Sun. December 1, 2024
Erin Entrada Kelly is a Newbery Award-winning author born in Louisiana and now living in Delaware. Her debut novel, Blackbird Fly, received widespread acclaim as a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, ALSC Notable Book, and the recipient of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor. Kelly’s books explore themes of identity, friendship, and resilience. In the following Q&A, she discusses her process, priorities, and her upcoming nonfiction debut, At Last She Stood.
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Since the publication of your debut novel Blackbird Fly in 2015, you’ve published seven acclaimed novels for middle grade readers, as well as shorter books about Marisol Rainey and Felix Powell that you illustrated yourself. What inspired you to turn to nonfiction?
I’ve been a fan of nonfiction for a long time. I used to review nonfiction for the Library Journal. I listen to nonfiction on audio all the time. I read nonfiction when I’m working on a novel to give my brain a break from make-believe. It felt like a natural progression and for me, that’s what it’s all about – progression. As a writer, I want to feel challenged with every book, every project, every concept. Narrative nonfiction felt like an obvious place to push myself. I work best when I’m outside of my comfort zone, no matter how much it scares me or makes me second-guess myself.
Joey Guerrero’s story is extraordinary, and it can be argued that she truly changed history. But like the stories of so many heroic women it’s largely unknown. When and how did you first learn about Joey Guerrero and why did her story resonate with you?
One afternoon I was roaming through Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and I saw a book on display called Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice by Pam Fessler, a book about the Carville leprosarium, now known as the National Hansen’s Disease Museum. It caught my eye because I was raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, just two hours west of Carville. I also read a lot of nonfiction about infectious diseases. It’s one of my many interests. (For anyone who shares such an interest, Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator by Timothy C. Winegard; Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson; The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett; and Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus by David Quammen are favorites of mine.)
That night, I settled in bed and started reading. Eventually I reached a brief passage about a Filipino woman named Joey Guerrero who was a patient at Carville. I sat up in bed and immediately googled her. There were so many things about Joey that resonated with me: the fact that she lived in Louisiana, so close to my hometown; our shared ethnicity; her devotion to her faith, which reminded me of my mother; her bravery. There are so many things to admire about Joey. I couldn’t imagine working as a spy, hiding messages in my hair or my shoes, taping maps to my back, trying to trick the guards. I couldn’t imagine trudging through the jungle on foot, especially when I’m already suffering so much from illness. I couldn’t imagine walking through gunfire or closing the eyes of the dead or digging graves. And I certainly couldn’t imagine embracing all this hardship with the belief that it’s for a greater purpose.
The thing that amazes me most about people like Joey is how they put themselves in harm’s way voluntarily for a greater purpose. Even if they’re afraid. Even if they might be killed. Even if the repercussions may be severe. That’s true courage. True bravery.
How did you approach the research for At Last She Stood? What were the rewards and frustrations? Did you discover anything that surprised you?
I started with the National Hansen’s Disease Museum. The director, Elizabeth Schexnyder, was incredibly helpful and gracious and gave me access to all their records. I read every book and article I could find that mentioned Joey Guerrero. I researched World War II, of course, and spent hours and hours sifting through the National Archives. I reached out to librarians in the States and the Philippines. I spoke to one of Joey’s distant family members. I read every article Joey wrote for The Star, which was the Carville leprosarium newspaper.
It was simultaneously rewarding and frustrating to draft this book. When all was said and done, I had an incomplete puzzle with important pieces missing. It was challenging to snap it all together and paint a full picture. I hope I’ve accomplished that.
One thing that surprised me was the treatment of people with leprosy throughout history. I was aware that people with leprosy had been deeply mistreated through the ages – stoned by their villages; forced to ring bells when they walked down the street; clothed in veils and robes; taken away from their families and forced into quarantine – but I didn’t realize that they were also buried alive, executed en masse, and locked in cabins until they starved to death.
Joey Guerrero’s life and work seems to have had three distinct periods, which is how you’ve organized your book: her life and work as spy and member of the resistance in the Philippines during World War II; her years fighting Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy) and advocating for others suffering from the disease in leprosariums both in the Philippines and in Carville, Louisiana; and the years after she was cured which she spent exploring, educating herself, and helping others despite the discrimination she faced. What do you hope resonates with young readers about Joey’s life, values, and character?
Joey’s life has so many chapters. Some young readers will be interested in her work as a spy. Others will be intrigued by her life in forced quarantine and her rebellious spirit when she lived at Carville. Still others may find her life after Carville more interesting, as she fought for American citizenship, faced racism, and created a new identity. My greatest hope is that readers will resonate with one or all of these elements of Joey in one way or another, whether it’s her deeply rooted faith, her fearlessness, or her resilience.
Joey Guerrero is a Filipino hero and an American hero and her exploits in the Pacific Theatre in WWII illuminate key moments in history. What are some of the themes of the book and what how would you approach sharing the book with students?
World War II can be a befuddling area of study for young people, because it feels like there were separate wars happening at once – the terror of Nazi Germany, imperialism in the Pacific, and the fascist campaign in Italy – and it’s not always clear how these things are connected. But they’re all intertwined. There’s a reason World War II unfolded the way it did, and there’s a reason we study it so carefully. “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it” is a phrase that’s been attributed to numerous historical figures, but no matter who said it, I believe it to be true.
In my view, the themes of the book are faith, hope, bravery, self-sacrifice, the dangers of fascism, the evils of imperialism, and the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I have a lot of respect for the underground and guerilla movement of the Philippines and the incredibly important role they played in their fight for freedom.
Ultimately, though, I want readers to take from it what they will.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erin Entrada Kelly has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including the 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe; a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space; the 2023 NAIBA Book of the Year Award for Those Kids From Fawn Creek; 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten Girls; and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award for Blackbird Fly, among many other honors. In 2024,The First State of Being was long-listed for the National Book Award.
She is also the author and illustrator of Marisol Rainey and Felix Powell, standalone stories for younger readers.
Before becoming a children's author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor in her home state of Louisiana. She received numerous awards from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing. She has published more than thirty short stories and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Philippines Free Press Award for Short Fiction.
Erin has a bachelor's degree in women's studies and liberal arts from McNeese State University and an MFA in fiction from Rosemont College. She lives in Delaware and teaches in the MFAC program at Hamline University.
Find her at www.erinentradakelly.com.
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