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NEPM brings you interviews with New England authors of books young people may enjoy.

East Longmeadow, Mass., Author Writes A Kids' Book About A Quirky Road Trip

Our back-to-school-book series continues with "The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle." This middle grade book is about a 12-year-old girl's quest to make a friend. But it's not quite as simple as that. 

The book, written by East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, author Christina Uss, begins where the girl was raised —  the Mostly Silent Monastery.

Christina Uss, author: I feel like that wasn't even my idea. That idea was waiting for someone to think of it. Because I knew, the book began with the title — I knew it was called "The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle," and I thought, All right, she's going to ride her bike across the country.

And I thought, Okay, is she running away from something or towards something? Maybe both. And I thought that I wanted her to to have a happy home life. I wanted her to be happy where she is.

And I thought, Oh, if she's got parents looking out for her, they're going to be terrified that she's taken off on her bike. I want her to be somewhere that's quiet. That respects her quietness.

And somehow out of nowhere, there came the Mostly Silent Monastery. And I credit a little bit — I'd gone to Kripalu Center for Yoga in the Berkshires. They have an option where you can wear a tag that says "In Loving Silence" and people will know that you love them, but you're not going to speak with them. And I thought, What if she's somewhere like that?

But I did think, Oh, I can't write a book where people don't speak. No one will want to read it. So they need to have some words.

Carrie Healy, NEPR: Eight sacred words, and one of them is sandwich.

One of them is sandwich. Sandwich is the best word!

Could you read a passage, maybe a third of the way through the book?  It uses one of the eight words.

Bicycle thought about it. "I remember what the Top Monk once told me: 'Always finish what you start.' At least, I think that's what he told me. He said 'Sandwich,' but I'm pretty sure that's what he meant. [...]"

I thought that was beautiful.

Thank you. And again, sometimes with these portions of the book that I really love, I almost feel like I didn't write them. They sort of were just waiting to be written, for someone to notice there was a character named the Top Monk, who only speaks one word.

Tell me a little bit about what makes bicycles so near and dear to your heart?

I can look back to the one point that changed my life and led to the writing of this book. [I was] overhearing someone else talking about taking a bicycle trip across the United States. I was just walking past them and they said, "I rode my bike across the country," and a voice in my head [that] I've never heard before or since said, "Christina, you are going to do that."

I don't think I even owned a bicycle at that time — I was in graduate school. And I just turned back around and said, "Tell me about that!"

And the person explained it was a fundraising ride for Habitat for Humanity. Every year they'd get a group of college students to ride from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. And I just said, "All right, I'm going to sign up for that. I'm going to fundraise. I'm going to do that."

I told my parents and they said, "Have you lost your mind? You're the girl who never wants to go anywhere. You want to stay home and read. You don't have a bicycle. You're not particularly fit or interested in exercise of any kind."

And I said, "You know, I've never seen these places. It sounds like fun!"

So I rode my bike across the country and I kept a journal of the ups and downs, and especially those first three days where I thought, What have I done? I need to quit. Everything hurts. I'm slow. This is ridiculous.

And my parents said, "Well, you've made it this far. You've made it 50 miles. Maybe you can make another 50."

I called them. I said, "I think I need to come home."

After I finished that trip, there was no looking back. I started writing for newspapers and magazines about bicycling. I became an adventure tour guide, taking people on bicycle adventures all over different parts of the United States.

You clearly had the stories of your life and interesting creative ideas. But how did this turn into a book?

All I had plotted out was, once I knew the title — that my husband said, "Someday you're going to write a book with a title like this."

And I said, "Oh! 'The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle.' Yes! That book needs to be written. And it's about a girl who's very quiet and rides her bike across the United States."

And I felt like once I knew where she was coming and going, and what her motivation was, I would just write one scene at a time, and sort of ask new characters as they came in, like, "Oh, what happens next?"

For example, there's a point where it looks like she's lost her bike and she is bike-less. And I said to her, like, "Oh, my gosh, I didn't see that coming. What are we going to do now?"

And she said, "Well, you better get me another bicycle because I'm not giving up!"

And I said, "Well, thank you. Yes, you're absolutely right. That's what we're doing!" 

That would've been a short story if  you had given up there.

She got there and that was it! And I just feel like they write themselves.

Carrie Healy hosts the local broadcast of "Morning Edition" at NEPM. She also hosts the station’s weekly government and politics segment “Beacon Hill In 5” for broadcast radio and podcast syndication.
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