Back in May I went to the Rochester Teen Book Festival and had the good fortune of attending the new author session. One of those authors was Torrey Maldonado, author of Secret Saturdays. Needless to say, I enjoyed the session so much that before I walked out the door I had already downloaded his book to my Nook! Recently we started a new section here on EFG, The Tree of Knowledge, and when thinking about authors to contact about guest posts Torrey came to mind as he is not only an author, but a teacher. Torrey is a ALA 2011 Quick Pick Author for Reluctant Readers and he was nice enough to pull together some Q&A’s from past interviews he has done that speak to this topic. Read on and enjoy!

Q: Why do you write?

A: As a boy, I was a reluctant reader. Then I discovered reading could distract my mind from the rough realities of my neighborhood and schools. My reading turned into my writing and writing helped me with my problems but it also brought new problems. There was great pressure for me to follow the crowd and the crowd felt writing equaled school and school equaled corny.  Where I’m from, young female writers are called nerdy but boys get called "soft” because people think school’s a girl’s thing. I never stopped writing though and it paid off. People around me mistook me reading and writing as "soft” but literacy turned out to be hard enough to smash my chains of poverty. It helped me avoid living below my full potential. Now, I teach and write to hook reluctant readers, keep avid readers engaged, and help youth evolve into their best selves.

Q:   What do you do to make sure you hook reluctant readers?

A: Oprah sat me down and gave me advice that I will give to you. Okay, Oprah didn’t sit me down and give me this advice directly. I was watching her show but IT FELT LIKE SHE WAS TALKING TO ME. She said, "It takes a village…to raise a child.” The same applies to writing. If you want your stuff to please villagers, let the village sample your stuff. The best chefs have people sample plates and they tweak their cooking until we all taste culinary heaven. When trying to hook reluctant readers, let them sample your writing and get their honest feedback. I really knew I had something when middle schoolers (and YAs — Secret Saturdays will be cross-cataloged. WOOHOO!) who hate to read told me, "Your book should be a movie!”

Q: I really enjoyed the voices of Justin, the narrator, and his friend Sean—young, blunt, and true. Were they easy to capture?

A: Eighty per cent of Justin’s voice is how I spoke with my friends during my pre-teen and teen years. What makes up the other twenty percent? Today’s language of youth. Years before I wrote Secret Saturdays, I visited a Literacy (English/ Language Arts) teacher-friend for lunch. I kept grabbing urban fiction titles from her shelves and I was shocked at how many sounded fake. I picked up a famous writer’s novel and told her, "Listen to this. This sound real to you?” I read their book out loud and my friend laughed, "No! You know our kids don’t even talk like that!” So, being playful, I reread those lines how our students or real-life urban-adults sound. The Literacy teacher said, "Torrey. I’m not kidding. You should write a book. I’m serious. Kids need to see and hear themselves in books. Plus, you can write. So why not?” So, I wrote Secret Saturdays and kids find it so real that they memorize parts of my book. Ever since that moment, I always read stiff dialogue that is on shelves, practice loosening it up, then I write in that voice

Q:  What is one reaction to Secret Saturdays from reluctant readers that rocked your world?

A: One reaction that rocked my world happened during a school-trip. Two students who hate to read approached me. One boy said, "Mr. T, I know one of the raps from your book by heart.” Not believing him, I said, "Let me hear it.” He looked into the air and said a Black Bald’s rhymes so perfect that you’d think he was reading the rhyme off a cloud or streetlight. The other student started competing and told the boy who just rapped, "That’s nothing. Mr. T, listen to this.” Then he rapped a verse from Killah Kid. It always rocks my world when students that teachers and parents think don’t enjoy reading love Secret Saturdays so much that they memorize parts of it. It also rocks my world that my book is curse- and sex-free and middle schoolers and young adults feel I kept it clean but kept it real.

About Secret Saturdays : Sean is Justin’s best friend or at least Justin thought he was. They used to share everything but lately Sean is hanging with a tougher crowd, bullying, and messing up in school. Justin doesn’t know what’s happening with him. When he finally discovers Sean’s secret, he wants to help before Justin spins completely out of control. But what if confronting Sean means losing his very best friend?

About Torrey Maldonado: NBC and more have spotlighted Torrey Maldonado’s debut novel, Secret Saturdays, and his journey. He was born and raised in the Red Hook projects of Brooklyn, New York. Overcoming neighborhood poverty and violence, he graduated from Vassar College with a BA in Sociology and earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration at Baruch College. He has taught in a Brooklyn public school for nearly ten years. Prior to that, he trained teachers and administrators to run conflict resolution programs. His first novel, Secret Saturdays, is inspired by his & his students’ struggles with: friends, family, being their true selves, bullying, and tough choices.

Notable Info:
• Maldonado, Torrey. Secret Saturdays. Penguin Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2010. $16.99. 978-0399251580
• Torrey Maldonado’s site: http://www.torreymaldonado.com
• Secret Saturdays is a 2011 ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.