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MEET SUZANNE JURMAIN
by Bonnie O'Brian

Did you write stories when you were growing up?

Suzanne Jurmain

Family tradition says that I first wanted to write stories when I was about three and a half. This was difficult because, of course, I couldn’t actually write yet. Still, I solved the problem by dictating a tale called “King Saltagong” to my mother. She reported that the story was long, complicated and definitely unpublishable. But it was a start.

When you were a child did you have moments when you decided that you were going to be a writer when you grew up?

Actually, I had a lot of moments when I decided I was definitely NOT going to be a writer. My father was a writer, and sometimes I saw him fill up a wastebasket with discarded drafts—so I knew right from the very beginning that writing is sometimes very hard work. Besides I had other serious ambitions. At age 4 I wanted to be a circus girl. At age 8 I was determined to become a ballerina; and from age 10 until I went to college, I desperately wanted to be an actress. In those days writing was just something I did from time to time—like a hobby. I definitely wasn’t serious about it.

When did you decide to take writing seriously?

It actually happened when I was in college. By that time I knew I wasn’t going to be a circus girl, a ballerina, or an actress, but I didn’t really have any idea of what exactly I did want to be. I wasn’t cut out for the sciences because I couldn’t do math. I didn’t particularly want to be a lawyer. One of my professors thought I ought to get a PhD in English, but that didn’t really appeal either. Then, one semester, to fill a gap in my schedule, I took a class in children’s literature. As I re-read all my old childhood favorites, I remembered how much I loved those books--and I suddenly realized that what I really wanted to do was to write books like that.

Was your first book published immediately?

No. I wasn’t that lucky. First, I collected enough rejection slips to wallpaper my entire bathroom. And I might have gone on collecting them if my agent hadn’t said, “Suzie, you’re banging your head against the wall with fiction. Why don’t you try non-fiction for a change?” So, I did. My first nonfiction book sold in a flash—and I’ve been writing nonfiction ever since.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

I love exciting stories. I love writing about amazing people, and I’m always on the lookout for good historical material that combines both.

Do you like to include humor in your stories or adventure?

Absolutely. Just because stories are true doesn’t mean they have to be serious or boring. One of my recent books, THE FORBIDDEN SCHOOLHOUSE is about a woman who struggled to open one of the first schools for African Americans in the United States. It’s a very tense and exciting story, and the reader doesn’t really know until the end whether she succeeded or failed. Another recent book, GEORGE DID IT, which deals with how George Washington overcame his fear of being president, is full of funny facts. I’ll bet you didn’t know that George Washington almost didn’t get inaugurated because Congress forgot to bring a Bible to the ceremony or that Congress once considered calling the president of the U.S. “His Exalted High Mightiness.”

What are you working on right now?

At the moment I’m working on three books. The first, a funny picture book called WORST FRIENDS, tells the story of how Thomas Jefferson and John Adams started out as best friends, had a terrible fight, and then made up in their old age. That will probably be out in 2009. The second is a very exciting medical adventure story for older children about the conquest of yellow fever –which will probably also be published in ’09. And the third is another funny picture book about how the American patriot Ethan Allen changed history. That, however, probably won’t be out until 2010.

Have any of your books earned special recognition?

I’ve been very lucky that way. My last two books, THE FORBIDDEN SCHOOLHOUSE and GEORGE DID IT, collectively won a total of fifteen awards. They are both in the 2008 California Collections. But the reviews that mean most to me have come from children. When a reader tells me that he or she loved reading one of my books or learned something new or wonderful from one of them, I get a real thrill—and it’s those moments that make writing for children a wonderful experience.