Some time ago I read and loved All Four Stars by Tara Dairman. I was especially impressed with the secondary characters who surrounded Tara's fabulous main character, aspiring restaurant critic Gladys Gatsby. They added a depth and richness to the story that made it one of my favourite reads this year. In other words...they were the spice! Here is a little bit more about the book from Goodreads:
Meet Gladys Gatsby: New York’s toughest restaurant critic. (Just don’t tell anyone that she’s in sixth grade.)
Gladys Gatsby has been cooking gourmet dishes since the age of seven, only her fast-food-loving parents have no idea! Now she’s eleven, and after a crème brûlée accident (just a small fire), Gladys is cut off from the kitchen (and her allowance). She’s devastated but soon finds just the right opportunity to pay her parents back when she’s mistakenly contacted to write a restaurant review for one of the largest newspapers in the world.
But in order to meet her deadline and keep her dream job, Gladys must cook her way into the heart of her sixth-grade archenemy and sneak into New York City—all while keeping her identity a secret! Easy as pie, right?
And here is the interview (stay tuned at the end for information on how to enter the giveaway):
What sparked the idea for you book? It is so unique, so timely...so fun!Thanks, Deb! And it's funny that you call the book timely, since I started writing it way back in 2005. :) I was working as an editor at a small magazine, and published several freelancers whom I never met in person or even spoke to on the phone—we just communicated by e-mail. So it occurred to me that, in this day and age, a kid who was a really good writer just might be able to hoodwink an editor into publishing her. And since I was interested in food and cooking, I decided to make this kid a restaurant critic!
What or who inspired with your secondary characters and how did you develop them? They were so, so well done, right down to the adults. Was there one in particular that was the most fun to write? One that was the most difficult to get a handle on?
I'm so glad you liked the supporting cast! I had SO much fun writing the kids. None of them were based on anyone from real life, though they all have characteristics borrowed from me, I guess. Like Parm, I was a very picky eater as a kid; like Sandy, I had rabbits named Edward and Dennis Hopper; and like Charissa, I can get pretty grumpy when I'm hungry and I love musicals (though Glossy Girl: The Musical would have tested my patience).
As for the adults, I struggled more with some of them—particularly Gladys's parents. Honestly, I understand now why orphan stories are so common in middle grade, because writing believable parents who still let their kids get into and out of all sorts of trouble is really challenging! I hope that I got the balance of cluelessness and caring right in the end for Mr. and Mrs. Gatsby. Aunt Lydia, on the other hand, was very easy to write, since I based her wholesale on my own scarf-wearing, adventurous, food-loving Aunt Judy. She's the only character in the book who pretty much comes straight from real life.
I'm so glad you liked the supporting cast! I had SO much fun writing the kids. None of them were based on anyone from real life, though they all have characteristics borrowed from me, I guess. Like Parm, I was a very picky eater as a kid; like Sandy, I had rabbits named Edward and Dennis Hopper; and like Charissa, I can get pretty grumpy when I'm hungry and I love musicals (though Glossy Girl: The Musical would have tested my patience).
As for the adults, I struggled more with some of them—particularly Gladys's parents. Honestly, I understand now why orphan stories are so common in middle grade, because writing believable parents who still let their kids get into and out of all sorts of trouble is really challenging! I hope that I got the balance of cluelessness and caring right in the end for Mr. and Mrs. Gatsby. Aunt Lydia, on the other hand, was very easy to write, since I based her wholesale on my own scarf-wearing, adventurous, food-loving Aunt Judy. She's the only character in the book who pretty much comes straight from real life.
I read your guest post on Literary Rambles and am so very glad you took the manuscript for All Four Stars around the world with you! Can you share one or two of your more exotic writing locations and one or two of your more exotic eats?
Sure! I worked on ALL FOUR STARS in a lot of cool places: an acai bar in Belem, Brazil; a mate-serving tea shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina; coffee shops (where I sipped hot chocolate) in the capitals of Cameroon and Gabon; and, most significantly, at the Kilimanjaro Coffee Lounge in Moshi, Tanzania, where I drank chai and finished the first draft while my husband was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
As for exotic eats, I had a lot of great desserts--such as the Indian gajar ka halwa (carrot pudding) and the Malaysian
apam balik (peanut pancake) that appear in ALL FOUR STARS--and some tasty variations on the hot dog (in Chile, Thailand, and Iceland) that will make cameos in the sequel next year!
 |
| Malaysian Pancakes |
Saw on your site that there is a second helping of Gladys on the way! I know there is no title as of yet. Any hints on what to expect?The sequel will take place during the summer after sixth grade, and will see Gladys facing challenges from a new kid-writer nemesis, a jealous adult restaurant critic, and possibly the most difficult assignment in the history of restaurant reviewing. She has her work cut out for her!
Finally--is there anything you really disliked eating as a child but now love? I have heard our tastebuds change over the years.
Considering that I hardly ate anything as a kid (like Parm, I pretty much lived on cereal and plain pasta), there's plenty! Just to name a few foods: lobster, tomato sauce, goat cheese, peaches, and lentils. Wow, I really was picky.
Thanks for doing this!
Thanks so much for having me, Deb!
Find Tara online:
Website: www.taradairman.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Tara Dairman is a novelist, playwright, and survivor of the world’s longest honeymoon (2 years, 74 countries!) Her first middle-grade novel, All Four Stars, was published on July 10, 2014 by Putnam/Penguin. Tara grew up in New York and earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College; she currently lives in Colorado, where she teaches writing to students aged 6-13.
I would love for one of you to have win a copy of All Four Stars. All you need to do is comment and if you let us know what your favourite food is...OR...what is the most exotic (to you) dish you have ever eaten! Giveaway open until next Sunday at midnight MST.
