In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze interviews award-winning author Meg Medina about her latest fantasy novel, Graciela in the Abyss. They discuss Medina's fifteen-year journey developing this underwater adventure, her transition from contemporary fiction to fantasy, her experience as the eighth National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and how she transformed personal grief and world events into a story about friendship, bioluminescence, and making your own light in the darkest places.

Transcription: You can read the transcription on The Children's Book Review (coming soon)

Highlights:

• Creative Persistence: How Medina kept "Graciela in the Abyss" in her "graveyard file" for 15 years, returning to it annually with new versions until the world tilted and she found her way
• Fantasy World-Building: Her extensive research into oceanography, deep-sea caves, and bioluminescence to create a believable underwater realm of sea spirits with jobs like being glaciers who turn trash into sea glass
• The Graveyard Philosophy: Medina's approach to unfinished projects - honoring failed attempts while remaining open to returning when you have what you need emotionally and creatively
• Ambassador Insights: Her two-year role as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and how office hours at the Library of Congress showed her reading as a family activity that knits people together
• From Grief to Light: How personal losses (her mother in 2013, aunt in 2020) and the pandemic helped her understand the story's central metaphor of bioluminescence as making your own light to survive
• Unlikely Friendship: Creating the bond between Graciela (a dead sea spirit) and Jorge (a mortal boy who fears water) as allies who help each other find their way back to kindness
• Visual Storytelling: Working with the Balbusso twins on stunning artwork that captures the eeriness and beauty of the abyss

Notable Quotes:

"It was a surprise to me... I didn't have to be some sort of super exceptional person leading this incredible life to have something to say." —Meg Medina on finding her voice as a writer

"Suffering was strange that way. It didn't have to be your own for it to hurt." —Quote from Graciela in the Abyss

"Sometimes you can't finish it. You don't have what you need yet. Sometimes that's maturity. Sometimes it's world events." —Meg Medina on the writing process

Books Mentioned:

• Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away by Meg Medina: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• No More Señora Mimí by Meg Medina: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Milagros: Girl From Away by Meg Medina: Amazon
• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Into the Planet by Jill Heinerth: Amazon or Bookshop.org

About Meg Medina: Meg Medina is the 2024 Newbery Medal winner for Merci Suárez Changes Gears and author of many acclaimed novels and picture books, including Burn Baby Burn, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, and the Merci Suárez series. She served as the eighth National Ambassador for Young People's Literature (2022-2024) with the platform "CuÉntame: Let's Talk Books." As a first-generation Cuban American, she draws on her heritage and experiences to create authentic stories that celebrate the strength and resilience of Latino families and communities.

Connect and Follow: Learn more about Meg Medina: https://www.megmedina.com/Meg Medina's Bookshop shelf with books she book talks and kids recommended: https://bookshop.org/shop/MegMedinaVisit The Children's Book Review at https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/

Credits: Host: Bianca SchulzeGuest: Meg MedinaProducer: Bianca Schulze

Sponsor: Bajette's Balloon: The Magic of Smiles™: https://www.bajette.com/