Shannon Hale: In 2014, for the first time in over a decade, I had no book under contract and I gave myself some time to take a breath and ask, what do I want to create next? What do I need to create? And in that breath of space, I found myself drawn to memories of elementary school.Īfter I wrote out lots of different memories I had of my childhood, I consulted with my editor, Connie Hsu, about what to do with them. Pham and Hale discussed via email "Real Friends," creating stories for young readers and the difficulties of elementary school.Ĭan you share some background on "Real Friends"? What is it about and what kind of characters can readers look forward to? "Real Friends," from First Second Books, is set to be released May 2, 2017.
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SHANNON HALE SERIES
Hale and Pham have previously collaborated on the bestselling " Princess in Black" series for young readers. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour » I saw the power in that kind of a book, and I thought maybe there were readers who might feel less alone if they could read and see how alone I had felt at their age too." "But my daughter didn’t consider herself a 'reader' until she discovered graphic novel memoirs like 'Smile’ by Raina Telgemeier and 'El Deafo' by Cece Bell. "I often retold events of my childhood to my own kids or to kids at school visits, but never before had I considered writing a memoir," said Hale about the pseudo-memoir. "It’s about a young girl, Shannon, who struggles with her friendships at school and her relations at home, particularly her older sister." "I think almost anyone will find something to relate to with this book," said Pham. And there’s no better way to get into the back-to-school spirit than with new graphic novel “Real Friends,” set on the playgrounds of grade school.Īuthor Shannon Hale and artist LeUyen Pham have teamed up for "Real Friends," a story about tough times in grade school, where kids have to learn to navigate friendships, safe spaces and bullies all set in the retro days of the late ‘70s early ‘80s in Salt Lake City. Summer vacation has come and gone and now kids are back in school.