The Rules of the Genre Are: There Are No Rules. An Alicia D. Williams Q&A on Mid-Air

You know what’s neat? Talking to Newbery Honor winners. That’s just neat. Fun too, come to think of it. For example, let’s consider author Alicia D. Williams. In 2020 her book Genesis Begins Again won a Newbery Honor (AND a John Steptoe New Talent Award AND it was a William C. Morris Finalist) and since that time she’s been absolutely killing it with books like Shirley Chisholm Dared (a Jane Addams Peace Association winner), The Talk, and my personal favorite Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston (which I said at the time, “gives free reign to Zora’s spirit, without sugar coating everything”).

Now Ms. Williams has a new middle grade novel out called Mid-Air. The kind of book that gets starred reviews from SLJ saying things like it’s, “A quietly stunning novel in verse about grief and learning to accept yourself.” Or, as the publisher describes the plot:

“It’s the last few months of eighth grade, and Isaiah feels lost. He thought his summer was going to be him and his boys Drew and Darius, hanging out, doing wheelies, watching martial arts movies, and breaking tons of Guiness World Records before high school. But now, more and more, Drew seems to be fading from their friendship, and though he won’t admit it, Isaiah knows exactly why. Because Darius is…gone.

A hit and run killed Darius in the midst of a record-breaking long wheelie when Isaiah should have been keeping watch, ready to warn: “CAR!” Now, Drew can barely look at Isaiah. But Isaiah, already quaking with ache and guilt, can’t lose two friends. So, he comes up with a plan to keep Drew and him together­­­—they can spend the summer breaking records, for Darius.

But Drew’s not the same Drew since Darius was killed, and Isaiah, being Isaiah, isn’t enough for Drew anymore. Not his taste in clothes, his love for rock music, or his aversion to jumping off rooftops. And one day something unspeakable happens to Isaiah that makes him think Drew’s right. If only he could be less sensitive, more tough, less weird, more cool, less him, things would be easier. But how much can Isaiah keep inside until he shatters wide open?”

Curious? Me too. So I had the opportunity (and took it!) to ask Ms. Williams a couple questions:

---

Betsy Bird: Hello, Alicia! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions today. MID-AIR already has blurbs from Renée Watson, Derrick Barnes, and Jason Reynolds, and the starred reviews are rolling in. Where did this book come from for you? 

Alicia D. Williams: Oh my gosh, I’m so grateful for the wonderful blurbs by these three brilliant creatives! Let me just take a moment to gush. To have these authors speak so highly about my story—my gosh, their bodies of work are life-affirming and life-changing for readers!—and I’m honored to have their stamps of approval. And reviews are hard to get, so I’m equally grateful and honored for the reviewers  who pulled my book out of their highly stacked piles to give my story their attention. Thank you to each and every one of them.

Mid-Air came from a need to prove to myself that I could write another book. After the success and wonderful reception of my debut novel, Genesis Begins Again, I struggled with fear. It took several years to come to terms that my fear of what others might think or say about my work was stifling my creativity. Once I acknowledged this feeling and owned it, I was able to move forward. Now the idea of this story is another thing. This came out of grief. Grief and the need to explore why boys can’t be gentle and sensitive beings instead of boxed into the perception that emotions are weak.

BB: While you’ve done picture books from a boy’s perspective, this is the first full out-and-out novel you’ve done in a boy’s voice. For some authors, slipping between the perspectives of different genders is easy, and for others it can prove a challenge. Which camp do you fall into? 

Alicia: A challenge. Definitely. My boy’s voice in my picture book The Talk was easy. I knew that little boy. He was the cute, curious, chatty boy from a school that I taught at. But Isaiah, Drew, and Darius were all a challenge only because of the need to capture the voice of boys that age. I taught middle school, so I knew boys, but I wanted a specific voice for Isaiah and more importantly, I wanted it to ring true and authentic. Perhaps I was getting in my own way and making it difficult. Perhaps I still held some of the fear that I’d been struggling with. In retrospect, perhaps because of these two reasons, it seemed more of a challenge then it should have been.

BB: So then why was it important to you to write a book about a boy’s experiences, particularly at this moment in time? 

Alicia: It wasn’t necessarily important to me. I don’t plan to write specific stories during specific times. For me, storytelling is more of a spiritual practice. I write the stories that are tugging at my spirit. I write the themes that knock at my mind’s door and begs for exploration.  And it just so happened to be a story about boys dealing with grief and self-acceptance.

BB: This book is written in verse, each section named carefully. What, for you, is the appeal of writing a verse novel? What are some of the advantages when it comes to writing them, as well as for kids that read them? 

Alicia: Thank you. I’m not sure if I can address this as a personal appeal of writing in verse because I didn’t set out to write a verse novel. Initially, I wrote this story in prose. It changed to verse during the third draft. Isaiah’s voice dictated the form in which it needed to be told. And I was nervous. In fact, I read every verse novel I could to figure out the rules of this genre, but only to learn that there are no rules.

Yet, I can address the advantages for young readers. Verse novels present stories in a reader friendly text. Compared to prose novels, novels-in-verse leaves more white space on the page which makes reluctant readers feel less intimidated. Each poem is a chapter, even if it is one stanza. These bite sized portions make the reading experience more manageable. So, when readers complete these “chapters,” they feel a sense of pride. And hopefully, it gives them the confidence to read more books and books in different genres.

BB: Danica Novgorodoff offers some watercolor illustrations to the book. Did you always see the book as being illustrated as you wrote it? How do you feel about the final product? 

Alicia: Yes, pictures were my vision. I asked the editor if illustrations could be included. I pictured them to be more comic book or hybrid graphic novel style to compliment the theme of Isaiah’s and Drew’s love for comics. As I learned from my picture book experiences, the editor, art director, and illustrator all have different ideas. And I am always surprised to see the culmination because the illustrator is a storyteller, and they get to tell their own story, which is ultra cool. It’s wonderful to see my story’s interpretation through a visual artist eyes.

BB: Finally, what are you working on next? What can we get to see from you? 

Alicia: Ahhhh, yes, I hope you will see something from me sooner or later. I’m plugging away on a few ideas. When I sell something, then I’ll be able to shout it out.

BB: Excellent.

---

Such thanks to Alicia for taking the time to answer all my questions today. And thanks too to Beth Parker for connecting us together. Mid-Air will be on shelves April 23rd, so be sure to look for it then.

Filed under: Interviews