It’s an interesting question how you approach darker, more complex topics. And sometimes fantasy allows you to do it in a gentle way, in a way that doesn’t scare off readers, and allows you to touch on sometimes very dark topics, but I think in a way that makes it palatable and not too scary. So talking about childhood hunger and homelessness, for example, in Crenshaw using a giant, imaginary cat who eats purple jelly beans was a way to kind of ease kids into this story. And it’s also really fun to write. I mean, you’re just making stuff up. You’re creating entire worlds.
And I mentioned in my Newbery speech, there are always a handful of adults I meet who say, “I will never read an animal fantasy. I just can’t do it.” They find them nauseating or simplistic, and I say, “Man, you haven’t read Charlotte’s Web.” You can go back to that book when you’re 50 and when you’re 80, and there are different things there to read. So it takes some work. It took some research. And you’re always going to be playing a little bit with the facts.