Intro Hello everyone and welcome to the Books Between podcast! If you love to read, if you are a fan of middle grade, if you want to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love, then you have found the podcast for you! I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a mom of an 8 and 10 year old, a 5th grade teacher, and lately - spending a lot of time on the sidelines of lacrosse fields and tennis courts. But - that gives me more time to read! This is Episode #29 and today I am welcoming author Corey Ann Haydu to the show to chat about her recent middle grade novel, The Someday Suitcase, and then in the book talk segment, I’ll be chatting about two fantastic new books about friendship. Main Topic - Interview with Corey Ann Haydu This week I am excited to welcome to the show Corey Ann Haydu. She is both a Young Adult AND Middle Grade author.  Her most recent YA novel The Careful Undressing of Love was released just this past January. And you might know her from her debut middle grade book Rules for Stealing Stars.  On today’s show, we chat about snow globes, guilt reading, cheese and - of course! - her latest middle grade novel The Someday Suitcase. The Someday Suitcase Tell us about The Someday Suitcase - what is this book about? One of the aspects of this book that I loved was how it shows that a true, deep best friend can bring a little magic into your life.    Did you have a best friend growing up? Clover is a very science-minded person. Do you have a science background? There is often this mix and a bit of tension between magic & science in the book.   Do you see science and magic as compatible? I loved all the metaphors in this book - like the snow globe! At one point Clover’s teacher says, “Sometimes you have to turn something over and upside down to really see it.”   How did you pick the snow globe to be a central part of the story? This is a book about so many things! Friendship, and science, and codependency, and snow, and but maybe ultimately about realizing that a loss can also help reveal a different part of yourself that has been dormant.  I don’t want to reveal too much of what form that loss takes for Clover and Danny, but… Can you talk a bit about how you decided on the ending?   Writing Life You recently moved… I can imagine that a move might be fairly disruptive to writer. What were the top three things you had to have in place so that you felt like you had a writing space again? I saw somewhere (maybe Instagram) that you had posted this really inspiring quote from the book BONE by Yrsa Daley-Ward and it says, “If you’re afraid to write it, that’s a good sign. I suppose you know you’re writing the truth when you’re terrified.” Did any part of writing The Someday Suitcase scare you? When we first started talking a few months ago, you mentioned how your first school visits were a combination of exhausting and exhilarating. When you are visiting schools, how do you keep that balance between bringing your full passionate self and also maintaining your energy level?   Your Reading Life What have you been reading lately that you’ve liked? How do you decide what to read next?   Book Talk - Two Fantastic Books about Friendship In this part of the show, I share with you a few books centered around a theme and discuss three things to love about each book. (Yes - I love the number three! But also - I just need limits!) This week I can’t wait to share with you two books that have been on my mind lately. Both feature girls just venturing into middle school. Both are about what happens when friendships collide over crushes. And both are ultimately about reclaiming a part of yourself that was lost. So, they are - 14 Hollow Road by Jenn Bishop and Bubbles by Abby Cooper. 14 Hollow Road First up this week is 14 Hollow Road by Jenn Bishop. You might know her from her previous middle grade book, The Distance to Home. This novel is about Maddie. And the night of the sixth-grade dance, a tornado hits parts of her town and destroys her home.