Author Interview + Giveaway Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy

I am thrilled to have Joanne Levy, author of Small Medium at Large, on the blog today.

Here is a little bit about the book:

Small Medium at Large
Author: Joanne Levy
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 7-2-12
After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel. – Goodreads

You can read my review here.

How did you come up with the idea for Small Medium at Large? 
The title was actually the easy part! I woke up with it in my head one morning and I knew even then that it was a great title. That said, I was working on other things at the time, so I tucked it away. But it wouldn’t go away–it nagged at me for about a year until I finally decided to write it.
How did you go about capturing the voice and perspective of a 12 year old girl? Was is difficult? 
I thought it would be difficult, since this was my first attempt at middle grade, but something must have clicked because I keep getting great feedback, saying that I nailed the voice. I try to think back to what I was like at that age and sort of just channel myself. I also did a lot of reading before I wrote SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE – I re-read a lot of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor books to try to capture that tween voice and what it is girls that age really think and worry about.
Did you always want to write for a tween/teen audience, or did the story just develop that way? 
I have written quite a few stories for a YA audience, including SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, but it was suggested to me by an editor that I might want to make this one a middle grade (based on the voice). Long story short, I did rewrite it and it did sell. I have yet to sell a YA book, but I do keep writing them! I really enjoy writing stuff about kids for kids!
If you could talk to one dead (famous) person, who would it be and why? 
Oh, that’s a tough one! I’m totally going to cheat here and say I would love to hang out with my great grandmother – the original Bubby Dora (there’s a Bubby Dora in SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, who is kind of a mix of her namesake and my mom). She was a great lady (definitely famous in my family) who came to Canada from the ‘old country’ (Poland) as a young woman to find a better life for herself. Although she never learned how to read or write much English, she was an amazing and funny woman who raised her kids AND her grandkids. She was over a hundred when she died, but I never really got a chance to sit and chat with her and really forge a relationship with her. Now that I’m an adult, I realize what I missed and I’d LOVE to have the chance get to really know her.
What are your working on now? 
I’m hoping that there will be a sequel to SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, but in the interim, I have another MG in the can about a boy who gets left in the woods by his parents and has only his wits and a talking spider to help him find his way home. I’ve also just finished a funny, contemporary YA about a tomboy. It’s called, appropriately, TOMBOY, but no news on a sale yet.
Thanks again for having me, Kate! I’m so excited that after so long, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE will finally be out in the world TOMORROW!

Joanne Levy’s love of books began at a very early age. Being the youngest and the only female among four children, she was often left to her own devices and could frequently be found sitting in a quiet corner with her nose in a book. After much teenage misadventure, Joanne eventually graduated from university and now spends her weekdays as an executive assistant at one of Canada’s big banks planning meetings and thwarting coffee emergencies. When Joanne isn’t working, she can usually be found at her computer, channeling her younger self into books.

Find Joanne online:
Website
Twitter
Facebook

Joanne Levy has generously offered up a signed, finished copy of Small Medium at Large! It is a great book and I think it’s a great fit for the tween in your life, although I must say that I enjoyed it immensely and my tween years are far behind me.

You must be 13+ to enter.  This contest is open to residents of the US and Canada only.  Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Kate

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18 responses to “Author Interview + Giveaway Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy

  1. Ems

    I’m always looking for great middle grade books to introduce to my (future) students. This sounds like one that would be perfect for my classroom library. And since I’m the teacher and NEED to read what my students are reading… 😀

    Thanks for the chance to win, and many thanks to Ms. Levy for her generous donation!

  2. Thanks for the giveaway. I’ve been tracking the progress of this book since I first heard about it a few months ago. It still sounds great, I’d love to win a copy. Thanks again.

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