• Home
  • Style Guides
  • Blog
  • Author Index
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
READING STYLE GUIDE

It Started with a Ball...

7/3/2017

0 Comments

 

Rooting for Rafael Rosales by Kurtis Scaletta

Picture
The cover intrigued me. I loved the soft aqua background and my eye was instantly drawn to the faces of the two children. I admit that initially I was puzzled by the inclusion of so much plant and animal life. Exactly what was the story about? The cover had me wondering...
As I begin reading I realized that the cover introduces the complex nature of a story told in the voices of two very different people born into distinct and very dissimilar cultures. Rafael is a boy from the Dominican Republic who discovers his life's passion in street games of baseball. Maya's sweet sensibility rests in nurturing the Minnesota prairie, including bees that pollinate her tender plants.
Scaletta finds a thread which connects individuals who appear to have nothing in common. Meet Rafael and Maya: kids who dare to dream, to overcome disappointment, and to make a way for the impossible to seem possible.

Mr. Scaletta, I have a Question 
Well, actually I have several questions

Picture
During and after reading Rooting for Rafael Rosales, there were several questions floating around in my head about the book and its development. Albert Whitman & Company was kind enough to put me in touch with author Kurtis Scaletta. He graciously replied to my query, responding with some interesting observations about the process of creating such an intricate story. He also included a few comments about writing and the arts community in Minnesota. 
Your book covers a lot of territory: from impoverished neighborhoods in the Dominican Republic to middle class privilege in Minneapolis.  It also shifts between the present and the past. How did you plan the composition of your book? Did you use some type of visual organizer?
Yep, my most important project management tool is a good ol’ calendar. I write down what happens each day for a character over the span of a story. In this case I also needed to include a real baseball schedule for the teams Rafael is playing on. I feel it adds verisimilitude if I’m working from a real schedule.
This was more complicated for Rafael’s half of the story because it takes place over years, but I had to think about the DR baseball season, major holidays, school year, and even the sugar season. And I had to think about his age and where a boy would be in the process, coming up as a baseball player.
In terms of plot I use a skeletal outline for each character, showing their setbacks and successes. It is a zigzag, not an arc… ups and downs.

How did Rafael and Maya develop? Was each character’s story initially created separately or did they evolve together during the writing process?
I went back and forth between the two as I wrote, but was usually immersed in one or the other. I knew from the start it was a dual narrative, and where they would first intersect, but bringing them back together in an interesting way took some creativity.

I was intrigued with the first sentence in your acknowledgments: “It is audacious to write outside one’s own cultural experience.”  I have listened to several authors speak on this topic and they mentioned that in addition to the extensive research  that is required when writing about other cultures,  the “devil is in the details.” Each noted specific changes that were made to the manuscript after it was read and vetted by those with first-hand knowledge of the culture.  Were there elements which required modifying after others read drafts of your book? 
Yes, I got feedback from several readers from the DR and am very grateful for their input. 
One of the early “oops” moments was that I kept having Rafael’s family sitting down for supper at the end of the day, before being reminded that the big meal of the day in the D.R. is lunch and that was when they would have their family talks.
Another change was, it is very easy for North Americans to fall back on nuclear family as the basic unit for writing about family, and that’s not true for most of the world… the DR has a much more expansive idea of family, where uncles and aunts and grandparents and cousins are part of your daily life. It’s hard to manage a large cast of characters, but realizing that helped me shape the character of Rafael’s family and contrast him more with his friends.

I notice that you infuse the text with Spanish words and phrases, often in italics, which are not translated into English. What influenced your decision to include Spanish words and phrases? 
I wanted a sprinkling of Spanish to add color and remind readers that these characters are actually not speaking English; I especially used words that show a little slang and baseball terminology. That was a lot of fun to do. I spent pretty much the whole time I was writing it actively learning Spanish.

Sideline Observation: There seems to be an abundance of children’s authors living in Minnesota. Is there something in the water? Do the long winters provide ample writing time?  Is it the state’s vibrant literary community? What is it about Minnesota?
It’s a great state to be a writer in any genre, and I think it’s also a great state to be a visual artist, filmmaker, musician, actor… anyone connected to the arts. There’s a lot of support for the arts here, from the community and from the state government. I want to mention that specifically because the Minnesota State Arts Board helped fund the writing of this book, through an artist initiative grant.
But it’s also a great culture for the arts, and I think it’s one where people lift each other up and support each other. We turn out for each other’s events, talk up each other’s books, read each other’s drafts… it’s a wonderful community and I don’t think I’d have done much without them.
Learning more about the creation of Rooting for Rafael Rosales (Dontcha love all that alliteration?) enriched my appreciation for this fascinating glimpse into the lives of two very different individuals and the surprising way that their lives intersect. Great story of family, culture, hope, and the things that connect us.
Thank you Kurtis
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author/Illustrator Index
    Get the latest updates delivered directly to you inbox:

    powered by TinyLetter

    Category

    All
    Activity Books
    Adventure
    Alphabet Books
    Animals
    Anthology
    Art
    Asian
    Audiobook
    Author-interview
    Author-profile
    Awards
    Bilingual
    Biography
    Board Books
    Book Awards
    Book-club
    Book Stores
    Book Trailers
    Classroom Connections
    Comics
    Coming Of Age
    Cosplay
    Creativity
    Diversity
    Early Readers
    Fairy Tale
    Family
    Fantasy
    Food
    Friendship
    Girls
    Grahic Novel
    Halloween
    Historical Fiction
    Horror
    Humor
    Immigration
    Informational Books
    Latinx
    LGBTQ
    Library Activities
    Literacy
    Magical Realism
    Maker
    Math
    Memoir
    Middle Grade
    Music
    Mystery
    Mythology
    Nonfiction
    Own Voices
    Picture Book
    Poetry
    Prose-and-comic
    Read Aloud
    Reading
    Reading Writing Connection
    Realistic Fiction
    Romance
    Self Acceptance
    Series
    Social Issues
    Sports
    STEM
    Storytelling
    Texas Connection
    The Margin Project
    Wordless
    YA Lit

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Barbara Moon

    I like talking about books and  interesting ideas. I like thinking about how books affect my life. Not particularly interested in giving out stars or in rating books. 

    Audio Publishers Association
    2013, - present  Audies judge 
    American Library Association Book Awards and Lists 
    ​2017 YALSA Award Nominating Committee
    2016 Excellence in Nonfiction 
    2014 Margaret Edwards Award
    2012 Odyssey Awards.  
    2009, 2010, 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

    Professional Reader
    Picture
    Frequently Auto-Approved

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.