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MEET CAROLINE HATTON
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Caroline Hatton Photo by Rita Crayon Huang

Daydream! It didn’t get me in trouble because I got good grades anyway. While growing up inFrance, I also loved to read, write, and make things. I made doodads from everything, old boxes, fabric remnants, my mother’s finest underwear. Not until I moved to America as an adult did I discover The Toilet Paper Tube, the quintessential craft material. (In France, toilet paper came in small stacks of folded sheets.) Because an infinite number of things can be made from toilet paper tubes, this discovery proved to me that America is indeed a land of endless opportunities. My first children’s publication was a craft activity. My most prolific achievement is 11 craft activities published or accepted by Highlights for Children. Craft publications saved my marriage because my doodads now pile up on editors’ desks instead of my husband’s desk.

What teacher influenced you the most as a writer?

I will never forget her voice. I wish I could remember her name, my Professeur de français [French teacher] in Paris, the year I turned ten. I was writing a novel in a notebook, about a boy and his missing horse. I taped a card inside the back cover to pretend it was a library book, and loaned it to classmates upon completion of each chapter. My teacher caught me passing the book in class, and she confiscated it. I knew I was dead and spent recess saying farewell to all. When my mother picked me up, my teacher said to her, “Madame, votre fille a un don pour l’écriture” [“…your daughter has a gift for writing”], followed by a paragraph I couldn’t hear because my ears were ringing, due to my blood rushing around after my heart restarted.

That’s a great teacher story! Do you have another one?

I will never forget my first elementary school teacher in Paris, after my family moved from Normandy. I was too shy to say a word or look at her, but she knew just what to do to make me feel better. You can read it at www.carolinehatton.com, in the first chapter of my humorous novel, Véro and Philippe. If you read it to kids, ask them whether they think that the teacher really believed the girl’s story.

What is your latest book about?

The Night Olympic Team is an adventure story that happens to involve scientists who happen to be real people. They are at the Olympics testing athletes for performance-enhancing drugs, which are prohibited because using them is cheating. The story of how the scientists catch cheaters is told by an insider—me! I was there, as a scientist at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.

For what age range did you write The Night Olympic Team ?

The main story is easy to read for ages 12 and up. The sidebars offer supplemental info on key points, at a slightly higher level. The author’s note is written for adults. The glossary, resources, and index complete the picture. One of my favorite parts is the “Sports Smarts: Healthy Ways to Enhance Performance”--six tips explained in simple terms for the youngest readers, and worth remembering throughout life. Young readers love to live the excitement of being a scientist catching cheaters. Adults enjoy a quick and fun read to get the big picture of drugs in sports with a focus on a hot topic: blood doping. See the first chapter at www.carolinehatton.com.

How can teachers use The Night Olympic Team in the classroom?

The Night Olympic Team is an Accelerated Reader book for which the quiz is available from www.renlearn.com. Fifth grade teachers read the book aloud and discuss smart choices for health and fitness. Middle school educators use the book to illustrate how career choices can combine a passion or area of interest (such as sports) with a skill or talent (the aptitude needed to be a scientist, sports official, or lawyer). In high school, the book can be used to prompt debates about doping in sports and ethical dilemmas.

Where can teachers find more info on The Night Olympic Team ?

Read the first chapter at www.carolinehatton.com. There, you will find a link to my interview by the School Library Journal, which deemed the book “kid-friendly” and more praise from other reviewers, such as “essential” (Los Angeles Times).

Who are your role models?

I have lots of role models, some of them for one facet of life because of stellar behavior on one particular occasion. Some of my role models are not only younger than me, they’re children! I look up to Bryce (age 10) for being the most reasonable person I’ve ever met, Tony (age 8) for being as caring as humanly possible, Patrick (age 8) for accuracy in his use of technical jargon, and Marie (age 9) for asking a question that everyone should ask himself or herself throughout life, “What is your dream and what are you doing about it?”