about the book
Seventh-grader Mysti Murphy tries to escape the rough circumstances of home and school life by imagining she’s the central character in a novel. As protagonist, she effortlessly tackles all her daily challenges in a mental book she is writing:
Mysti seamlessly takes care of her little sister while her Dad recovers in the hospital from a fall.
Mysti resolves the family’s “secret”: her Mother’s agoraphobia—an abnormal fear of open or public places.
Mysti figures out a way to fill the cupboards with food.
Mysti exacts the perfect revenge on her former best friend Anibal, who abandoned her in favor of being a “hipster”.
Soon enough, she is forced to confront these challenges as plain, imperfect Mysti. As she makes her way through seventh grade, Mysti discovers new friends Rama Khan and geeky Wayne. Forced to deal with her problems on her own, Mysti wonders if there is courage within her that exists beyond the pages in her head.
about the author
“The first key to writing is to write, not think,” says author Karen Harrington.
Her advice to young, aspiring writers? Fill a notebook with ideas and don’t stop to look at it until it’s full. “Out of all the pages in the notebook, maybe five or ten will be golden. It is so worth it to get to that golden space.”
Karen has been writing most of her life—though not all of it was novel writing. At one point in her career, she was a speechwriter for GreyHound Bus Lines. Characters, and a deep yearning to know more about them—inspire Karen to develop storylines. Often, minor individuals in one book become protagonists in later books. For instance, her first novel was an adult thriller, Janeology. A character in that book lead to her first young-adult read, Sure Signs of Crazy. Nerdy Wayne, in Courage for Beginners, was the catalyst for her most recent work, Mayday.
In order to understand some of her characters, Karen sometimes creates song playlists that she imagines her characters would enjoy. More than a few times she has listened to the playlists while editing her work. Karen considers “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters, for example, as Wayne’s theme song.
Born and raised in Texas, Karen is a die-hard Texas fan and naturally patriotic. Pictures of long-gone ancestors, some of whom date back to the Revolutionary War, dot the walls of her Dallas home and serve as personal inspiration. Lengthy walks with her rescue dog Sam break up her writing and Mom duties. And while she dreams of dining with Pope Francis, she hopes cantaloupe is not on the menu—she hates it!
Sources:
Author Website
Author Interview: BookPage
Author Interview: Bookish Serendipity
Also by Karen Harrington:
Mayday. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2016.
Sure Signs of Crazy. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2013.
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