The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan – Get Yer Excerpt and Q&A Right Here (Not Necessarily In That Order)

Here’s the thing. When you live approximately in the same basic geographical sphere as an author like Jasmine Warga, you’re going to be privy to some pretty cool opportunities. For example, on April 17th at 6:00 p.m. I’ll get to interview Jasmine about her latest book at the Wicker Park Barnes & Nobles (info here), so feel free to stop by.

But what if you don’t live in the Chicago area? What if you can’t see us chat live and in person? For that, we have you covered. Today I’m talking with Jasmine about her new middle grade novel, The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan (on shelves March 3rd) AND I’m accompanying it with an excerpt from the book in question.

But what is this book? A little publisher description may alleviate your questions on that matter:

Finnegan is a rescue dog with a broken heart.
Chase is an anxious cheetah cub, newly orphaned.

The two animals couldn’t be more different. But one day, they are brought together for the unlikeliest of reasons: Finnegan must help Chase gain the confidence she needs to perform as part of an educational program for children at a zoo.

Finnegan and Chase have each suffered losses and have trouble trusting. Yet somehow, they are just what the other needs. But if Finnegan isn’t able to help Chase overcome her fears, he won’t just be letting Chase down—he could be risking his new home as well.

You have questions? So do I. Let’s get them answered, shall we?

---

Betsy Bird: Jasmine! Hey hey hey, congrats on your Kirkus and SLJ starred latest! Let’s see… you’ve gone from Mars rovers to rescued animals in your middle grade. Before I delve into the depths of that switchover, tell me a little bit about what kind of research you do for a book of this sort. And can you tell us a bit about the practice of pairing dogs and cheetahs? How long have programs like this been around? 

Jasmine Warga: First, hi, Betsy! Thanks so much for chatting with me. The research for this book was super fun. I like to say that my research started way back in 4th grade when I chose to do my biography project on Cathryn Hilker, the legendary founder of the Big Cat program at the Cincinnati Zoo. But, of course, all these years later, when I decided to write this book, I needed to freshen up on my facts. The gracious folks at the Cincinnati Zoo let me tour their facilities and answered all my questions, which ranged from big things like–WHY DOES THIS PROGRAM EXIST? to small things like HOW DO YOU FEED THE DOGS? Both ended up being equally important to the book. 

To answer your questions, though–these programs have been around for a long time. Around the 1980s, zoos started using dogs as companion animals for cheetahs to help with their social development and ease the anxiety they often feel in human care. (At the Cincinnati Zoo, the first cheetah to be paired with a dog was named Angel! I was obsessed with her.) 

BB: Giving voice to the voiceless is very much a part of what you’ve done in your middle grades as of late. Were you a child that enjoyed giving inner lives to your toys or other objects? And what books did you read as a child that might have some kind of an influence on the types of books you write today? 

Jasmine: I think you already know what I am going to say, but YES! Yes, yes, yes. I was like Marisol from Erin Entrada Kelly’s very charming chapter book series–I gave all the objects in my house a name from my fridge to my dad’s old Honda. My stuffies had deep backstories and interior lives. I think I’ve always been interested in stories about characters–human or non-human–who aren’t always heard or understood by the people around them. 

As a kid I devoured books by Lois Lowry, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Katherine Applegate (Animorphs forever!). My favorite book in the whole world was, and still is, Ella Enchanted. Also, my mother read Charlotte’s Web aloud to me, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the world in exactly the same way. (Isn’t it cool to think about how many people probably share that experience?) 

BB: It is! Now writing this book, was it smooth from page one onward or did you run across some struggles and problems in its creation?

Jasmine: Ha! Is writing a book ever smooth from page one onward? I would love to have that experience. Or maybe I wouldn’t because I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if the process didn’t involve a lot of speed bumps. The main issue with creating this book was taking the concept–the very real life and fascinating concept of the cheetah dog program at zoos–and weaving it into a fictional narrative with tension and propulsion and fleshed out characters. At first, the book was only narrated by Chase. But I am so glad I decided to include Finnegan’s viewpoint. It really changed the book for the better. 

Also, writing from a non-human perspective can be tricky! You might come up with a great metaphor. But would a cheetah have that reference point? If not, you can’t use it. 

BB: Was there anything that you wanted to include in this book but it just didn’t quite fit with the overall narrative?

Jasmine: A lot of facts. I’m a huge nerd. But the book is a story, not an essay. And so I wove in the facts I could, but then I was allowed to include a few “fun facts” at the end, which helped scratch that itch. I also am in love with the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s one of my favorite places on Earth. From ages 0-11, I spent on average two afternoons there a week. It feels like a second home in some ways. This is all to say that I could wax poetic about the Cincinnati’s zoo’s pathways and gardens, its smells and sounds, but that kind of writing doesn’t have much place in this particular narrative. Of course, I got to toss in some details about the zoo, but not a whole travel essay :). 

BB: Man, as someone who likes overfilling books with facts, I feel that. Now I must ask the Most Important Question of Them All (capital letters and everything): Are you a dog person? Do you own any dogs? If so, what are their names? If not, is there a dog somewhere in your life that you love? 

Jasmine: YES! The Most Important Question Of All Questions! The thing is I don’t know if I would say I am a dog person as much as I am an animal person. I LOVE dogs. But I also LOVE cats. And I also LOVE walruses. I’m an equal opportunity animal lover. But we do have a dog. His name is Wilbur. (I bet you can guess where he got his name!) We adopted him this fall from the animal shelter, and he is everyone’s favorite family member even when he is eating things he shouldn’t be, which he is often doing. 

I also don’t want to make this interview too sad, but our beloved dog, Scout, passed away in early summer of last year. We got her when I sold my first book. She was the very best girl, and most of this book was written with her by my side. 

BB: Awww. That’s not too sad. It’s just poignant. Finally, what else are you working on these days? What’s next for you?

Jasmine: I am working on a companion novel to A Rover’s Story, which is tentatively titled A Martian’s Story, and should be on shelves Winter 2027. And I have another secret, but very fun project that will be coming out next fall. I can’t say much about it yet as it hasn’t been announced, but I can tell you that it is epistolary, and it is co-written with a dear friend! 

---

That kind of info is hard to top… unless there’s an excerpt to show! So please, enjoy these first pages from The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan. If you would like to see them a bit larger, just select them and they should blow up to full size:

Thanks to Jasmine for taking the time to answer my questions today and to Samantha Sacks and the team at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for helping to put all this together. The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan is, as I mentioned, on shelves March 3rd, so please be sure to look for it then!

Filed under: Excerpts, Interviews