote in it was about a girl that was psychically bonded to her horse. That actually became the first chapter of one of my books a couple of years ago in the Queen's Secret, the second book of my Rose Legacy trilogy.

Me: How did all the books you read impact your life?

Jessica: The books that I read showed me what was possible. Although I wanted it in my heart of hearts, I did know that I was never going to be asked to face a dragon, but I had strategies planned if that ever happened. But the common theme in most fairytales and in so many fantasy books is the underdog winning big. Cinderella is probably the most common story in the world. Every society has their Cinderella story, with a very picked on downtrodden girl who ends up marrying the prince or becomes a goddess because she is good of heart.

So, these themes help you discover your inner strengths. You might not ever find that cave with a dragon or a Griffin egg in it that you get to hatch. But the theme behind these books help you know you can do hard things. If that kid could do that, I could do this.

There's this sort of appeal to the underdog story and sort of teaching you resilience and that every person has value in some way. It's so important. And I feel like that is what really kept me going as well.

Me: That's awesome. What types of books do you like to read now?

Jessica: I really will read anything now. I do love to read romcoms because they're fun. I still read, tons of middle grade, not just fantasy. Thursday, murder club. Love it. The Martian. I've read more than once. My weak spots are horror, I'm too squeamish for that, and poetry. But I'll pick up just about anything else.

Me: I know you love dragons. Tell me the story behind that.

Jessica: My parents went to Walt Disney World when I was little without their beloved children, but they brought us each a present. So, they brought me a picture or a t‐shirt with Dream Finder and figment on it.

The original journey into imagination had this man called Dream Finder and his sidekick was a little Purple dragon named Figment. They got that gift for me because Dream Finder had red hair. I was the only person in my family with red hair. So anytime my mom saw something with a redheaded character, she would get it for me.

I had many different versions of Strawberry Shortcake, but none of her friends. I had Anne of Green Gables. Annie dolls. No friends. Just their clones because they had red hair.

So when my mom brings me a t‐shirt with Dream Finder on it and the stuffed purple dragon named Figment, I latched onto that dragon. Now every time we go to Epcot we come out of that ride into the gift shop I load up on any new products with Figment that I don't already have.

And anytime after that when I saw a dragon, I was just attracted to it. Also, when I saw that the cover of the Hero of the Crown had a redhead with a flaming sword fighting a dragon, it was like it was specifically tailored to me.

Me: What would you like readers to know about you and your books?

Jessica: First of all, the word dragon appears at least once in every single one of my books even if it's not a dragon book. I sort of hide it at least once.

But with all of my books, I want readers to have had a good time. Hopefully there's good moral modeling to go along with it, but I just want them to enjoy it. I want them to be a pleasure. I want them to have that same feeling I have the first time I read Howl's Moving Castle, or Hero in the Crown.


The above has been edited for length. To see and hear the rest of the interview and get more of the story behind Jessica Day George's books, watch the full interview at kenbakerbooks.com/expert_JessicaDayGeorge.html

To learn more about Jessica Day George's books, visit www.jessicadaygeorge.com.

If you want to keep up with what books Jessica recommends for reading, visit her YouTube channel Jessica Recommends.