We chat with author and illustrator José Pimienta about Halfway To Somewhere, which explores identity, understanding family, making friends with a language barrier, and above all else, learning what truly makes a place a home.
Hi, José! Welcome back! It’s been about five years since you last joined us, how have you been?
Hello! Thank you for having me back. A lot has happened in five years, huh? I’ve been well. Grateful to be able to continue making comics and trying to stay healthy. I hope you’re also well.
When did you first discover your love for stories and illustrating?
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t into stories or illustrating. I’ve always been fascinated with that. But I do remember a time around late elementary school when I started noticing that I was into drawing a little more than most. And I also remember feeling some type of kinship with other classmates who also loved drawing or were that into storytelling. Nowadays I’m just shocked that I’ve been able to make a profession out of it. Because I still love it so much.
Your latest graphic novel, Halfway To Somewhere, is out February 18th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Ooof – Let’s see: Mexican Kid Meets Tough Americanisms.
Lemme try another one – Mexican Kid Confronts Their Background.
One more, one more- Mexican Coming Of Age in Kansas. (Bit of a cheat- but I tried-)
What can readers expect?
An introspective journey about getting to know a new Home Town, complex family dynamics are normal, and what’s it like to arrive in a place one has no interest in being at, but may have to learn how to adapt without having to abandon one’s roots.
They can also expect a colorful story with beautiful scenery, fun characters, witty banter and praise for more comics. Also to learn a bit about relay racing. It’s a packed script.
Where did the inspiration for Halfway To Somewhere come from?
Several seeds brought this story. My agent, Elizabeth, was fascinated for my passion for walking long distances and thought I could use that as a base for a story (She was right). Similarly, at the time I was learning a lot about language discrimination and linguistics, so I wanted to play with that. I was also inspired by a family trip that was a pilgrimage of sorts. And lastly, at the time of conceptualizing, I was spending a lot of time with other Mexican-American cartoonists and multicultural creators, so we were having a lot of discussions about heritage, assimilation, losing culture, gaining culture, etc. So, there seemed to be a lot of elements that I wanted to put into narrative, but with the awesome guidance of my editor, Whitney, we were able to build the best version of this story.
Did you face any challenges? How did you overcome them?
Yes. Some of the challenges were technical, such as how will I color a beautiful mountain range if I don’t know how to paint? I overcame that by asking other painter friends how to approach it while keeping the method time efficient and making it look simple. I think I did okay with the results. Another challenge was the language – the main character, Ave, doesn’t speak English well, so most of their dialogues are in Spanish with their family, but the story takes place in Kansas with other English speakers, so… in comics subtitles are not a good route because of limited real estate on the page. So, we came up with two colors for text. One for Spanish and one for English. There’s other solutions to this challenge, but that’s the one I went with.
What’s your pitch to adults considering Halfway To Somewhere, whether it’s for a kid or stocking in their library or bookstore?
A Mexican kid moves to a new place in middle America with half of their family, while waiting for the other half that may not come. In the meantime, they will get to know the city by walking around and making friends they may have more in common with than they first assumed.
What do you hope readers take away from Halfway To Somewhere?
Home is where you’re happy and you can have multiple homes. Also, give new people a chance. They may become better friends than you think. Walking is fun, healthy and can help you find beauty in the everyday scenery (I love walking). Lastly, national borders are hard on everyone who’s involved (specially right now).
What’s next for you?
I have two more books coming out later this year- one is a picture book written by Rachel G. Payne called “Lets Rumble” And it’s a very sweet book about learning how to safely play to rough-and-tumble. And another graphic novel by Allan Wolf titled “The Vanishing of Lake Peigneur” about a drilling accident in Louisiana in 1980. But as for next book, I’m currently working on a new book I’m writing and drawing. It hasn’t been announced, so… I can’t share many details. But it is more Mexicans doing Mexican fun stuff.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
Sea Legs by Jules Bakes and Nikki Smith. You HAVE TO read this book. I’m not even going to tell you a premise. Just go read it. It’s amazing.
I’m excited for Crumble by Meredith McClaren and Andrea Bell. I love it when two artists I like a lot make something together.
Speak up, Santiago by Julio Anta and Gabi Mendez. Love both of their work, so… clearly, I’m excited.
There’s a lot more, but I’ll keep it to those three for now.
