I think it definitely is! I was middle-grade age when I realized I was queer (though it took me a lot longer to come out) and I think, thankfully, kids are getting more and more empowered to have those thoughts and questions about themselves at an earlier age. Do you think the industry is changing enough that we might start to see more of it? And I can’t resist asking if you have any book recs? Something else amazing about your book is that Hazel knows she has crushes on girls, and I think queer rep in middle grade is so important. I’ve always said that Hazel is like me, but cooler and more sure of herself, so I guess it makes sense that she figured all of that out before me!Ĥ. The funny thing is, I think more of the friendships were inspired by experiences I had long after middle school, once I was able to do the same thing. Hazel’s Journey To Friends was such a special and important part of the book for me – her eventually opening up enough and trusting enough to genuinely become friends with Ella Quinn and Riley was such a nice thing to get to write. What was your favourite moment to write with the trio of her, Riley and Ella Quinn? (who always gets her full name!) Did you base any of their relationships on ones you’ve had in real life? Another hugely important theme in the book is friendship, and specifically Hazel having her first real friendships.
Like, you don’t think sexual harrassment is appropriate for 12 year olds? Me neither! Yet here we are!ģ. I definitely did run into some pushback where whether or not the book’s content was appropriate for the audience came into question, but I always thought that was kind of funny. On my part, it was really easy to write this story for a middle grade audience because it was true to my own experience. My memories of being Hazel’s age involve a lot of unfortunate fashion choices, spending time with my friends… and sexual harrassment at school. Honestly, there wasn’t any moment where I decided to write this story for this age group – I actually wanted to try writing middle grade (my background is in YA), and this felt like the only story that felt right for me to tell as my first shot. What made you want to write about this, particularly for this age group? Were there any challenges in writing about sexual harassment and assault for young readers?
The book focuses on a group of girls trying to take down a boy who is sexually harassing them at school and online. Patriarchy (I mean, obviously that’s a bit of an oversimplification, but I’m impressed I got it to fit in 5 words so we’ll go with it!)Ģ. Hello! Thank you very much for having me! Hi Maggie, so happy to have you here today! First off, can you please describe the book for us in 5 words?
Hello everybody! Today, I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of the blog tour for Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One, with my interview of the author Maggie Horne.
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