2007 National Book Award Young People's Literature Finalist Interview With Sara Zarr
Sara Zarr
Story of a Girl
Little, Brown & Company
Photo © Quinn Jacobson.Interview conducted by Rita Williams-Garcia.
RWG: Now that it's all said and done, what is the story decision that you are most proud of?
SZ:
In an early draft, a colleague in my writing group pointed
out that Deanna's hopes of moving out with her brother
and his girlfriend reminded her of Carson McCullers'
MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, which is a book I love.
Frankie's reasons in McCullers' book are much different
than Deanna's, but that comment helped me see what I
was trying to do, what I wanted to do. Figuring out
how to connect that basic, universal longing for home
and family to Deanna's specific circumstances was the
challenge whose execution was most important to me.
And getting that into a story that is ostensibly "about"
something else without loading up the book with more
than it could carry wasn't easy; there were many drafts
that missed the mark but in the end I think I got as
close that vision as I possibly could.
RWG: Deanna finds expression through her journal writing
and essays for English Honors. Care to elaborate on
her Lord of the Flies observation, "We
are all savages"?
SZ: She's recalling a classroom
discussion during which a girl in her class is appalled
at the behavior of the boys on the island. The girl
says something about how the boys should have realized
that their chances for survival would be better if they
worked together. Deanna sees this as profoundly ironic
when her experience of high school and the way she's
treated by her classmates is not much of an improvement
over life on the island. Also, Deanna has made a mistake,
and her parents have made them, and her brother is in
danger of making one, and I think ultimately what that
line hints at is that Deanna figures out that everyone
is kind of in the same boat when it comes to our failures
and the ways we disappoint each other, and if that's
true, what options for survival are there other than
forgiveness?
RWG: Perception, change and forgiveness can
all rest on one fleeting act. What will this mean in
a reader's heart?
SZ:
The beauty of stories is that they can mean something
different for every reader who encounters them. For
me it's a story of tiny movements: one degree towards
someone even if they haven't earned it, one moment of
compassion for yourself, doing one thing different in
a situation that you've handled badly a dozen times
before... It isn't the stuff of epics, but I hope it's
recognizably real, and, most importantly, just a great
reading experience!
Rita
Williams-Garcia is the author of six distinguished novels
for young adults: Jumped, No Laughter Here, Every
Time a Rainbow Dies, Fast Talk on a Slow Track, Blue
Tights, and Like Sisters on the Homefront.
She has also published a picture book and has contributed
to numerous anthologies. Williams-Garcia's works have
been recognized by the Coretta Scott King Award Committee,
the PEN/Norma Klein Award, the American Library Association,
and Parents' Choice, among others. She recently served
on the National Book Award Committee for Young People's
Literature and is on faculty at Vermont College for
the MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults program.
Rita Williams-Garcia lives in Jamaica, Queens, NY and
is the mother of two daughters.