Andrew Clements
(1949- )
Life:
Andrew Clements is a passionate advocate for books and reading. Clements attributes his interest to his parents, who were avid readers who shared their passion for books with their children, and to an elementary school librarian who “kept [him] well-stocked” in books:
On his first trip to the school library, Clements chose a thick book on myths. The next day he asked his teacher if he could take it back to the library. “’Is it too hard, dear?’ she asked sympathetically,” Clements recalled. The teacher’s eyebrows shot up when Clements informed her that it was not the difficulty of the book that was the problem. He had already finished it and wanted more. “That event created for me an open invitation to head to the library just about any old time I wanted to. And the librarian was a gem.”
“I will always love that librarian at my elementary school, because she made me feel like I was the owner of every book. That’s one of the greatest things about reading a book – read it, and you own it forever.” (SATA 104:23)
His senior English teacher at Springfield (IL) High School first suggested to him that he could be a writer when she praised a poem he had written (andrewclements.com). After majoring in English at Northwestern, Clements earned a master’s degree in education and taught for seven years in both grade school and high school. After that experience, he moved to New York and got into children’s publishing as an editor charged with acquisition; he also began translating and adapting foreign picture books. Clements “held just about every publishing job possible before actually writing a book” (childrenslit.com):
As a sales manager, I got to work with a terrific crew of salespeople who quickly taught me about the publishing business. As editorial director, I got to work with wonderfully talented authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators. (andrewclements.com)
It wasn’t until he was 35 that he began to write his own books.
Most of his work to date has been picture books, including books written for school reading programs and adaptations from a children’s television show, “Real Monsters.” Frindle was his first book for middle-grade readers, and it allowed him to become a full-time writer; it has been enormously successful, having been translated into several foreign languages and winning numerous awards. He has followed up with several more books for older children, including The Landry News (about an elementary school newspaper) and The School Story; he has also published one YA novel, Things Not Seen. Most of his chapter books are school stories, which he defines as “essentially books about kids and teachers revolving somehow around the school situation”; the situations in these stories are frequently “unusual, but . . . believable” (“Interview”).
The School Story has less “action” than many books for children, but deals with a topic that might be of interest to many young readers – how a book is made (see also Aliki’s picture book on the technical aspects of this topic). This breaks down into how we tell a story – e.g., Zoe asks Natalie early on about her writing process:
“‘. . . you are going to finish it, right? Do you know the whole story already – like all the way to the end?’
“Natalie said, ‘Not all the way to the end . . . but almost. I know how the end feels, but not exactly what happens – at least, not yet.” (4)
Later, the narrative makes clear that even a very good story like The Cheater isn’t finished once the manuscript is done. Natalie despairs when she sees all the comments and corrections on her manuscript, but Ms. Clayton is able to point out that she’s being told “how to make a good book into a great book” (164) – moral: Revision is always a good idea, even when the original text is pretty good. A second aspect of how a book is created is the publishing process (below). For many readers, this might not be the most thrilling subject – but for others, the question of how something they hold in their hands might have come to be is compelling.
One of the things that Clements does in this book is to use earlier books in various contexts – thus reinforcing the general idea of reading as a part of the girls’ world. This is accomplished through textual references:
o p. 6 – Dear Mr. Henshaw (Beverly Cleary)
o p. 10 – The Sailor Dog (Margaret Wise Brown – whom he cites as one of his favorite writers); The Grouchy Ladybug (Eric Carle – whom he edited); “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” (Hans Christian Andersen); Raggedy Ann (Johnyy Gruele); “Hansel and Gretel” (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm)
o pp. 16, 17, 25, 26, 27, 28 - Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) The Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs and Ham
o p. 28 – Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
o p. 43 – James and the Giant Peach (Roald Dahl)
Through chapter titles:
o Ch. 2: “A Portrait of the Author as a Young Girl” (Joyce, Portrait of the Author as a Young Man; Thomas, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog)
o Ch. 8: “A Portrait of the Bulldog as a Young Girl”
Through illustrations:
o p. 11 Author portraits – Hans Christian Andersen, Margaret Wise Brown, Beatrix Potter, L. Frank Baum – and Natalie Nelson, identifying her as an author.
o p. 26 Dr. Seuss – parallels the earlier author poets, establishes continuity.
o p. 76 Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll (Charles L. Dodgson)); George Sand (Lucile Dupin)
o Publishing and the Adult World
The process by which Natalie’s book proceeds from manuscript to published book is accurately told, although the story itself is essentially fantasy – as one reviewer noted, “Aspiring young writers will be particularly interested, but should understand that today's demanding market isn't likely to find a twelve-year-old to be professional enough to publish.” (childrenslit.com) However, there have been cases of young writers achieving professional publication – most recently with the phenomenal success of Christopher Paolini (Eragon), who wrote a national best-seller while still a teenager, and the more modest success of “Zizou Corder” (Lion Boy), a collaborative pseudonym for a mother and daughter team. The publication of the book is also remarkably fast – it is unlikely, though again not impossible, that a book received in the spring would go through all the stages and be published in the summer catalog, as Hannah suggests (119) and as in fact comes to pass.
Familiarization with the publishing process begins with Natalie’s mother describing to her the editorial meeting, where the publishing house establishes its interests (“more adventure books, more series books, and more school stories” 6), which pretty much correspond to the priorities of many real publishers. Natalie has also been to the publishing office and starts with a pretty good idea of how difficult it will be to get published – she describes the slush pile to Zoe (14) and later notes that there are more than 5,000 new children’s books published each year, so even getting a book published need not translate into fame and fortune (173). While she initially romanticized the publishing office, by the time the book begins she has already concluded that “A publishing company was a pretty boring place.” (22)
Zoe introduces the idea of the pseudonym, and distinguishes between an outright lie and author’s choice of names. The pseudonym idea comes back later in the creation of their literary agency, and both girls adopt different personae when they are “being” their pseudonym – how does this play-acting connect to what one does in writing a book?
Natalie in her mom’s office learns about the submission process and the slush pile (37) – conclusion: it is really hard to gain entrée into the publishing world. This is ameliorated if one has an agent (40), so that part of the scheme must follow. So it goes, when Zoe learns about agents from her father (50).
Because the publication and distribution of a book requires (at least for the present) the resources of a publishing company, The School Story necessarily involves greater interaction with the adult world of work than is usual for children’s books, which typically work to separate children from adults to allow the child protagonists greater autonomy. To familiarize the child reader with this world, Clements employs several techniques: the detailed inventory or list of objects in a room, as in Natalie’s visit to her mother’s office (23-24); similar detail in describing the contract and the concept of royalties (144-45); parallels between work and school as demonstrated in the relationship between Letha and Hannah (below); little details of explanation, as when Hannah tells Natalie about the slush pile (37) or when the narrator explains what a “blind copy” is (139).
Adult concerns also come into play in the depiction of Laura Clayton, the girls’ teacher:
Nothing – not her own years in New York’s best private schools, not her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College, not her master’s degree from Bank Street College, not even her student teaching – nothing had prepared her for the daily grind of classroom teaching. . .
The Deary School emphasized writing, and Laura Clayton agreed wholeheartedly. The curriculum required at least three writing assignments per week. Again, Ms. Clayton agreed. Writing was a vital skill. But she taught five English classes a day to grades five through eight. Even though Ms. Clayton’s average class size was only thirteen students, if she gave a simple, one-paragraph writing assignment to each kid, that meant at least four hours of reading and commenting and evaluating for her.
A group of Laura’s friends from Barnard College still lived in the city, and they couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t go out to clubs and shows with them on weeknights anymore. They had jobs at places like banks and ad agencies, department stores and publishing companies – one of her friends even worked at the United Nations. They had jobs where a person could slide by on four hours of sleep once in a while. Ms. Clayton had tried teaching five English classes on four hours of sleep once or twice. Now she knew better. (63-64)
This is an extraordinary amount of information about the chore of teaching, even for dedicated teachers. How likely are young readers to have thought about school from the teacher’s point of view? Why does Clements include this discussion? (Note that relatively few readers will come from a school like Deary – by far the vast majority will come from schools where class sizes are much larger, and writing assignments much less frequent.) Is this an example of adult concerns inappropriately intruding on a children’s book, or is it connected to other specific concerns of this novel?
It is possible that Ms. Clayton’s workload is a factor in her involvement with the children’s publishing venture. Because she is so laden with teaching responsibilities, she cannot play a central role in their plan – she becomes a secondary actor, someone who performs specific, necessary functions at the behest of the kids. Even the funding for the office comes from Zoe (82), and Zoe is able to manipulate Ms. Clayton to continue assisting them even when she has misgivings:
Ms. Clayton blushed. Zoe had cut off every possible escape. If she backed out now, she would brand herself a coward. And she was not a coward. (88)
This is role reversal from the real world, where adults make active decisions and kids are typically under their control for much of the time at least until they reach their mid-teens (“When you get parents involved, they take over” – Zoe 87).
Of course, Ms. Clayton also provides an important supportive function as the first adult to read Natalie’s book – and as a teacher of English/language arts to sixth graders, she is in a position to compare it to other children’s books, so her opinion has value. While the narrative continues to allow the children to be the active agents in the scheme, Ms. Clayton’s involvement also makes the situation more plausible and can provide reassurance – it certainly does for Natalie (“Now that a grown-up was involved, Natalie felt better about everything.” 80) – and her action in protecting Zoe’s investment both demonstrates the adult’s confidence in the children’s project and the continuing role of adults in protecting kids.
We also get insight into Natalie’s mother’s feelings about her work – e.g., she tells Natalie “‘I think finding a new writer is even more fun than working with someone who’s already great. It’s like . . . it’s like finding a new island out in the middle of the ocean.’” (120)
o Relationships
The book is structured around several important relationships – most importantly, that between Natalie and Zoe, but also the relationship between Natalie and her mother, between the two girls and their teacher, Ms. Clayton, and the relationship between Hannah Nelson and her boss, Letha Springfield.
Natalie and Zoe The girls are so close that they do not need to tell each other everything; much is understood because of their friendship. Natalie writes in part to try to cope with her family situation – her father’s death in a car crash (10) is intimately connected with reading in her head – she moves some of her favorite books to the back of the closet since he is no longer there to read them. It is her dad who taught her how to cope in the city, while they still lived in Manhattan (19). Zoe recognizes the importance of the girl’s father in The Cheater, and thus brings this issue into the novel’s consciousness (54 – and “The book was like a good-bye poem from Natalie to her father.” 55); this is further substantiated later when Hannah Nelson talks about the relationship between the girl and her father, even before she knows Natalie is the author.
Publication of the book is also secondary to the girls’ working together – again made explicit by Clements:
And in that instant Natalie saw what mattered. It wasn’t whether the book got published or not. It wasn’t whether Zoe was absolutely crazy – which she was. The important thing was Zoe herself, her friend. (59-60)
Natalie and Hannah Nelson Hannah and Natalie spend more time together than usually happens with working parents and children, because Natalie rides into the city with her mother every day to go to school. This is also one of the mechanisms by which Natalie naturally becomes familiar with the publishing company – she can hardly ride home to New Jersey alone, so she has to go to her mom’s office after school every day. Hannah doesn’t say a lot about her feelings, but she worries about Natalie:
. . . Hannah wished she hadn’t said anything to Natalie about the book. Because the strongest section of the book was the part about this girl and her dad.
Hannah worried about Natalie. Ever since she lost her dad, Natalie had kept much more to herself. She seemed happy enough, and she didn’t seem to need to talk about not having a dad, but maybe that was the problem. (111)
Natalie and her mother seem to have difficulty expressing their emotional states to one another – perhaps they are being mutually protective, reluctant to bring up painful memories. The manuscript, which is explicitly presented as a way for Natalie to explore her feelings about her father, is also a way to bring her closer to her mother: “during the editing process the author and the editor came to respect each other’s ideas and insights more and more.” (168) Look at the interaction between the two when Hannah finally learns that Natalie is “Cassandra Day” (186-187). At a more general level, this parallels the process of growing up, as the parent and child come to see each other more as co-equal individuals.
Natalie, Zoe, and Ms. Clayton
Hannah and Letha Springfield One way that Clements makes the adult world of publishing accessible to children is by showing work relationships as a parallel to familiar school issues. Letha is the quintessential bully, operating by the strength of her will and her position within the company to force others to comply with her desires – in particular, she intimidates Hannah Nelson at every turn and takes the promising manuscript away from her, thus depriving Hannah of the chance to develop her own career. (“. . . everybody in the New York publishing world knew about Letha Springfield.” 129) And just as often happens in schools, the only recourse is to call in the “principal” – Letha’s boss, Tom Morton. Natalie expects her mother to react as most children would to a bully, by hating her, but Hannah says:
“No, I don’t hate her. . . . I just don’t understand her, that’s all. It seems like it would be so easy for her to ease up a little. She’s got all this talent, she looks great, she makes good money, and she really is an amazing editor. I guess she just has some other issues that make her feel like she has to keep grabbing more and more for herself. In a way I feel sorry for her.” (132)
Even when Hannah gets to work with Natalie’s manuscript afterward, thanks to the intervention of Letha’s boss, Letha – like any playground bully – finds ways to take her revenge: “Letha had been piling extra work on her ever since the day she’d been appointed as Cassandra Day’s editor.” (116) But – again like bullies in school – when Hannah ceases being afraid of her, Letha ceases to have power over her (177).
o Chapter Books
. . . a picture book is a very small container. A chapter book is a little larger container. It will give you a little more time to explain things, to expand on the characters, to deal with a more complex set of relationships. You’re writing chapter books typically for an older kid, and older kids are ready to think more deeply about the expanded relationship that you have the space in a chapter book to explore. (“Interview”)
o Pictures
Facing p. 1: Zoe in library, Natalie watching through window in door. Very book-intensive environment.
p. 8: School Id for Natalie – invokes school environment, written word.
p. 23: Hannah Nelson’s work ID – parallels school and work environment, helps familiarize new place to kidreaders. Note that Letha Springfield’s jealousy and her actions mirror the typical school environment of bullies, etc.
p. 36: Hannah’s office – again lots of books.
p. 42: Zoe’s school ID.
pp. 96-97: four small pictures deployed around the page convey the sense of the telephone conversation with three parties – Hannah and “Zee Zee,” with “Cassandra” listening in.
p. 126: Letha stands solidly, arms akimbo, a scowl on her face; Hannah has an unhappy expression in the background. They are seen through the window, with birds in each corner providing a hint of a happier existence, perhaps.
A. Waller
Hastings
Professor of English
Northern State
University
Aberdeen, SD 57401
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Page last updated October 16, 2005