Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Superstar
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://mandydavis.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2017079595
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2017079595
HEADING: Davis, Mandy
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035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca10855586
040 __ |a ICrlF |b eng |e rda |c ICrlF
100 1_ |a Davis, Mandy
370 __ |e Minnesota |f Indiana |2 naf
372 __ |a Children’s literature |a Young adult literature |2 lcsh
374 __ |a Authors |2 lcsh
375 __ |a Women |2 lcsh
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a Davis, Mandy. Superstar, c2017: |b t.p. (Mandy Davis) jkt. (grew up in Indiana; MFA writing for children/young adults Hamline Univ. St. Paul, Minn.; lives/writes in Minn.; Superstar is her first novel)
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Hamline University, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Previously, worked as an elementary school teacher and record store clerk.
AVOCATIONS:Photography, playing games, singing.
AWARDS:Thesis award, Hamline University.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Mandy Davis is a writer based in Indiana. She holds a master’s degree from Hamline University. Before becoming a full-time writer, Davis worked as a record store clerk and elementary school teacher. In an interview with a contributor to the Society of Young Inklings website, Davis discussed the moment she determined to try to become a published author. She stated: “The year was 2008. I had been an elementary school teacher for five years. While I loved the actual teaching, the mountain of papers always needing to be graded was wearing me down. One October evening, I was working late at school. It was 7:30 pm or so. I was tired. I was hungry. I was considering my options. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. What if I wasn’t a teacher anymore? … Without missing a beat, another thought popped in my head. I could write.” In the same interview on the Society of Young Inklings website, Davis commented on her writing process and how it makes her feel. She remarked: “The act of writing is like walking into a giant, dark room. It’s all unknown, and while some people find the unknown exciting, I happen to find it absolutely terrifying.”
In 2017, Davis released her first novel, Superstar. The book is geared toward middle-grade readers. Its protagonist is Lester Musselbaum, who is ten years old. Lester’s mother has been home-schooling him all of his life, but she has recently been hired at a library and no longer has the time. Lester must finally start going to public school, and he is not pleased. As a person on the autism spectrum, Lester tends to be upset by changes and new situations, so school is overwhelming to him at first. He does not like the loud noises in the lunchroom, and a change to his schedule causes him to panic, but he clings to a Superman figure he late father gave him for support. Lester also has embarrassing run-ins with students, including a bully named Ricky. Ricky destroys Lester’s Superman figure, devastating him. However, a classmate, Michael Z, encourages Lester. Lester excels in the sciences and develops a particular interest in aerodynamics. It is revealed that Lester’s late father was also a whiz at aerodynamics. While building a rocket, a deadly explosion occurred, and Lester’s father was killed. Lester’s mother is apprehensive about Lester’s new interests, but she allows him to enter the science fair anyway. Lester’s project proves to be excellent and pleases the judges. He wins the science fair. He also successfully plays sports with his classmates and develops a new friendship. Meanwhile, Ricky, the bully, has begun picking on Lester more and more. A classmate offers Lester advice on how to deal with the bullying. A member of the school administration sends a letter to Lester’s mother about his autism spectrum disorder, and Lester intercepts it. He must deal with the implications of his diagnosis.
Reviews of Superstar were mostly favorable. A Kirkus Reviews critic praised Davis’s creation of the character of Lester and stated: “The text never infantilizes or romanticizes him.” The same critic described the book as “an intelligent and gently humorous story about an underdog who explores his place in a world.” Anita Lock, contributor to BookPage, noted that the volume featured “a constantly moving plot that unfolds in short chapters, engaging dialogue and a well-defined cast.” Of the book as a whole, Lock called it “an inimitable story.” “There is plenty to enjoy in this story of friendship, bullying, education, and community,” asserted Ed Spicer in the Horn Book Magazine. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called Superstar “excellent” and suggested: “This unsentimental portrait of an endearing and memorable protagonist offers powerful insight into living with autism.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2017, Rob Reid, “Scientifically Minded Kids,” review of Superstar, p. S40.
BookPage, July, 2017, Anita Lock, review of Superstar, p. 31.
Horn Book, July-August, 2017, Ed Spicer, review of Superstar, p. 130.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2017, review of Superstar.
Publishers Weekly, May 1, 2017, review of Superstar, p. 59; December 4, 2017, review of Superstar, p. S75.
ONLINE
Mandy Davis Website, https://mandydavis.com (February 12, 2018).
Society of Young Inklings, http://www.younginklings.org/ (June 21, 2017), author interview.
Mandy is the author of the middle grade novel Superstar (HarperCollins, 2017) which has been named a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2017. She received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University where she won an award for her critical thesis The Way to the Chair: Zen and the Practice of Writing. Mandy is represented by the great Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Before being bitten by the writing bug, Mandy was an elementary school teacher, a record store clerk, and once she even sold hamburgers on the sidewalk. When she’s not writing, Mandy can usually be found taking pictures or playing games of some sort. She also sings at least twice a day. Mandy spent her childhood and early adult life in Indiana, and after a brief stint as a Minnesotan, she has returned to the Hoosier state where she currently writes, games, sings (and lives) with her family and their four ridiculous cats.
Occasionally, you can find Mandy on Twitter @thatmandydavis where she talks about writing, games, cats, and other very important things. You can also connect with her on Facebook!
QUOTED: "The year was 2008. I had been an elementary school teacher for five years. While I loved the actual teaching, the mountain of papers always needing to be graded was wearing me down. One October evening, I was working late at school. It was 7:30 pm or so. I was tired. I was hungry. I was considering my options. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. What if I wasn’t a teacher anymore? ... Without missing a beat, another thought popped in my head. I could write."
"The act of writing is like walking into a giant, dark room. It’s all unknown, and while some people find the unknown exciting, I happen to find it absolutely terrifying."
The author spotlighted in this Ink Splat is Mandy Davis.
The Challenge: Things In Common
What are your favorite three books? Do they all have something in common? Are they all by the same author? Do they all start with the same letter? Is the main color of the cover art your favorite color? What other similarities do they have?
Submit your responses by emailing submit@younginklings.org and you might be published on our website! Even if it’s not June anymore, you can still take the challenge and submit your work. We love to see your writing anytime.
Spotlight ON...Mandy Davis and her new book SUPERSTAR
Spotlight ON…Mandy Davis and her new book SUPERSTAR
An Interview with author Mandy Davis
1. What are your top 3 favorite books?
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling (Is it cheating to name a whole series? I guess if I had to pick just one, I’d say Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Mischief managed.)
2. When/how did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
The year was 2008. I had been an elementary school teacher for five years. While I loved the actual teaching, the mountain of papers always needing to be graded was wearing me down. One October evening, I was working late at school. It was 7:30 pm or so. I was tired. I was hungry. I was considering my options.
Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. What if I wasn’t a teacher anymore? I looked around. Had anyone heard me think that? After spending the last decade working toward becoming the best teacher I could possibly be, it felt almost sacrilegious to imagine myself doing something else. And what could I possibly do? Without missing a beat, another thought popped in my head. I could write.
A few months later, I was at a conference for writing teachers. At this conference, we spent a lot of time actually writing, which made me realize that more than teaching people how to write, I wanted to write myself. I finished out the school year with my fourth graders, then went to graduate school to get my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, which is where I wrote the first draft of SUPERSTAR.
3. What’s your favorite thing about writing? Least favorite?
My favorite thing is that moment when my writing actually makes me start to feel something. It usually takes a while to get there, but once I feel that emotional resonance, I know I’ve found the story.
My least favorite thing about writing is the deadlines. While I know that deadlines are necessary and they can help me get moving on a project, the amount of time it takes to complete something is usually a big question mark for me. Sometimes, I can write pages and pages in a day. Other days, I struggle for every sentence. When I’m under a deadline, instead of relaxing into the work, which results in my best writing, I tend to freeze up because I’m scared I won’t finish the project on time. In order to work successfully under a deadline, I try to finish way before the actual date it’s due. That way, if the work takes a lot longer than I expect it to, I’ll have some wiggle room.
4. How much time per week do you spend writing?
When I’m having a writing week, I write full-time, which ends up being about 30 hours a week. But not every week is a writing week for me. I usually write for a few months at a time; then I take some time away for other work. Sometimes I do house projects. Other times, I take care of family. It’s really important for me to keep a healthy balance between my writing work and the other things I do, which I like to call “life work.”
But even during my weeks of life work when I’m not physically writing, my mind is still working on a story. I usually return to writing with a bunch of new insights and ideas for my current work in progress. The time away also allows me to come back to a project and see it with fresh eyes, which is an integral part of the revision process. That time away ends up being just as important to my creative process as the time I spend writing.
5. What is the most difficult part of your creative process?
The act of writing is like walking into a giant, dark room. It’s all unknown, and while some people find the unknown exciting, I happen to find it absolutely terrifying. The longer I’ve been away from the writing, the bigger and darker (and scarier) the room is. So, even though spending time away is necessary to my process, that first day back is always really scary. Sometimes, I find myself putting it off for days (or even weeks) just because I’m too afraid to face it. Eventually though, the story in my head gets fed up with my procrastination. It doesn’t care that I’m scared and that I have no idea how I’m going to write it. It just wants to get out of my head and become real. So eventually, I take a lot of deep breaths, face my fears, and sit down to write. And just like that, as soon as I actually start writing, the room lights up and I wonder what I was ever scared of in the first place.
6. What was your path to publication?
While in graduate school at Hamline University, I met a lot of amazing people, one of whom was Jill Davis. We found our way into the same writing group, and she began working as an editor at HarperCollins Publishers. For over a year, she would send me notes. Was SUPERSTAR done yet? Had I finished the revision? When was she going to see it? Eventually, I gave her a date when I’d have it done. I was a few days late, but I finally got it to her. She presented the book at an acquisitions meeting a few weeks later, and I had an offer. I found my agent (Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown) and within a few months I had signed my first contract.
7. If you could tell your younger writing self something, what would it be?
Looking back at my life, I realize now that I was always a writer. Before I was even in kindergarten, I used to tell my mom the stories, and she would write them down for me. But as I progressed through school, writing became less about what tugged at my heart and more about assignments and grades. I still enjoyed the process and the work of putting words on a page to make something meaningful, but somewhere around middle school I stopped writing for me. I didn’t start writing for myself again until that fateful October night when I decided I wanted to become a writer. If I could tell my younger writing self something, it would be to keep writing what is in your heart. The writing you do for yourself is just as important (if not more important) than the writing you do for others.
A special thanks to Mandy Davis!
Locate your local independent book store to purchase SUPERSTAR, it is also available at most other nationwide bookstores or online.
Print Marked Items
Superstar
Publishers Weekly.
264.49-50 (Dec. 4, 2017): pS75.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Superstar
Mandy Davis. Harper, $16.99 ISBN 9780-06-237777-7
In an excellent first novel, Davis channels the idiosyncratic perspective and voice of Lester, a 10-year-old
stargazer, as he makes the difficult transition from home-schooling to fifth grade. Layers of unspoken grief
for Lester's astronaut father, who died five years earlier, loom large, especially because Lester's mother
resists her son's avid interest in space. When she takes a job at the library and Lester starts school, Davis
strongly sketches how his personality and quirks make for a difficult adjustment: Lester struggles with a
bully, can't stand the cacophony of the cafeteria, lacks tact and social skills, calls out in class, and doesn't
handle schedule changes well. Lester is an immensely sympathetic narrator as he navigates a friendship with
a fashion-forward classmate, competes in the science fair, and participates in a kickball game. When he
opens an official letter addressed to his mother, he discovers that he's been diagnosed with "autism spectrum
disorder" and works to understand what that means. This unsentimental portrait of an endearing and
memorable protagonist offers powerful insight into living with autism. Ages 8-12.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Superstar." Publishers Weekly, 4 Dec. 2017, p. S75. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A518029801/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=dbea07f8.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A518029801
QUOTED: "The text never infantilizes or romanticizes him."
"an intelligent and gently humorous story about an underdog who explores his place in a world."
Davis, Mandy: SUPERSTAR
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Davis, Mandy SUPERSTAR Harper/HarperCollins (Children's Fiction) $16.99 6, 20 ISBN: 978-0-06-
237777-7
Autism gets the unsentimentally sensitive treatment it deserves in Davis' debut.White kid Lester
Musselbaum loves science, especially space, more than anything, but since his astronaut father died in a
shuttle accident five years ago, the 10-year-old's mother refuses to talk about the stars with him. When Mom
goes back to work, the previously home-schooled Lester goes to public school. Navigating this strange place
where no one, not even his teacher, understands him, the easily overwhelmed Lester gets into trouble daily.
The noise in the lunchroom makes his head feel like it will explode, and last-minute changes in the schedule
throw him off course. When a bully destroys Lester's anchor, a Superman figure that was a gift from his
father, a kind classmate, a black boy named Michael Z, tells him to find his "thing"--something he does
better than anyone else. Since science is already his thing, Lester finds a way to use his smarts to deflect the
angry bully. Lester's first-person narrative is honest and pure. The text never infantilizes or romanticizes
him, something that often happens in an attempt to teach a lesson about kids who don't fit into any particular
box. An intelligent and gently humorous story about an underdog who explores his place in a world that
doesn't readily accommodate kids who possess different ways of being or thinking. (Fiction. 8-12)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Davis, Mandy: SUPERSTAR." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A487668510/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cb47572e.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668510
QUOTED: "a constantly moving plot that unfolds in short chapters, engaging dialogue and a well-defined cast."
"an inimitable story."
Superstar
Anita Lock
BookPage.
(July 2017): p31.
COPYRIGHT 2017 BookPage
http://bookpage.com/
Full Text:
By Mandy Davis
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
HarperCollins $16.99, 336 pages
ISBN 9780062377777 eBook available Ages 8 to 12
MIDDLE GRADE
An autistic student discovers his hidden abilities in Mandy Davis' powerful debut.
Ten-year-old Lester Musselbaum is not happy about attending public school after his mom gets a library job
and can no longer home-school him. School is filled with plenty of unnerving situations, including Ricky the
classroom bully. To his advantage, Lester is good at science, especially aerodynamics, but Lester's interest
in this field makes his mom uncomfortable, having lost her husband to a rocket explosion five years before.
She worries that Lester will follow in his father's footsteps.
When Lester enters the school's science fair and wins, the achievement only exacerbates Ricky's bullying.
And when a classmate offers Lester a piece of advice to remedy the intimidation, it turns out that following
through with his friend's counsel is easier said than done.
Lester's narration provides a view into the world of an intelligent boy with qualities of autism spectrum
disorder. He's an underdog determined to find a way, even when it doesn't seem possible. With a constantly
moving plot that unfolds in short chapters, engaging dialogue and a well-defined cast, Superstar is an
inimitable story bound to become an award-winning favorite.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Lock, Anita. "Superstar." BookPage, July 2017, p. 31. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A497099127/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fa3640f8.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A497099127
QUOTED: "There is plenty to enjoy in this story of friendship, bullying, education, and community."
Superstar
Ed Spicer
The Horn Book Magazine.
93.4 (July-August 2017): p130+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
Superstar
by Mandy Davis
Intermediate Harper/HarperCollins
325 pp. g 6/17 978-0-06-237777-7 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-237779-1 $9.99
Flight trajectories consume autistic ten-year-old Lester's thoughts: those of meteors, planes, even kickballs.
Up till now Lester has led a sheltered, home-schooled life, but Lester's astronaut father has died, the family's
savings have dwindled, and his mother takes a full-time job. Suddenly, Lester finds that his own trajectory is
about to change: he'll now have to attend public school, with a realistically portrayed about-to-retire teacher
who is not thrilled to have him in her class, no less. Fortunately, Lester finds a friend in classmate Abby--
that is, until a new student joins the class and steals Abby away.
If readers accept the fact that Lester has never heard of autism (despite his mother being a librarian), there is
plenty to enjoy in this story of friendship, bullying, education, and community. Lester's literal perceptions
are often different from what the adults (and readers) understand, providing insight into his character,
especially surrounding his relationship with Abby and his ideas of what a friend should be. And that's a
superstar message for all readers. ED SPICER
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Spicer, Ed. "Superstar." The Horn Book Magazine, July-Aug. 2017, p. 130+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A500260360/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=77a1af16.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A500260360
QUOTED: "excellent."
"This unsentimental portrait of an endearing and memorable protagonist offers powerful insight into living with autism."
Superstar
Publishers Weekly.
264.18 (May 1, 2017): p59.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Superstar
Mandy Davis. Harper, $16.99 (336p) ISBN 9780-06-237777-7
In an excellent first novel, Davis channels the idiosyncratic perspective and voice of Lester, a 10-year-old
stargazet, as he makes the difficult transition from homeschooling to fifth grade. Layers of unspoken grief
for Lester's astronaut father, who died five years earlier, loom large, especially because Lester's mother
resists her son's avid interest in space. When she takes a job at the library and Lester starts school, Davis
strongly sketches how his personality and quirks make for a difficult adjustment: Lester struggles with a
bully, can't stand the cacophony of the cafeteria, lacks tact and social skills, calls out in class, and doesn't
handle schedule changes well. Lester is an immensely sympathetic narrator as he navigates a friendship with
a fashion-forward classmate, competes in the science fair, and participates in a kickball game. When he
opens an official letter addressed to his mother, he discovers that he's been diagnosed with "autism spectrum
disorder" and works to understand what that means. This unsentimental portrait of an endearing and
memorable protagonist offers powerful insight into living with autism. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jennifer
Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Superstar." Publishers Weekly, 1 May 2017, p. 59. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491575365/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=abd945fa.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491575365
Scientifically Minded Kids
Rob Reid
Booklist.
114.5 (Nov. 1, 2017): pS40.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
This issue's column features good read-aloud books that feature both boys and girls who have aptitudes in
some aspects of science. The "10-Minute Selections" have been chosen to help promote the book to young
readers or for an adult to share with kids if there isn't enough time to read the entire book.
Autism
Superstar. By Mandy Davis. 2017. Harper, $16.99 (9780062377777). Gr. 4-6.
Ten-year-old Lester lost his astronaut father in a mission disaster. When his mother gets a job as a librarian,
Lester, who has been homeschooled, must now attend fifth grade at a public school. School is hard for him
to understand because he depends on his routines and often takes things very literally. But there is one
subject he is especially good at: science.
10-Minute Selection: Read the chapter titled "A Question." Lester informs his teacher he has an idea for his
science project on flying. He is upset when he learns that his mother must sign a permission form. Continue
reading the next chapter, titled "Permission." Mom, indeed, tells Lester he must choose another topic. The
chapter ends with Lester punching his pillow over and over.
Biology
The Nora Notebooks: The Trouble with Ants. By Claudia Mills. Illus. by Katie Kath. 2015. Knopf, $14.99
(9780385391610). Gr. 3-5.
Nora's goal is to become the youngest person to "have a research paper published in a peer-reviewed science
journal." She decides to work on her favorite topic: ants.
10-Minute Selection: Read the middle portion of chapter three, beginning with the sentence, "In the kitchen,
she cut through the tape on the box with a pair of shears and opened the lid." Nora has received a plastic ant
farm and a supply of live ants. To appease her worried mother, Nora shakes the ant tube to prove they
cannot get out. Of course, they do. End the reading with the following line: "The few remaining ants were
never seen again, except for one that provoked a scream from her mother a day or two later and got itself
squashed to death with a wadded paper towel."
Competition
The Amazing Wilmer Dooley. By Fowler DeWitt. Illus. by Rodolfo Montalvo. 2014. Atheneum, $16.99
(9781442498549). Gr. 4-6.
This sequel follows Wilmer and several young scientists participating in the Forty-Fifth Annual State
Science Fair and Consortium. Wilmer's project centers around the plague and leeches. Standing in Wilmer's
way is his archnemesis, Claudius Dill.
10-Minute Selection: Read the second half of chapter three, beginning with the line, "Claudius seethed,
steam practically rising from his ears like an overheated teapot." Claudius is jealous of Wilmer and wants to
put him in his place by winning first prize at the science fair. Claudius teams up with his cousin Vlad. The
chapter ends with the sentence, "Vlad eyed Claudius, smiled, and then echoed Claudius's cackle."
Inventions
Ruby Goldberg's Bright Idea. By Anna Humphrey. Illus. by Vanessa Brantley Newton. 2014. Simon &
Schuster, $15.99 (9781442480278). Gr. 3-5.
The school science fair is 10-year-old Ruby's "favorite thing of the year. This year, Ruby decides to make a
type of contraption to help her grandfather, who has just lost his dog, Tomato. Ruby's invention will help
fetch the newspaper and slippers.
10-Minute Selection: Read the first section of chapter five. Ruby has not only taken her older sister's
shoelaces for her invention but she's also "borrowed" hangers from her sister's closet, her sister's earrings,
her mother's binder clips, a rubber mat, her father's ruler, and "the coiled-up cable from our yard." Ruby is
caught red-handed. The section ends with the sentence, "And, anyway, what was the big deal about
borrowing some old shoelaces and a few wire hangers when it was all in the name of science?"
Rob Reid's latest book is Reaching Reluctant Young Readers, published in spring 2017 by Rowman &
Littlefield.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Reid, Rob. "Scientifically Minded Kids." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2017, p. S40. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515383155/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=13d920cf.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515383155