Summer camp in a creepy old town is the last thing Willow wanted to do, but after getting tangled up in the weird old camp’s ancient mysteries, she certainly can’t say that camp is boring! Now, a year older and wiser and sporting a new hair color, Willow returns in Camp Whatever Vol. 2: The Doors to Nowhere by Chris Grine.
“When twelve-year-old Willow went to her weird new town’s even weirder summer camp, she didn’t expect to get caught up in an ancient mystery involving forest-dwelling vampires, living garden gnomes, and other completely bonkers creatures most people would never believe exist. Now she’s not only involved, she’s marked—too close to the heart of an ages-old quest for power and control than she should be, and too concerned about her new friends and the dangers they face to let them go it alone. With the help of a spell book and her scrappy crew of camp friends, Willow is about to step through a doorway to magic and discovery that will change her world forever.”
Here, Grine chats with WWAC about the second of Willow’s three-part Camp Whatever adventures.
Soooo was your own camp experience anything like Willow’s?
I only went to summer camp one time, and it was mostly just because all my friends had been going for years, so my options were go see what it’s all about, or sit at home and be bored for a week until they all got home. I discovered pretty quickly I had made a mistake, but it was too late to do anything about it at that point. So, much like Willow and her friends, I skirted activities, slept in super late, and was generally miserable for a week.
Are there personal experiences — at camp or otherwise — that you’ve drawn upon in shaping your characters and these stories?
I knew there were loads of summer camp-themed books around, but I’d never seen one that represented my experience, so I definitely pulled from that because it felt more honest to me. Another thing that I took advantage of from experience is that I have a 14-year-old daughter (Violet) with a tight circle of friends that I had listened to their conversations for years. It helped me to find the characters’ voices better than if I had just tried to pull them from thin air. I think it makes them more believable as well.
In the first volume, we quickly learn that the main character, Willow, is part of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community and uses hearing aids, with American Sign Language sometimes used to communicate throughout the story. You’ve spoken about how important it is to you to ensure that every child, like your nephew, who is also hard of hearing, can see themselves reflected in your work. What kind of feedback have you received from your readers about this sense of inclusion?
I haven’t really received any feedback regarding that aspect of Willow (yet), so I feel like I was successful? It was important for me that Willow being deaf didn’t define her character, but rather it’s just part of who she is. I’ve tried to find ways to use it to her advantage, but I never wanted it to be something her character had to overcome, or somehow be a novelty. I’ve seen a few reviews (although I do try to avoid them) where there was criticism that the reader isn’t constantly reminded Willow has hearing aids, and I think those readers might be missing the point. All kids have something that makes them different or makes them feel insecure about themselves, especially once they hit their teen years. I feel like, at the beginning of the series, Willow has a bit of a chip on her shoulder and is very defensive about her hearing aids, but over the course of the story, she finds a way to turn what she thought was a weakness into a strength. I was bullied in school for being shy and because I would rather draw or watch movies and cartoons than play sports, and I still find myself getting a little defensive when anyone questions that about me to this day. I think learning to maneuver those waters is something we all figure out in our own time.
What have you learned from working with sensitivity readers on projects like this?
I don’t want to say that I learned there was a need for sensitivity readers because I knew what they were and how they helped projects like mine, but I did learn a lot about ASL and not just from them. I knew there was going to be a fair amount of signing in the books, and I found an amazing ASL app for my phone that I can generally reference most words or phrases, but that’s where the sensitivity reader really helped. The way it worked for me anyway was that I sketched out the entire book with word balloons, and then that was sent to them for feedback, specifically if the signs were correct. One thumb in the wrong direction and you could change the entire meaning, so it was invaluable to have someone to help out like that.
This is a pretty big season for you with the release of this second volume of Camp Whatever, as well as Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness releasing on Netflix. Do your kids think you’re cool because of all of this?
LOL. I can’t even get my daughter — who not only has a character named after her (Violet) but had the second book dedicated to her — to even pick up the book. Or any of my books for that matter. They do think the movie is pretty cool, but that doesn’t extend to me very much.
What other projects have you got in the works that you can chat about?
I’m actually almost finished with the third and final book in the Camp Whatever series and I’m equally nervous and excited for readers to see how it ends. Beyond that, I’m also adapting the first six Animorphs books into graphic novels for Scholastic; the third one will be out this fall. Also, along with the SUPER-FUN-EVERYONE-SHOULD-WATCH-IT-ON-NETFLIX-FILM, the first two Chickenhare graphic novels are being republished both for the film’s release, but also because it’s the 15th anniversary! I’m thrilled to have it back in print again.
