C.M. Surrisi
Have you read the Quinnie Boyd middle-grade mysteries? The Maypop Kidnapping, Vampires on the Run, and A Side of Sabotage? I discovered them this spring and I stayed up several nights to read them. The author of those books, C.M. Surrisi, is just as interesting as you’d think the writer who dreamed up Quinnie, her friends, and her village in Maine would be. When I realized she had a picture book out, The Best Mother, I wondered if she could carry that sense of humor over to a shorter storytelling form. Yes, indeed. That book’s delightful, too. We know you’ll want to learn more about this intriguing author.
What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever read a book?
In a tent in the Ranthambore Tiger Preserve in Sawai Madhopur Rajasthan, India
Do you keep your bookshelves in a particular order?
By subject matter. Not quite Dewey Decimal Classification.
How many bookcases do you have in your house?
An embarrassingly large number.
photo: tarzhanova | 123rf.com
What’s the predominant color in your wardrobe?
Jeans. Is that a color? So, blue, I guess. I spent so many years in a world where jeans were not acceptable dress that when I left that world, I embraced jeans again in a big way. I have several forms of denim again now. Light, dark, patched, ripped, cropped, boyfriend, skinny, jacket, cutoff. Sorry. I’m all about comfort now.
Which library springs to your mind when someone says that word? What do you remember most about it?
When I think library I think of the middle grade fiction shelves, with their chunky novels, in plastic covers, with colorful jackets, swollen pages from wear, the delicious smell of paper, and scent of glue and ink. That’s where I go first in every library I visit.
Which book you read as a child has most influenced your life?
The Children of Primrose Lane by Noel Streatfield.
When I was in fourth grade, I picked this book off the shelf for its size, weight, jacket image, and all around library book smell. I didn’t know who Noel Streatfield was, and I hadn’t read any of the ballet books. I fell into this story about a group of kids living in England during WWII who took over an abandoned house on their dead end street as a clubhouse. Soon they realize they were sharing the house with a man they suspected was a shot-down German pilot pretending to be British. They played along with him until he accidentally overheard one of the children say something about the war effort that the child should not have shared. Their mission became keeping the pilot from transmitting the information to his base.
This was my first experience with children being involved with high stakes. The kids were all different, the circumstances were searing, the drama intense. I have never forgotten it. I found a copy of the book as an adult and reread it, only to find some culturally inappropriate aspects that were associated with war propaganda. I realized those aspects of the book didn’t go over my head. I had been indoctrinated by them. The book would have been just as powerful from a story perspective without them. I continue to hold it in high regard because it opened my world and transported me to a place where children did something noble.
What’s your food weakness?
If the item is edible, and attractively prepared, I will generally give it a go.
What’s your favorite form of exercise?
Dancing. I wish that ballroom dancing could be easily accomplished alone. Drat, it’s so pairs oriented. Yes, Fred Astaire pulled it off much of the time, but I’m no Fred. I love the feeling of pairs dancing, but I don’t have a dance partner and don’t really want one. So I dance around the house by myself and make do.
photo: Melanie Faulstick | 123rf.com
What’s your favorite flower?
Blue Hyacinth. The color is important. It adds to the already spectacularly cloying smell. I love the spikes with their crowds of bells and the fleshy, glossy, green leaves. When I was a child, my mother had a ceramic flower pot that was an eight-inch cube that looked like a white woven basket. She filled it with blue hyacinths every spring. They sat in the center of the kitchen table. A close second would be old-fashioned roses. We had a big, unruly old-fashioned rose bush next to the back door, and every time we banged the screen door open when we ran out to play, it shook the bush and released the fragrance.
Who’s at the top of your list of Most Admired People?
My husband, Chuck. He had a stroke nine years ago, and the full range of emotion, energy, determination, and humor he’s summoned to cope with it has made him my hero.
What foreign language would you like to learn?
All of them.
Do you read the end of a book first?
Oh, no. Never.
If you had a choice, would you live under the ocean or in outer space, and why?
The very thought of either of these makes my head explode. I’m claustrophobic.
If you could write any book and know that it would be published and tens of thousands of people would read it, which book would you write?
If I knew this, I would have already written it, but then again knowing it and being able to write it are two different things, aren’t they? So the answer I guess would have to be “the biggest-hearted book.”
If you could be granted one wish, what would you wish for?
That children would be safe. Safe from adults and safe from each other.
If you could be granted one wish, what would you wish for?
We are so fortunate to have dedicated and inspiring librarian educators working with children in many schools throughout our land. Becky Kruger not only serves as the librarian at Ray Miller Elementary School in Missouri but she also helps organize the annual Truman State University Children’s Literature Festival.
Pat Schmatz is the smart, well-read, insightful, and talented author of books such as Lizard Radio, Mousetraps, Bluefish, and her most recent The Key to Everything. She occasionally teaches writing, especially to middle school and high school students. If you have a chance, attend one of her classes.
Which book you read as a child has most influenced your life? 
Have you traveled outside of the United States? Which country is your favorite to visit? Why? 
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you choose (don’t worry about language differences.)
Which book you read as a child has most influenced your life? 
When you walk into a bakery, what are you most likely to choose from the bakery cases? 
If you could write any book and know that it would be published and tens of thousands of people would read it, which book would you write? 
I devoured books like they were potato chips, and I went for quantity—and escapism. I lost myself in books, and they were sort of like lost dreams afterward. I don’t remember too many individual books, but The Figure in the Shadows, by John Bellairs, was a big favorite. It showed me that family isn’t restricted to your biological family. And it scared the bejeebers out of me—I loved it! Two others I read around (I think) 7th grade, Crooked House, by Agatha Christie, and Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, still haunt me a little. SPOILER ALERT: In Crooked House, the murderer is a child, which totally shocked me. Not a misunderstood child. Not a mentally ill child. A greedy, selfish child the same age I was when I read the book. It made me think about the enormous capacity for good and evil human beings have. Flowers for Algernon, which I recently reread, shaped my thoughts about love, intelligence, kindness, and the limits of science. And it broke my heart.
Brenda Sederberg is the current facilitator of the 
Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home? 
All-time favorite book?
Sarah Aronson’s most recent books, The Worst Fairy Godmother Ever (The Wish List #1, Beach Lane Books) and Keep Calm and Sparkle On! (The Wish List #2) are at once lighthearted and serious—stories that are fun to read and encourage working for causes that matter to the world. Sarah is widely known in the children’s book writing community as an enthusiastic and effective writing instructor. Thanks, Sarah, for taking a Skinny Dip with us in December!
Mr. Sigley awakened my creative spirit in many ways. He got me hooked on books in three distinct ways. First, our class read and performed Romeo and Juliet—unabridged! He showed me that even if I didn’t understand the individual words, I could infer meaning in a text! Second, he tirelessly handed me books—he was determined to make me a reader. The book that did it was John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. That ending blew me away! It made me think! This was what I wanted from books! A chance to think about injustice and relationships and family … and how I could make it better. Last, he taught us how to make books—from writing to illustrating to binding. This first home-made book, The Adventures of Prince Charming, connected the dots. Books were like theater. Books were unique for each reader. I loved getting into the heads of my characters. I loved holding a book, too.
Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)
Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home? 
What’s your hidden talent? 
Which is worse: spiders or snakes? 
When did you first start reading books?
All-time favorite book?
Book on your bedside table right now?
Favorite flavor of ice cream?
Favorite lunch as a kid?
Book on your bedside table right now?
All-time favorite book?
Book on your bedside table right now?
Your favorite toy as a child …
What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?
