JEN: Colby and I are so excited that we get to talk to each
other again about The Pull of Gravity but even moooore excited this week
because Gae Polisner herself is joining us!
COLBY:
OMG! I can’t believe Nerdy Winning author, Gae Polisner, is joining us. This is
crazy awesome.
JEN: Hi, Gae!
GAE: Ta da!!!! (Too much?)
I’m really excited to be here. I’ve been reading your posts like
a fan, then realizing you’re talking about my book... quick funny story. Any
time I have to try to do anything to promote my book lately, my mother says,
“Did you tell them you won a Nerdy?!” True story.
JEN: That is so cool! Moms are awesome. And Nerdies are awesome.
I think it is definitely something you should be proud of. The Pull of Gravity
is a great book.
COLBY:
I think Gae gave the Nerdies some clout. I love that you bought a shirt. :)
GAE: And a movin’ mug. (I think the Nerdies gave ME some clout!
Power to the Nerdies. And moms are awesome, Jen.
JEN: I have a Nerdy Book Club sticker that I put on my water
bottle. I love it! So far, Colby and I have talked about the relationship Nick
has with Scooter and then the relationship he has with Jaycee. I think it’s
time we talk about the relationship that Nick has with his dad. I’m actually
kind of confused by the dad so I’m excited we get to talk to Gae about
this...maybe she can answer some of my questions or wonderings.
GAE: Jen, I hate to say it, but I’m kinda happy you were
confused about the dad. In some regard, that’s his purpose in the book. At
least in my mind. I’m kind of fascinated as a parent myself about how our kids
only see us one way and as one thing. They don’t see us as individuals with our
own longings, disappointments and problems. But we are. Hopefully, our
parenting rises above... but not always. And I kind of wanted to explore that.
And what the impact is. Does that make any sense? The dad is my most
complicated character.
JEN: It totally makes sense...but I’m glad you clarified for me.
Sometimes I wonder if authors are trying to mess with my head. When I read
Laurel Snyder’s Bigger Than a Breadbox I was so appalled by the mother
in that book. She is so selfish and she really has enough troubles that she
just can’t be there for her kids, especially her daughter. After I had my own
kids, my perspective on books totally changed. There are two other books that I
think of right away: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban and The
First Part Last by Angela Johnson. Both of those really struck me because
the parents are so important in those books, and in The First Part Last,
especially, the parent is a young man raising a daughter all on his own. It
made me realize how important I am as a parent. I totally love that through
books I can experience how a kid feels when their own parent isn’t being the
best parent because it helps me grow as a parent.
COLBY: If I lost my job as a teacher, I
could totally see myself ending up like Nick’s dad. It would be so hard to lose
your identity like he did. I’m not sure if I would gain 100 pounds or lose 100
pounds, but it would not be pretty.
I often
have to force myself when I’m reading to think about the intended audience. So
often as I read MG and YA I think about the book from the perspective of a 30
year old dude (me), instead of the kid the book was written for. While I was
reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio I kept wanting her to tell a section of
the book from one of the boy’s parents perspective, but she didn’t. I was sad,
but looking back, I don’t think kids needed to see that perspective.
GAE: I love when I’m Skyping with or visiting classes and we
talk about the Dad. Inevitably, someone will bring up how mad they are at the
dad and then another kid will chime in that he or she was mad, but kind of
understood. It’s actually that thought process that I’m hoping to bring to the
read... that adults can make bad choices but that doesn’t necessarily make them
bad people, and it especially doesn’t affect or change the fact that they’re
still trying to do their best as parents. And to some extent, I want that teen
reader to consider also taking some responsibility to be mature and listen and
understand. Which Nick doesn’t do. And he pays the price by having things
unfold in a more difficult way. Yes?
JEN: WAIT! I have to clarify something before we go on...so at
the beginning of the book I totally get that his dad is upset and I can forgive
him for leaving, especially because he does try to write and communicate with
Nick. BUT am I wrong to infer that he’s totally sneaking off to be with
Scooter’s mom? Because after that I can only think of him as a really big (use
your imagnation). I know people make mistakes but some things are just wrong. I
don’t see that as being Nick’s fault...
GAE: First of all, nothing is NIck’s fault, but there is some
element of him putting his head in the sand. Second of all, the only thing we
completely know is that MaeLynn is alone, dealing with the death of her son,
and Nick’s father goes to help her. Whatever else may be going on, one can’t
fault the Father for helping her. As for sneaking, we don’t know WHAT Nick’s
mom knows, do we? I can tell you this. As a person married for 18 (!!) years,
there are lots of things that happen between my husband and I that I would go
out of my way not to make my kids privy to. Having said all that, I am not
defending the dad for anything with MaeLynn, I am just suggesting that it’s
possible you have made some assumptions. And I love that! I love that each
reader will make their own assumptions and bring their own ideas and
perspectives to their read. But we all have varying views on such things. I
know the kids from divorced parents, seem to give Nick’s dad a little more
leeway. Coincidence?
COLBY:
When I first read the part with Nick’s dad, I totally made all those
assumptions. I have to ask: Gae, do you know what really happened with Nick’s
dad?
GAE: I love when people ask me that question as if they are real
people. :) (yes, I know what I think happened with MaeLynn and Nick’s dad. And,
let’s just say, it wouldn’t make Jen happy. And we’d have to keep going back to
clean up her language ;))
JEN: I have to remind myself that authors know everything that
happened but only want us to know so much. It would have been hard for me as an
author to be purposefully vague about the dad’s story. I think that I noticed
most about Nick’s relationship with his dad is that it made his good
relationships with Scooter and Jaycee and even with his brother stronger. I
think he realized that he could trust Jaycee and that his brother would be
there even more for him and that he would have them even while dealing with his
dad.
GAE: First, I just want to say that it’s so cool to even hear
you (and others) angry about the Dad because it means I wrote it well enough to
elicit real emotion and that’s ,first and foremost,,what one hopes to be able
to do. Secondly, I don’t think that I was trying to be purposefully vague, so
much as I didn’t think it much mattered whether the Dad was just emotionally
attached (more? in love) with MaeLynn versus sleeping with her or whatever. The
issue for me was that, whatever was going on, Nick’s parents marriage was in
trouble. That was the only point truly relevant to Nick. Once our parents’
marriages are in trouble, it doesn’t really matter why or how much.
JEN: I guess I thought you were being purposeful in not telling
his whole side of the story because as readers we really have to get what Nick
sees of the story.
We’ve only just gotten started in discussing Nick’s parents in The
Pull of Gravity and we have much more to share on the topic, but we’ll take
a break here to let you share your thoughts on the character of Nick’s dad (or
you can vent or rant, too). Thanks for joining us, Gae! We look forward to
continuing this conversation next week!
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