We chat with Melissa Hart about her upcoming middle grade novel, Daisy Woodworm Changes the World!
Hi, Melissa! Thanks for joining us. Will you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hey there! Thanks for chatting with me. I’m originally from Hawthorne and Oxnard, in Southern California. I grew up with a brother who has Down syndrome, and I taught both adults and 3rd graders with developmental and physical disabilities for a decade out of college. I’ve worked as a journalist and creative writing teacher for the past 21 years. I’m also the author of the middle-grade novel Avenging the Owl, which was an Oregon Battle of the Books selection in 2019, and I wrote Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens.
What inspired your writing journey? Did you always want to become an author?
My mother was a journalist, and I grew up watching her write articles and short stories on her electric typewriter in her little home office tucked into a corner of the garage. She noticed my interest and taught me to type, then told me to write a short story and showed me how to submit it to a magazine. I wrote about a girl in the hospital who befriends a white tiger cub. It didn’t get published, but I had poetry in Cat Fancy when I was 15, as well as a short story in Scholastic Voice which went to freshmen all over the country. I interned for two different newspapers in high school, and ended up earning an MFA in Creative Writing.
Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
I adored everything Madeleine L’Engle wrote for kids and teens when I was growing up. My fifth-grade teacher read A Wrinkle in Time aloud to us, and Meg’s story captivated me. I adored L’Engle’s female young adult characters; they were often dreamy, artistic, and struggling to find their place in the world . . . like me. Their presence gave me hope and inspiration; I want to give those same things to young readers in my own books.
Now, onto Daisy Woodworm Changes the World! What can readers expect?
Oh, great question! Readers can expect:
- A close, supportive relationship between Daisy, who has a lisp, and Sorrel who has Down syndrome. They bicker because they’re siblings, but they adore each other.
- Parents who figure out a creative, if humiliating, way to make money after Mom gets laid off. Wait’ll you read the description of their Poop Fairy pickup! Cringe-worthy.
- A blueprint, courtesy of Daisy’s teacher, for how kids can improve the world with a specific project. Bonus: Discussions of real-life kids who’ve done just this!
- Inspiring examples of how to be a friend and an ally to people with disabilities.
- Stories of real-life people with Down syndrome who work as actors, athletes, public speakers, etc.
- Plenty of angst around the topic of bullying, but plenty of laugh-out-loud humor, too.
Daisy Woodworm Changes the World is your second middle-grade novel. Is it related to your first novel, Avenging the Owl?
Actually, yes. The books are related in a couple of ways. First, each includes cool scientific details about the natural world. Daisy, as an amateur entomologist, has Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects in her bedroom as pets. She also shares fascinating facts about insects’ stranger skills throughout the story. In Avenging the Owl, 14-year-old Solo Hahn has to do community service at a raptor rehabilitation center, and he learns all about how to care for injured and orphaned birds of prey. I packed that novel full of cool raptor facts.
Like Daisy, Avenging includes a main character who has Down syndrome. Eric is nature-obsessed, and teaches Solo—who’s from Redondo Beach—all about Oregon’s flora and fauna. Middle-grade characters with Down syndrome are difficult to find, and I felt that it was so important to give readers authentic representations of people like my brother.
This book has got it all – middle-school track stars, Poop Fairies, a giant white house rabbit – What inspired you to write Daisy Woodworm Changes the World?
I wrote a piece for The Oregonian in 2015, after actress Jamie Brewer became the first model with Down syndrome to walk the runway during New York Fashion Week. In the essay, I wrote about my brother who has long adored men’s fashion and GQ Magazine. I got to thinking of what his life might have looked like if he’d had social media as a teen–he’s so charismatic and funny that he would have been a YouTube/TikTok influencer, for sure—and the idea for the story began to germinate. I’ve been a runner since I was 12-years-old, so it felt natural to make Daisy a middle-school track star along with her best friend, Poppy.
Daisy’s brother Sorrel is also a runner and competes on his Special Olympics team. He balances sports with a full load of high school classes, plus work as a janitor. Is this a realistic portrayal of a young adult with Down syndrome?
Oh my gosh, yes. People with Down syndrome have competed in Ironman Triathlons, launched their own businesses, and starred in feature-length films. I’ve written a couple of pieces about Abigail Adams, who reviewed an early copy of Daisy with her father; she goes by “Abigail the Advocate,” and she’s a model and athlete and public speaker who recently launched Shimma–her own line of makeup and athletic wear. Down syndrome is a genetic condition that can affect physical and intellectual development, but with early intervention from skilled therapists, people with this condition live rich, full, productive lives.
While this book has some really sad moments—both Daisy and Sorrel are bullied, Sorrel’s longtime girlfriend breaks up with him at a dance, and there’s a heartbreaking scene involving their parents—there are also some really funny sections in Daisy’s middle-school classroom, on the track during practice, and when Daisy and Sorrel are hanging out with Poppy and an unexpected new friend (no spoilers!) Did you have a favorite scene to write?
That’s a great question. I adored researching fun facts about insects and making them part of Daisy’s knowledge base, and I really liked writing the scenes about running because they brought back great memories of running on my high school cross-country and track team. But I’d have to say that my favorite scene takes place on a beach where I used to run; a professional photographer is taking Sorrel’s photo for social media purposes, and Daisy and her classmate Miguel walk on the beach. He used to bully her for her lisp, but she sees that he’s matured, and she teaches him about sand crabs and how scientists are studying their burrowing habits as a model for machines that can burrow down to test the health of soil. In this scene, each character is empowered and kind and recognized for their individual strengths; it just makes me so happy.
With Daisy Woodworm Changes The World publishing on November 8th, are you working on another project? If so, can you share a little about it?
I’m working on a middle-grade prequel to Daisy, and the protagonist is one of her classmates. It’s tentatively titled Kristen Rockefeller Saves the World, and it’s about a girl who suffers from PTSD after temporary homelessness with her parents. She finds a way to heal herself through volunteering as a math tutor and beekeeper at the local family shelter, but she’s deeply lonely, and when Daisy and Poppy and two other runners from her class encourage her to join the cross-county team, she accepts even though she loathes running.
Last but not least, do you have some book recommendations for our readers?
For middle grade, J.R. Silver Writes Her World by Melissa Dassori; it’s so smart and creative and thought-provoking. Also Flip Turns by Catherine Arguelles about a 13-year-old competitive swimmer. And the entire “Track” series by Jason Reynolds. For young adult, Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon—the protagonist is a high school student with Down syndrome who goes on a search for her missing boyfriend, and the characterization feels so authentic. It continues the conversation that Daisy starts about the vulnerability and the passions of young people with this condition.
