 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET SHERRY SHAHAN
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
| Sherry Shahan |
I've written over 30 books for children, both fiction and nonfiction. Some were inspired by my passion for music and dance, while others developed from personal adventures.
Can you tell us something about one of your adventure stories?
I’m proud to say that FROZEN STIFF has been used in the classroom as a companion to Jack London’s CALL OF THE WILD. It’s also on several state reading lists. It's an Alaska-based adventure novel for middle grades, inspired when I spent a week camping and kayaking in a remote wilderness area in Alaska.
Is there another adventure novel you would like to tell us about?
Several years ago, my backpacking group was caught in a deadly electric storm on an exposed ridge in the Sierra Nevada Range. The horse and pack mule were struck and killed; three people in my party were airlifted off the mountain by helicopter. In DEATH MOUNTAIN (Peachtree Publishers), the fictional account of my experience, the main characters are two girls who are forced to face the challenges of being lost in the untamed wilderness with grit and resourcefulness. In the process they learn about themselves and develop a lasting friendship.
When you are not writing or traveling, how do you like to spend your spare time?
Outside my writing studio, my time centers on a lifelong passion for music and dance. Even as a young child, years before taking formal lessons in a studio, I performed for a small audience - my grandmother. She always responded with a standing ovation. Now I’m a grandmother of two, a teen and a newborn, it’s my turn to cheer on my 13-year-old grandson when he competes in dance conventions around the state.
What inspired you to write SPICY HOT COLORS (August House)?
I love all forms of music and movement, even street styles like break-dancing and hip-hop. The poetic riffs in SPICY HOT COLORS, and the companion title, COOL CATS COUNTING, include tap, swing, hip-hop, and more.
What images were in your mind when you wrote HOT SPICY COLORS and COOL CATS COUNTING?
In many ways, writing for children is similar to dancing. I hear the rhythm of my words as my fingers tip-click-tap across the keyboard: “Red as chili sauce/ Drip-drop/ Spicy hot.” Both picture books introduce young children to simple Spanish words, using similes rooted in Latin American culture, and are enhanced by the vibrant illustrations of Ecuadorian artist Paula Barragan. While writing the text for these books, I imagined children snapping their fingers and tapping their toes to my words. It’s a thrill to visit schools and libraries and have the opportunity to read these picture books to youngsters. I always ask children to stand up and repeat the lines back to me as an echo. Of course we don’t merely utter the words - we sing them and dance around the room!
Is there a comment from a reviewer that makes you feel particularly proud?
One reviewer understood my passion for sharing the world’s rhythms with children when she wrote, “Successful both as an introduction to the Latin American culture for children unfamiliar with it, and a celebration for those who call it their own.”
Do you have a comment on that review?
That’s what it’s all about!
What were some of your more interesting and exciting travel destinations?
As a photo-journalist, I have ridden horseback in Africa’s Maasailand, hiked a leech-infested rain forest in Australia, and ridden in a dogsled for the first part of the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Has your love of dance taken you to any interesting places?
I have traveled to Cuba to study Latin-African styles of movement and am currently working on a picture book biography featuring famed Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso.
What are your newest book projects?
Look for THAT'S NOT HOW YOU PLAY SOCCER, DADDY! (Peachtree), a fun-filled soccer story for the youngest readers. SPICY HOT COLORS and COOL CATS COUNTING will be followed by FIESTA! (August House), scheduled for publication in 2008.