![]() ![]() My part of Florida is all about beaches and baseball. I had just moved to Florida when I started writing The Way to Stay in Destiny. I knew a lot about Azalea’s story, but when Billy Wong showed up in Grandma’s garden, I relied on Bobby to tell me about working in his family’s grocery and being involved in a community that had previously not allowed Chinese students to attend the white public schools. Years later, he shared an essay about how it felt growing up Chinese in a small town during the Civil Rights era. Bobby Moon and I served on the school newspaper staff together. Making Friends with Billy Wong draws from some of my childhood memories, too! But that novel was inspired by something a friend wrote about growing up in our hometown. Gloriana June Hemphill turned into a girl who loved summer as much as I did, who swam, caught fireflies, played kick-the-can with her friends, and read Nancy Drew in the hottest part of the day. I thought about how a young white girl might react to the news that her community pool was closing, rather than integrating. I began thinking about my own experiences growing up white in the Mississippi Delta. ![]() Ruby Bridges came to speak to our students and faculty about being the first black child to integrate the New Orleans public schools. I first began writing Glory Be while I was a school librarian in Summit, New Jersey. What is your inspiration for writing your books? It's easy to edit when you have a dog helper. ![]()
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