Featured Author: Monique Polak
 
Bibliography at Orca
Finding Elmo: When Tim's best friend, a black cockatoo named Elmo, is stolen from a party, the police aren't interested. So Tim and his (human) friend Sapna set out to find Elmo, only to discover that he's more valuable than they'd ever imagined...
Home Invasion: Josh can't stand his new stepfather, and finds himself drawn to the idea of a "regular" family. On a whim, Josh sneaks into a neighbor's house to see how others live. Considering it a harmless pastime, Josh continues entering people's houses, until he is witness to a violent home invasion. Can Josh bring the home invader to justice?
No More Pranks: Pete likes to play pranks, but when one goes too far, he is suspended from school and his parents send him to spend the summer working with his uncle, a whale-watching guide. When a whale is injured by a reckless tour guide, Pete struggles to save the animal. He must pull most important prank of his life to bring the guide to justice.
Interview
Why do you write, and why young adult books? I write because I'm obsessed with stories—the weirder, the wilder, the more embarrassing, the better!! I am always on the lookout for stories. When I was a kid, I used to hide under the dining room table during dinner parties so I could listen in on the adults' conversations. Nowadays, I no longer lurk under tables, but I still listen in a lot. I've found bathrooms and locker rooms are especially good places to find stories. I pretend to be washing my hands or doing up my shoelaces, when actually I'm doing research for my books.
I write for young adults because I think young adults are the most interesting people in the world. There's so much going on inside their heads. They're questioning themselves and the world around them. When I was a young adult, books helped me make sense of the world. I hope my books can do that for readers, too.
Do you put your family and friends in your books? Absolutely! Many of the minor characters in my novels are based on people I know. For instance, Mr. Singh—who runs a restaurant in the food court in my book Finding Elmo—is based on a real Mr. Singh, whom I met many years ago. He is the father of my good friend Rina Singh, and I've never forgotten his kindness and wisdom—and his turban!
As for my main characters, they tend to be invented. But what I find is that through them, I get to explore different parts of myself. In real life, I am mostly serious and well-behaved, but in my stories I often get to be a no-good troublemaker. I find the experience very fun and liberating. It's nice to get a break from the kind of person we usually are. Writing is a good, safe place to do it.
What is your favorite children's book? My favorite children's book is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In fact, I wrote my Master's thesis on the two Alice books. Most people think the Alice books are about being a little kid, but I've always felt they were really about adolescence. I laugh out loud every time I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (and I've read it hundreds of times), but I continue to learn a lot from it, too. The book explores the very complex issue of identity. The Caterpillar asks Alice, "Who in the world are you?" I can't think of a more important or interesting question.
What are you working on now? I am working on two new Orca books. One is a historical novel based on my mother's experience at a concentration camp during World War II. Though it's a sad story, I hope it will also give readers hope. My mother and her family went through terrible times, but they looked out for each other and managed, miraculously, to survive.
I am also working on a lighter, funnier book about kids who go berserk on a school bus. I'm trying to set the entire story on the bus. By the way, the bus story is inspired by a group of Montreal area students whom I have been working with on a literary project. They collected stories about their misadventures on a school bus. The material was so kooky I knew I had to turn it into a novel.
What are the best and worst things about writing books? For me, the best thing about writing a book is when I hear my characters talking inside my head. I know this sounds like I'm a lunatic, but it really does happen, and I've heard other authors say it happens to them, too. I really need to know my main character well before I can start writing a book. And sometimes, when I know my character well enough, he or she starts talking to me. Usually this happens when I am out for a run or taking a shower. (That's why I never go for a run without bringing along a slip of paper and a small pencil.) If my character talks, I need to write down what he or she says because chances are, I'll be able to use that snippet of dialogue in my book.
The worst thing about writing a book are the moments when all you see is everything that's wrong with your paragraph or your chapter, or sometimes even your whole story. This can be very discouraging and sometimes I feel like chucking the whole thing and giving up. But I've learned never ever to give up. If I keep rewriting and reworking, my paragraphs and chapters and stories eventually improve. The trick is to work through the difficult times. I think this is also a good life lesson. Some days are hard days, when you're disappointed in yourself and others, but you mustn't ever give up. Things almost always get better.
Biography
Monique Polak lives in Montreal, where she spends her days doing her two favorite things: writing and teaching. In addition to being a frequent contributor to The Gazette, Montreal's English language daily newspaper, Monique is the author of seven novels for young people. She has also taught English and Humanities at Marianopolis College in Montreal since 1985. One of her courses is called "Writing for Children." Monique says she gets ideas for her novels from her work as a reporter and teacher. For example, her latest Orca book, Finding Elmo, released in spring 2007, tells the story of a cockatoo who is "birdnapped" from a Montreal pet store. Monique got the idea for the book when she wrote a feature story for The Gazette about kids who like hanging out in pet stores.
She lives with her husband, a newspaperman, and her daughter Alicia (who was named after Alice in Wonderland – the subject of Monique's Master's thesis). Last November, Monique toured Vancouver Island as part of Canadian Children's Book Week. In February, she traveled to Nunavik, Quebec as part of a teaching about writing project. If she could give aspiring writers one tip, Monique says it would be, "Never give up! If writing makes you happy, keep at it!" Monique is available for school visits.
|
