Gayle Forman on her new middle grade novel, Not Nothing
"I always read books aloud several times."
Following a young boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility and the life lessons he learns there, Gayle Forman’s new middle grade novel, Not Nothing, is a story with a fantastic message for readers young and old. To celebrate its release, we had the opportunity to talk to Gayle about everything from writing inspirations to book recommendations and more.
Hi Gayle! It’s lovely to have you on the site today to celebrate the release of your new middle grade novel, Not Nothing. For readers who may just be hearing about the book, how would you best describe it to them?
Hi. It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Not Nothing is about a 12-year-old kid named Alex who does something very bad—and no, I’m not going to tell you what; you have to read to find out. As a result of this very bad thing, he is forced to volunteer at an assisted-living facility where he meets a bunch of old people and another tween volunteer. Initially he hates being there and hates everyone he meets. Until one day he delivers a meal to Josey, a 107-year old Polish Jewish Holocaust survivor who has not spoken in five years. For reasons neither understand initially, Josey begins telling Alex the story of a young Polish Christian woman named Olka, who worked at Josey’s family’s store. Though she started out kind of bitter and a little bitter, Olka wound up rising to the occasion of her life and ultimately saving Josey’s life. And that’s really what the book is about: What happens when you are—or are not—given the chance to rise to the occasion of your life?
Can you tell us a little bit about what inspired you to write the book?
Well, it’s also a book about how sewing can save your life so there are a lot of pieces to the pattern: My maternal grandparents fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and before the war, my grandmother’s family owned a fancy department store that Josey’s family’s store is modeled on. In my twenties, I volunteered at an assisted living facility, visiting a Jewish Hungarian octogenarian named Oly, who had survived World War II Hungary because she was sheltered by Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who kept many Jews out of the death camps. Then, following the 2016 elections, there was a sharp rise in hate groups and I began to really think about what turns people toward hatred like that—and what brings them back. Around this time, I came across the love story of Jerzy Bielecki and Cyla Cybulska, a young interfaith couple—he was Catholic and she was Jewish—who fell in love while both were prisoners at Auschwitz. They survived, thanks to a daring escape. What stitched it all together was a nonagenarian named Sam who I met at an assisted-living facility where my sister worked as a nurse. He was the inspiration for Josey and once I met him, all the pieces came together. Then it just took me another six years to write it.
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Having written both middle grade and young adult novels, do you find that your writing process differs at all depending on the audience you’re writing for?
Nope. It’s the same. The first challenge is finding the voice. Sometimes it comes to me straight away and other times I have to excavate it. Then it’s a matter of writing my way into the story, getting to know the characters as if they were actual people. This takes lots of terrible drafts. Then more revision until the story feels there. I always read books aloud several times. The tricky thing with Not Nothing was that it’s a middle-grade book meant for young readers, but it’s narrated by a 107-year-old man, so I had to weave (so many textile metaphors!) the two voices together in a way I’ve never done before.
I imagine you must have put a lot of time and research into Not Nothing. Did you come across any facts or stories that particularly surprised or inspired you?
Definitely. Jerzy and Cyla’s story was a big part of the actual story. The Eagle Pharmacy, which is in the book, was a real place in the Krakow ghetto. Compared to Warsaw, there was not a ton of information about Krakow’s Jewish population before and during the war so I wound up reading a lot of survivor testimonies, some on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s incredible archive and others in individual memoirs. That’s where I got details like the scrambled codes on the radio following the Nazi invasion or the fact that some Poles threw flowers when the Nazis occupied Krakow and the petals got ground into the cobblestones. I include a bibliography in the book with all my sources.
Do you have any further reading recommendations for those who have read and adored Alex’s story in Not Nothing?
I include an expansive reading list in the back of the book of further reading, curated by the incredible cultural critic Marjorie Ingall. Here are a few highlights:
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust, by Doreen Rappaport
Impossible Escape by Steve Sheinkin
Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz
White Bird by RJ Palacio
Finally, do you currently have any projects in the works and if so, is there anything you can share with us?
It’s a very busy year for me because I have a YA book called After Life coming out in January. And then so many projects in the works but you’ll have to wait to hear more about those.
Get your copy of Not Nothing by Gayle Forman here.