Episode #111: What is the most surprising inspiration you’ve had for a book? with Pam Muñoz Ryan

Welcome back! On Today’s episode we answer a kid question bout book inspiration. Our guest author is Pam Muñoz Ryan!

TRANSCRIPTS:

Grace Lin:
Hello. I'm Grace Lin children's book, author, and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, When the Sea Turned to Silver and the picture book, A Big Moon Cake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Pam Muñoz Ryan, the author of middle grade novels, such as Riding Freedom, Esperanza Rising, Echo and Mañanaland. Hi, Pam.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Hi, Grace.

Grace Lin:
Thank you so much for joining us today.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
I'm happy to be here.

Grace Lin:
Yay. Are you ready for today's kid question?

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Yes.

Grace Lin:
Okay. Today's kid question is from a person named Joanna. Joanna asks-

Joanna:
What is the most surprising inspiration you've had for a book?

Grace Lin:
What is the most surprising inspiration you've had for a book?

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
The most surprising inspiration I have had for a book is when I thought I was writing one book and I went to research that particular book, and I discovered that that wasn't the book that I was writing at all. I thought I was going to write a book about the very first school desegregation case in the United States, Roberto Alvarez versus the Lemon Grove School District. I went to Lemon Grove, which is east of San Diego to their historical society. The docent, I had already told her in advance about all the things that I wanted to research. She had pulled all sorts of documents for me.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
She showed me, among all these documents, a picture of the elementary school students during that year. I think it was 1931. It was this adorable picture of this very integrated class of students sitting on the front steps of the school and each one of them holding a Harmonica. When I asked her about it, she said, "Well, that doesn't really have anything to do with what you're researching."

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
I said, no, no, I'm really curious. She said, "Well, that was back in the day during the '20s and '30s. All the elementary schools had harmonica bands." I said, what? She said, "Oh sure. Back during the big harmonica band movement in the United States." I was so taken back, I said, well, I've never heard of such a thing. She said, "Oh yes. But that was all unrelated to what you're researching". Except that on my drive home, I couldn't help but wonder if it was true.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
I got home and I started doing research and I discovered that it was true. That between 1925 and 1938, that there were over 2,500 elementary school, middle school and high school harmonica bands in the United States. That one little trigger, that photograph of these children sitting on the steps of that elementary school, each of them holding a harmonica was the very beginnings of my novel, Echo.

Grace Lin:
Wow. That's an amazing story. I wonder why we don't have harmonica bands anymore.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Well, I don't know. I think that what happened too, is that during the war they might have used harmonicas, they probably-

Grace Lin:
Took the metal.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Used the metal. I'm not really sure, but it's quite an interesting story. There was even a very famous harmonica band, The Philadelphia Harmonica Band of Wizards, which was primarily composed of orphans who toured all over the United States and sang for any number of dignitaries and presidents and queens and kings. Yeah, I found out all sorts of interesting things.

Grace Lin:
Wow. Did you ever write the book that you had originally planned?

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
The book that I originally planned ended up being two or three sentences in Echo in the third story, because the book is divided into three main stories. In the third story, it gets a nod, but no, I never did end up writing that story. I was so taken away with this one.

Grace Lin:
That's funny. Do you think you'll write it someday? Or do you think that was what was fated to be?

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Well, I think this is what was fated to be. Then since then, another author, Larry Dane Brimner, who's a wonderful nonfiction writer, wrote an in nonfiction story about the Lemon Grove Incident. It's sort of like I feel like all the bases are covered now.

Grace Lin:
Aw, that's cool. Well, when I was asking you this question, I was trying to think, oh, what's the most surprising inspiration I've had? I was thinking, I think my most surprising, the one that came to me was for a little while I was taking Tai Chi classes.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
What kind what is?

Grace Lin:
One of the moves in Tai Chi is called needle at sea bottom. I remember when they told us that move, I was like, what is that? I remember doing all this trying to figure out, why is it called needle at sea bottom? And finding out it actually had roots in Chinese folklore where it's like the needle at the bottom of the sea that can change into all different sizes. It's a pillar that holds up the ocean and all these things. And I was like wow. That became one of the many stories in my book, When the Sea Turns to Silver. I think that's probably my most surprising.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
I think it's incredible too, I think a lot of times people think that it's just one light bulb moment, but a lot of times it's like a confluence of rivers of different things coming together. Then I realize, wow, I'm onto something.

Grace Lin:
Yeah, exactly. It's like all of a sudden it's like all these ... it's like stars blinking. It's like here, here, here, here, here.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Yes. Yes, exactly.

Grace Lin:
Yeah, I find it that way completely. Well, anyway. Well, thank you so much, Pam, for answering today's question and thank you so much, Joanna, for asking it.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Great. Thank you for having me.

Grace Lin:
Thanks, bye.

Pam Muñoz Ryan:
Bye.

Today’s KID BOOK REVIEW comes from Zeeva! Zeeva is reviewing Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Hi, I’m Zeeva, and the book I would like to talk about is Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan. This book is about a twelve-year-old boy named Max who lives in a fictional village, Santa Maria, somewhere in the Americas. Max’s mother disappeared when he was a baby, and his father never talks about it, leaving Max with lots of questions. Over the summer, Max helps his father build bridges out of stone. One day his father tells him that he and almost his entire family were once guardians of the hidden ones. The hidden ones are people who were mistreated and are trying to find a safer place to live; the guardians help these people on their way. After hearing this news, Max wants to know more about his family’s past and ends up accepting a mission to guide a hidden one to the next safe place. Max isn’t quite sure he is ready for the mission, but nobody else in his family is able to do it. I liked this book because it has mystery, adventure, friendship and even fantasy throughout the story. The suspense pulled me into the story from the very beginning. You’ll have to read Mañanaland to find out if Max completes his mission.  I loved reading this book, and no matter what kind of book you like to read, I think you will like Mañanaland!

Thank you Zeeva!

More about today’s authors:

Pam Muñoz Ryan is an American author and the 2018 U.S. nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. She is the author of ECHO, a Newbery Honor book and the recipient of the Kirkus Prize. She has written over forty books, including the novels ESPERANZA RISING, BECOMING NAOMI LEÓN, RIDING FREEDOM, PAINT THE WIND, THE DREAMER, ECHO, and Mañanaland. She is the author recipient of the National Education Association’s Civil and Human Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for Multicultural Literature, and is twice the recipient of the Pura Belpré Medal and the Willa Cather Award.

Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.

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