This Is Me From Now On was one of those books that I read straight through in one sitting, just because I enjoyed it so much. Because I enjoyed the writing so much I wanted to take the opportunity to get to know Barbara Dee a little bit better. So, in conjunction with my weekly “When I Was Young” interview I decided, who better than the author, Barbara Dee? Her love of writing and books is evident from the beginning. Enough of my babbling…on with the guest post:

When I was a little kid I loved Curious George, Little Bear and Ferdinand, but my number-one favorite character was definitely Russell Hoban’s Frances. I remember being about four years old, snuggling next to my mom on our squishy green sofa, and insisting that she read me BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES– over and over and over.

I’m not sure why I loved Frances so much. Maybe it was because even though she was a small, furry, black-and-white badger (drawn first by Lillian Hoban, later by Garth Williams) Frances seemed to me like a real kid. She knew what she liked (bread and jam) and what she didn’t (everything else, especially eggs). There was nothing irrational or arbitrary about this preference. She had it all worked out in her head:

“One of the reasons I like bread and jam,” said Frances, “is that it does not slide off your spoon in a funny way.”
“Well, of course,” said Father, “not everyone is fond of soft-boiled eggs for breakfast. But there are other kinds of eggs. There are sunny-side-up and sunny-side-down eggs.”
“Yes,” said Frances. “But sunny-side-up eggs lie on the plate and look up at you in a funny way. And sunny-side down eggs just lie on their stomachs and wait.”
“What about scrambled eggs?” said Father.
“Scrambled eggs fall off the fork and roll under the table,” said Frances.
“I think it’s time for you to go to school now,” said Mother.

To me this is just great writing. I love the timing of the dialogue, the way Father tries to “reason” with Frances, who has an answer for everything, and Mother ends the conversation before both parents totally lose it. (I’m not sure as a kid I appreciated how well Russell Hoban captured the parents’ side of every conversation, but believe me, I sure do now.) Actually, come to think of it, maybe BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES is what got me started with the kind of borderline-crazy family-at-mealtime dialogue I like to use in my own books!

I’ve also always loved Frances’ improvised food songs, from the rah-rah, jam-appreciation one she skips rope to at the beginning (“Raspberry, strawberry, gooseberry, I’m very/FOND…OF…JAM!”) to the last “little sad song” she sniffles at the end (“What I am/Is tired of jam”). Hoban doesn’t just inform the reader that Frances’ bread-and-jam obsession is waning—he shows it in the way her songs progressively lose steam. She’s a character with a strong, unique voice, and Hoban stands back and lets her sing.

Sometimes I like to wonder about characters ten or twenty years down the road from the story. It’s fun to think about Harriet the Spy in college, for example, or Elizabeth Bennet as a mom. When I think about Frances the Badger, I have no trouble imagining her as a teenager—pushing her parents’ buttons, blasting her music, and probably still avoiding sunny-side-up eggs.

Also, make sure to check out these two new videos Barbara’s done in preparation for the release of This Is Me From Now On:

“Barbara is an amazing person and a wonderful author. I love her choice for the book from her childhood that got her started and you can really see how it affected not only her love of books, but her writing as well. Thank you again, Barbara, for sharing your talent and your love of a great book, it was a delight to have you here at There’s A Book!”

Make sure to pick up her new book, This Is Me From Now On, out April 27, 2010 and for more about it check out my Review and Giveaway Here: This Is Me From Now On!
If you happen to be in the Chappaqua New York area make sure to stop by the Chappaqua Library at 7pm on April 27, 2010 for a Publication Day Launch Party and book signing you won’t want to miss!

This book was provided by Barbara Dee for review.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

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