I am thrilled to be
hosting a spot on the QUINTESSENCE by Jess Redman Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure
to enter the giveaway!
About
the Book:
Title: QUINTESSENCE
Author: Jess
Redman
Pub.
Date: July
28, 2020
Publisher: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Formats: Hardcover,
Paperback, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 384
Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma
moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later, and
they haven’t stopped—even though she told her parents that they did. Every day
she feels less and less like herself.
Then Alma meets the ShopKeeper in the
town's junk shop, The Fifth Point. The ShopKeeper gives her a telescope and
this message:
Find the Elements.
Grow the Light.
Save the Starling.
That night, Alma watches as a star—a
star that looks like a child—falls from the sky and into her backyard. Alma
knows what it’s like to be lost and afraid, to long for home, and with the help
of some unlikely new friends from the Astronomy Club, she sets out on a quest
that will take a little bit of astronomy, a little bit of alchemy, and her
whole self.
QUINTESSENCE is a stunning story of
friendship, self-discovery, interconnectedness, and the inexplicable elements
that make you you.
Book Trailer:
Interview:
Hey Jess!! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on
Books I’m glad you could stop by for a chat! QUINTESSENCE sounds AWESOME and I
can’t wait for everyone to read it!
Thank you so much for having me! I’m so
excited to be here.
For the
readers: can you tell us a little bit about the QUINTESSENCE and the
characters?
QUINTESSENCE
is the story of twelve-year-old Alma Lucas and her quest to save a fallen star.
Alma and her family have
just moved to the town of Four Points. Alma is homesick and lonely and, worst
of all, she’s been having panic attacks.
Then one afternoon, Alma enters an abandoned
curiosity shop where the mysterious ShopKeeper gives her quintescope (a sort of
magical telescope) and this message: Find the Elements. Grow the Light. Save
the Starling.
That night, through the lens
of the quintescope, Alma watches as a star—a star that looks like a golden
child—falls into her backyard. Alma knows what it’s like to be lost and afraid,
to long for home, and she knows that it’s up to her to save the star.
But she’ll need the help of
the ShopKeeper and three new friends from Astronomy Club to do it. Together,
they’ll have to gather the four classical elements—Earth, Wind, Water, Fire—and
use them to create the fifth element, Quintessence. It’s a quest that will take
a little bit of science, a little bit of magic, and their whole selves.
This story centers around the four kids—Alma,
Hugo, Shirin, and Dustin. Each one has to find one of the elements, and all
four have to work together to make the fifth element. If you want to find out
which Element you would be “sorted” into, you can check out the character quiz
on my website!
What are you
working on now?
Right now, I’m doing copy edits on my third
middle-grade contemporary fantasy. This one is called THE ADVENTURE IS NOW.
It’s the story of video game-loving Milton P. Greene who has had the rottenest
year of all time. Then it gets even rottener when his parents send him to stay
with his environmentalist uncle on the electricity-free Lone Island for the
summer. But on the island, Milton finds a field guide full of fantastical
creatures, clues to a hidden treasure, and a definitely unrotten real-life
adventure. I had so much fun writing this action-packed, quirky story.
Were any of
the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?
Like Alma, I moved
across the country when I was twelve, and like Alma, I struggled with anxiety
and panic attacks from a young age. Alma is not me—I was a lot more vocal about
my feelings!—but she is a piece of my heart.
I
want kids to see themselves, in all their complexity, in the pages of my
stories. And I know reading about an anxious girl who goes on fantastical
adventures would have meant so much to me when I was young.
Also, I’ve been focused on writing and
mom-ing lately, but I’m a former therapist. Anxiety disorders
are the most commonly diagnosed mental health illness, for both adults and
children, and
I’ve worked with lots of young people with this issue.
Who was your
favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
While Alma is so special to me, the
ShopKeeper was the most fun to write.
The ShopKeeper runs the Fifth Point, a curiosity shop located at the exact
center of the town of Four Points. In the beginning of the story, he is waiting
for someone to arrive at the Fifth Point, but we don’t know who. He’s a
whimsical, enigmatic figure, and his true identity and future are one of the
mysteries of the story.
I didn’t dislike writing any of my
characters—I’m a big fan of redemption arcs in middle-grade, and there are no
villains in this story—but Dustin was probably the hardest to write at times. I
wanted to give him several serious talkings to about the way he was treating
the others. Alma, Shirin, and Hugo had it covered though.
What is your
favorite passages/scenes in QUINTESSENCE?
My favorite scenes are always the climactic
moments. I love stories that build to big, intense, fast-paced endings, and
that’s what happens in QUINTESSENCE. I don’t want to give away all the ins and
outs of the scene, but there is a storm and a flying star and a near-death
plummet off of something very high and Alma shouting, “I am Alma of the Growing
Light, and I am here for Fire!”
A reader on Instagram told me their kid came
running into their room one night saying, “You’ve got to read this! It’s like a
song!” about this section. Which, to me, is the highest and most wonderful of
compliments.
What kind of
research did you have to do for the story?
Alchemy and astronomy!
In QUINTESSENCE, four kids have to find the
four classical elements—earth, wind, water, and fire. I was inspired by the
mysterious fifth element in medieval alchemy, which is called aether or
quintessence. Stars were said to be made of quintessence, which led me to
astronomy.
I live near the ocean, and I love going to
the beach to watch meteor showers. I started wondering what might happen if one
of those quintessence-made stars fell to Earth. What would happen to it? How
would it get back to the sky?
I read texts from philosophers and alchemists
who mention the elements, like Aristotle and Paracelsus (who features in the
story…sort of). I researched supernovas, runaway stars, the amount of time it
might take for the Sun to crash into the Earth, all sorts of fun things. I
loved weaving all these different strands of science and magic together along
with a contemporary story about fitting in and finding your place in the
universe
What inspired
you to write MG?
When I was
middle-grade age, I read ALL THE TIME. Like walk-into-walls and
always-carry-three-back-up-books kind of all the time. And I wrote too, filling
up marble-cover notebooks with stories.
As I
got older, I was sure I would be an author someday—but for adults. I wanted to
write literary works, and I took myself very seriously.
Then, shortly before I had my first child, I
started jotting down notes for a middle-grade fantasy, and it was the most
connected I’d ever felt to a story. The words flowed, I fell in love with the
characters, and I realized that middle-grade is where my heart is.
The truth is that
it’s the books from my childhood that are imprinted on my mind and my heart. I
can picture their covers, quote first lines, remember where I was when I read
them and how they made me feel and what they taught me about myself and the
world. I’ve loved lots of books as an adult but not in the same way.
Lightning
Round Questions
What are you reading
right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
I just got my copy
of SOMETHING TO SAY by Lisa Moore Ramee, and I’m loving it! My TBR is massive
though and often neglected because I have a hard time reading while I’m
writing. It’s a serious problem.
Instagram,
Twitter or Facebook?
Once I would have said Twitter, but I’ve been
getting pulled into Instagram more and more! It’s just so pretty there. I’m on
both at @Jess__Red!
Favorite
Superhero?
I feel like Matilda is a super hero because
she can move things with her mind. So I’m going with Matilda!
Favorite TV
show?
Truth be told, I don’t watch a lot of TV. I
usually write at night when my kids are asleep which cuts into entertainment
time. My kids and I love Sarah & Duck though. And, on the more grown-up
side, I did recently love Never Have I Ever, and I’m a fan of Stranger Things!
Sweet or
Salty?
Both together! My nightly snack combo
includes something sweet, something salty, and a fruit to round things off.
Any Phobias?
Cockroaches. If one’s in my house, I’m
crying, guaranteed.
Song you
can’t get enough of right now?
Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of
soothing, heart-stirring indie-folk-type music like Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe
Bridgers, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Iron & Wine, some of it old and some of
it new.
2020 Movie
you’re most looking forward to?
Hmm…I
am out of the loop on this. But there are lots of middle-grade books that have
been optioned for movies that I wish would hurry up and get made already like
NEVERMOOR, A SNICKER OF MAGIC, and THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON!
Thanks so much Jess for answering my
questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read QUINTESSENCE!
About Jess:
Jess Redman is a therapist and author of books for young
readers with FSG/Macmillan. Her first book, THE MIRACULOUS, was a Bank Street
Best Children's Book of 2019, an Amazon Best Book of 2019, and was called
"layered, engaging, and emotionally true" in a Kirkus starred review.
Her second book, QUINTESSENCE, releases on July 28th. The book was featured in OwlCrate Jr.’s
subscription box and was described as “a fanciful adventure with a rich
emotional core and a fairy tale” by Publishers Weekly. Her third book, THE
ADVENTURE IS NOW, is scheduled for publication in May 2021. Redman currently
lives in Florida with her husband, two young children, an old cat named
SoulPie, and a fish named Annie.
Giveaway
Details:
3
winners will receive a finished copy of QUINTESSENCE, US Only.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
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7/27/2020
|
Review
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7/27/2020
|
Interview
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7/28/2020
|
Review
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7/28/2020
|
Review
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7/29/2020
|
Review
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7/29/2020
|
Review
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7/30/2020
|
Review
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7/30/2020
|
Review
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7/31/2020
|
Review
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7/31/2020
|
Review
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Week Two:
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8/3/2020
|
Review
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8/3/2020
|
Review
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8/4/2020
|
Review
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8/4/2020
|
Excerpt
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8/5/2020
|
Review
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8/5/2020
|
Review
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8/6/2020
|
Review
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8/6/2020
|
Interview
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8/7/2020
|
Review
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8/7/2020
|
Excerpt
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