Hello Beautiful People,
I firt met Elaine Wolf when her first novel, CAMP, hit the shelves. Elaine is a woman after my own heart, as she is a former teacher, who now spends her time penning beautiful novels that will inspire you, challenge you, and stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. She’s the type of author who has generesouly donated her time and copies of her books to both The 12 Days of Books and the Beach Book Bonanza, and it is my pleasure to have her back, where she talks more in depth about Danny’s Mom.
MM: Can you tell our readers where the inspiration for Danny’s Mom came from?
EW: Sure. But before I do, I want to thank you for asking me to participate in your School Time Q & A. My novels, CAMP and DANNY’S MOM – and the anti-bullying mission they’ve led me to – are really important to me. I welcome the chance to get the word out!
So…here’s the story behind the story: what brought me to DANNY’S MOM. It started many years ago when my son, Adam, received his early decision college acceptance letter, which arrived on a wintry day. Adam begged to borrow my car so he could deliver the good news to his girlfriend in person. I knew I should say no, that it wasn’t safe for him to drive: snow was starting to fall, and the forecast was bad. But Adam persisted, and he was so happy, and he promised to be extra careful. Stupidly, I gave in.
By the time Adam made it to his girlfriend’s house, the storm was churning. But the kids decided to celebrate; they headed out for pizza. Well, you can imagine what happened next. Yes, the car spun out and slid across the road into a tree. Fortunately (and I still don’t know how), Adam and his girlfriend walked away without injury. But for years after that, I played “what if.” And I beat myself up for having let my son take the car that day. When you read DANNY’S MOM, you’ll see how that incident morphed into the opening scene of the novel
And there’s another Adam story that played a role in leading me to DANNY’S MOM. When he was a young teen at a sleep-away camp, Adam’s group went on an overnight camping trip. The way Adam tells it, his counselors left the kids “on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere, in the darkest night.” And the boys were scared…and the counselors were gone all night. When I heard that, I thought a lot about the people to whom we entrust our children’s safety. They often fall short, and we probably don’t know about some of the times when our kids are in peril. Keeping our children safe – at school and at camp – is something I think about a lot. It’s a big theme in DANNY’S MOM.
Lastly, I started writing DANNY’S MOM shortly after I retired from my job as a high school teacher and district reading/language arts director. In that position, I sometimes locked horns with administrators whose opinions of what was in the best interests of the students occasionally conflicted with mine. The struggle and power plays between teachers and administrators permeate DANNY’S MOM. Like Beth Maller in the novel, I found that it’s not always easy to do the right things for our kids.
MM: Can you explain to our readers what the daily task of a guidance counselor entails?
EW: Now that’s a harder question because I’m not a guidance counselor. However, when I was a high school teacher, I spent a lot of time in the counseling center. I met often with the counselors to share concerns about students so that, as a team, we could help our kids maximize their growth and potential – and have positive school experiences.
I suppose, simply put, the daily task of a counselor is to guide and structure our children’s educational and vocational directions. A good counselor, I think, tries to understand each student from an emotional and cognitive point of view. On any given day, a counselor spends time consulting with students, parents, and teachers. In addition, counselors are often called upon to evaluate academic performance. In DANNY’S MOM, Beth Maller is a counselor who really, truly cares about the students and devotes herself to their well-being during challenging times in their lives. Of course, her openness and dedication create lots of challenges in her own life.
MM: What do you hope readers walk away with after reading Danny’s Mom?
EW: I hope readers find DANNY’S MOM to be a compelling story – and that it becomes a springboard to lots of conversations about what really goes on when school doors shut. Although most schools are good places – and most teachers and administrators really do care about the education, welfare, and safety of students – not all schools are good. The sad reality is that schools are businesses, and not all teachers and administrators are “in it” for the right reasons. As in any place of business, there are power struggles in schools, and bullies lurk in the hallways. In some schools, like the fictitious school in DANNY’S MOM, mean girls (and boys) practice bullying as if it were a sport. And sometimes, in fact, the biggest bullies in our schools are the administrators we entrust with the sacred responsibility of keeping our children safe.
I believe that if we’re aware of what goes on in schools – of what it’s like for some of our kids who wish they could fade into the walls – then we’ll work harder to make our schools kinder, gentler, and safer places for everyone. I feel honored that my novels have given me a platform, a literal bully pulpit, from which to perpetuate this movement.
MM: What can we expect from Elaine Wolf in 2014?
EW: Although I’m working on another novel (and, yes, there’s bullying in that one, too), I expect that 2014 will find me devoting lots of my work time to speaking out against bullying. I love visiting schools and doing author talks and programs with students. And I really enjoy speaking with parents (and grandparents), too. I know that, by working together, we can change the culture of our schools and camps. There’s lots of information on my website (authorelainewolf.com) about my author visits. I hope you’ll check it out – and maybe 2014 will find me speaking in your community.
MM: You’re our first author in the 2013-2014 School Time Author Q&A Series! So, just for fun, what’s your favorite part about the beginning of the school year?
EW: Oh, I l always loved the beginning of the school year…getting to know my students, hearing their stories. Mostly, I loved the beginning-of-the-year book talks, sharing what we read over the summer and talking about the books we’d share during the academic year. What a great adventure! I loved the contagion of enthusiasm when students discovered they would have opportunities to explore and share literature in ways that would be meaningful to them – and that their opinions would be honored and respected.
MM: If you had to choose five authors to have a cup of coffee with, who would they be?
EW: What a fun question! It’s hard to limit it to five…but here are the names that just leaped into my mind: Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Hoffman, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler, and Anna Quindlen.
MM: You’re a retired teacher. What’s the biggest thing you miss about the classroom?
EW: Now that’s an easy question. I miss the daily interaction with students. I miss their stories, their joy, their excitement, their challenges. But thanks to the magic of social media, my former students are now finding me on Facebook. I love reconnecting with them and hearing about what they’re now reading to and with their children. I’m so happy that many of them are keeping the reading/writing habit going. I hope you’ll visit me on Facebook, too: Author Elaine Wolf (“the anti-bullying novelist”).
Live, Love, Learn,
Megan &