Cover Reveal and Q&A: Dusti Bowling’s Latest – The Beat I Drum (Apr 2025)

Question: Were you all fans of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus when it was released? Maybe so. Heck, maybe you still are a fan. Or your kids might be. As I recall, that book is one of those titles where kids just remain gaga about it, long after they’ve put it down. There have been many books since in what we call the “Aven Green” universe (The Greeniverse?) and now it is my sheer and utter delight to introduce you to the latest.

Remember Connor, the kid with Tourette’s Syndrome? Well, he’s back and he’s getting a book of his own:

“Connor Bradley is dreading the first day of high school. Not just because he is new, or because he misses his best friends, but because he knows the other kids won’t understand his barking and tics. Connor has Tourette Syndrome, and every day has been a challenge—from the mimicking to the laughing, the questions, and the stares.

It turns out school isn’t quite as bad as he expected. Connor forms a fast friendship with a girl who also has Tourette’s and is welcomed into her accepting circle of friends. He also meets a special music teacher who encourages him to take up the drums to manage his stress, and maybe get a break from his tics. But Connor’s world continues to be turned upside down by his father, who left the family a couple of years ago and is now trying to rekindle a relationship with them, and a school bully starts to escalate at school. All these problems—with family, with friends, and within himself—build and build until Connor feels ready to explode. Will a surprising revelation save him?”

Today, we’re revealing the cover of The Beat I Drum (out April 1, 2025), but first? A talk with author Dusti Bowling herself!

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Betsy Bird: Dusti! Thank you so much for meeting with me today! Once more you are returning to the world of INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS. Did you ever think you’d keep coming back to that book from so many different angles and in so many different ways when you wrote it?

Dusti Bowling: Thanks for having me again, Betsy! No, when I wrote the first book, I definitely wrote it as a standalone. I had no idea at the time I’d end up writing a sequel, a Connor spinoff, four chapter books, and a graphic novel!

BB: When I heard that Connor was to be the star of your latest book I was instantly intrigued. When did the idea for this book come to you?

Dusti: The idea actually came to me all the way back in 2019. A lot of things got in the way of developing it, but Connor’s story was always in the back of my mind. I was thrilled when my editor asked to hear the idea last year. 

BB: Connor’s Tourette’s Syndrome is uncommon in children’s books. There are a scant few titles that tackle the subject. It was originally introduced in INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS. Initially, why did you choose to include that diagnosis?

Dusti: I started writing INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS in 2014. I knew the character of Aven extremely well by the time I decided to write her a story. I just didn’t fully know what her story should be. I knew she’d move to Arizona and make friends with a boy, but that was about it. 

The very first scene I ever wrote for Aven was the scene when she plays the guitar for her friend for the first time. When she finishes her song, she looks over and sees he’s crying, and she wishes she could reach over and wipe his tears away. 

I didn’t know why the boy was crying at first. As I wrote the scene, though, my 11-year-old daughter was sitting next to me on the couch. She was also crying. Crying from the pain of the motor tics she was developing. Crying because she couldn’t stop doing the things that were harming her. It was then that I knew Connor was crying because of the pain caused by his Tourette syndrome. 

BB: Well, that leads into my next question anyway. What kind of firsthand knowledge or research have to done regarding Tourette’s? Where do you go when you need more information?

Dusti: My daughter was diagnosed with Tourette’s while I wrote this book, but I was already quite familiar with tic disorders because my husband has had tics his whole life. Like many children, though, he was never diagnosed with it. Instead, he was labeled a fidgety, hyperactive, and misbehaved kid. It’s because of the overwhelming amount of misinformation and bad representation that children with tic disorders don’t get the help and support they need. 

The stereotypical representation of people with Tourette syndrome compelled me to do the best, most accurate job I could do in depicting a child with Tourette’s. I knew for certain that Connor wouldn’t shout bad words because that only occurs in about 5 percent of people with Tourette’s (and it’s not always bad words), and yet this is how it is portrayed the vast majority of the time. We’ve had close family friends tell us our daughter can’t possibly have Tourette’s simply because she doesn’t shout bad words. They know this because they learned it from movies. Because of this, I’ve largely based my characters with Tourette’s on my family members, but I’ve also read every book I can get my hands on (there aren’t very many, as you said), spoke to doctors, and watched several documentaries like Teenage Tourette’s Camp, in order to create a representation I felt would apply to as many children as possible. 

BB: I don’t usually ask this, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’m very interested in the title of this book. THE BEAT I DRUM is interesting. How do you usually come up with your titles? They’re always pretty original and memorable (not an easy task).

Dusti: A lot of people are surprised to learn that I did not title INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS. Yes, I wrote the line that inspired the title, but it was definitely not my original title! I never would’ve thought of it in a million years and was quite surprised when my publisher came to me with it.

When it came to titling Connor’s story, I thought it would need another Cactus title, so I’d proposed “A Turn of Events in the Life of a Cactus.” But my publisher felt the cactus was far too tied to Aven, and Connor needed his own thing. Plus, they wanted this story to stand on its own. A big part of Connor’s story is him learning to play the drums as a way to relieve the pressure he feels to tic, so when they asked me if I had any other title ideas, the first thing that came to mind was THE BEAT I DRUM. I told them this title, fully expecting it would get changed, but it stuck. I’m glad it did because I was able to work it into the story in meaningful ways. 

BB: Finally, is this the last INSIGNIFICANT spinoff title or do you think you might have more in the works? And what else do you have coming out next?

Dusti: I always say this is the last, but I never know what ideas might strike me in the future. I do have the graphic novel version of INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS releasing in 2027, so that might be the last Cactus book. Maybe. I also have another middle grade novel releasing next fall, a new chapter book series beginning in 2026, and I’m delving into young adult as well! I’m extremely busy with several projects, so this very well might be the last Cactus-related book. But we’ll see 🙂

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And on that note, enjoy this lovely book jacket!

Special thanks to Dusti for answering these questions (she’s in China and still took the time to answer them!) and thanks too to Blanca Oliviery and the team at Union Square for taking the time to help put these together. The Beat I Drum is on shelves everywhere April 1, 2025.

Filed under: Cover Reveal, Interviews