Rockstar Tours: JULIA AND THE SHARK (Kiran Millwood Hargrave & Tom de Freston), Excerpt & Giveaway! ~US ONLY

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the JULIA AND THE SHARK by Kiran Millwood Hargrave & Tom de Freston Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:

Title: JULIA AND THE SHARK

Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave & Tom de Freston
(Illustrations)

Pub. Date: March 28, 2023

Publisher: Union Square Kids

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Pages: 224

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/JULIA-AND-THE-SHARK 

“Deep beautiful, and true–a
classic from cover to cover.”
–#1 New York Times bestselling author Eoin Colfer

There are more secrets in the ocean than in the sky…

Ten-year-old Julia loves the mysteries of the ocean and marine biology, just
like her scientist mother. Her family is spending the summer on a remote island
where her mom is searching for the elusive Greenland shark, a creature that
might be older than the trees, and so rare that it’s only been seen a few
times.

But the ocean is reluctant to give up its secrets, and Julia tries not to worry
as her mother returns disappointed at the end of each day.

Determined to prove that the shark is real, Julia sets off on a quest to find
it herself, armed with a set of coordinates, a compass, and her trusty rain
jacket.

She soon realizes that there are some journeys you shouldn’t go on alone. As
Julia comes face to face with the dark and wondrous truths of the sea, she
finds the strength to leave the shark in the depths and kick up towards the
light.

Through a unique blend of poetic prose and stunning illustrations, Julia
and the Shark tells an unforgettable story full of dark depths and
starry skies, courage and hope. 

This lyrical, deeply moving middle grade novel about one family’s fierce love
and resilience is perfect for starting conversations about mental health and
how it’s okay to not be okay.

Excerpt:

Interview with the Author:

1. What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

Kiran: I read about Greenland sharks on the BBC website a few years ago, and immediately thought they were way stranger and more amazing than fiction. A shark that can live for up to 800 years? It sounds impossible! So I knew I wanted to put them in a book, but it was another year or so until we found the shape of tale to form around it. Tom and I had been looking for the right story to create together for years, but we had to wait over a decade for Julia and the Shark to arrive! And ‘arrive’ is the right word – I was sitting at my desk one day and a girl called Julia walked into my mind and said, ‘There are more secrets in the ocean than in the sky’, which is now the first line of the book.

Tom: I can remember Kiran running downstairs to read me these first lines, to introduce me to this astonishing character of depth and complexity. It soon became clear that the art in the book could be a way to translate Julia’s internal world, full of big emotions and complex feelings, into imagery. Once the Greenland Shark swan into view it was obvious that it could serve as a powerful metaphor within the visual architecture of the book.

2. Who is your favorite character in the book?

Kiran: I love Noodle, Julia’s cat. Personally, I think every book is improved with the presence of an animal, and Noodle is a wonderful character: a sea-going cat that hates water but loves her humans and eats fancy tuna. She’s based on my cat Noodle, who was the runt of the litter and brave as a tiger.

Tom: I think it is the Greenland Shark, both as metaphor for the depths of Julia’s inner world but also due to the unbelievable facts about this almost mythic creature, swimming slowly in the deepest, darkest, coldest waters.

3. Which came first, the title or the novel?

Kiran: Usually for me titles come first, but then they change. With this story, the title came naturally once the ingredients were in place and stayed the same – this is very much a story of two parts, Julia’s and the shark’s. I’m in charge of telling Julia’s story in the book, and Tom tells the shark’s through images.

4. What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

Kiran: Weirdly, the one with the least words! This book is different from many with pictures, because the art doesn’t only illustrate the text, it tells whole chunks of the story at points, becoming more like a graphic novel. So it would be the climax of the book, when Julia’s adventure reaches its most dangerous point, and the words fall back and the images rise up and it all becomes very dark and exciting. That’s when the book really achieves what we wanted it to.

5. Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer/artist from then to now?

Kiran: Trusting my voice as a writer. My career began with a lot of rejections – nineteen to be precise – for my first book, which focused on the fact my writing was lyrical, my subject matter quite dark, and my book shorter than others on the market. I was told over and over there wasn’t a market for my book. But these are now things I see as strengths – turns out people like lyrical, short, dark books!

6. What do you like most about the cover of the book?

Kiran: The colours. I think the purples are such a gorgeous, sunset-y colour. It feels bold and beautiful and playful, just like I hope the book is.

Tom: The way the sea is also the sky, studded with a scattering of stars.

7. What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2023?

Kiran: For adults, Samantha Shannon’s A Day of Fallen Night is my must read, and for kids I’m so excited for Angie Thomas’ debut middle grade novel, Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy. I’ve devoured and loved everything she’s written so far, and I’m sure this will be no different. I’m also very ready for Jessica Townsend’s fourth Nevermoor book, Silverborn.

8. What was your favorite book in 2022?

Kiran: For adults, Trust by Hernan Diaz still reverberates around my mind. For kids, Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah series continues to go from strength to strength – I think they are such a clever blend of imagination and myth.

9. What’s up next for you?

Kiran: We welcomed our long-wished-for first child in January, so I’m spending a lot of this year getting to know her and reading whenever I have a spare moment. I already feel so full of ideas for future stories. And I have three books coming out this year, two in the US: Julia and the Shark of course, and then a novel for adults called The Dance Tree (HarperVia). In the UK I’m launching a new series called The Geomancer in August. Tom and I are plotting our next collaboration too. So keeping busy!

10. Is there anything that you would like to add?

11. Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate/depict?

Kiran: Definitely the scene when Julia first notices her mum is ill. She immediately blames herself and that was painful to write, because it’s a feeling I recognize: wanting to be able to control a situation and therefore thinking you are the cause of things outside your control. It’s something a lot of kids do – take responsibility for their parents’ happiness – when it’s not healthy to do that.

Tom: The dream sequences, because I wanted them to not feel like a cliché of a dream, so I was trying to find a new language and methodology to try and capture the slipperiness of those moments between wake and sleep, when fears can fly in lie a murmuration of birds through the door and worries can lurk and swell beneath the floorboards.

12. Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?

Kiran: Mum. She was hard to balance between being a loving, caring mother, which she is, a successful scientist who loves her job that often takes her away from her family, which it does, and someone with mental illness, which she has. I needed the reader to love her, and also see that she is not her illness, which was quite hard to do.

13. Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?

Kiran: Both have hard and wonderful components, but there’s nothing like writing that first draft – like a shark you have to keep swimming forward or you drown, and I find that very exciting.

14. What would you say is your superpower?

Kiran: Empathy. I find it very easy to imagine and feel into other people’s emotions, which aside from being helpful as a writer, makes me an attentive and caring friend and partner too.

15. Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?

Kiran: Two of my major passions are women’s literacy in developing countries, and animal conservation/rights. I support foundations educating women and girls in India, where my mum is from, and animal sanctuaries around the world, from the UK to India and Greece.

Kiran and Tom

About Kiran Millwood Hargrave:

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a poet, playwright, and author.
Her books for children and young adults include the bestselling The Girl of Ink
& Stars, The Island at the End of Everything, The Way Past Winter, and A
Secret of Birds & Bone (2020). The Deathless Girls was her first YA novel.
Her debut novel for adults is The Mercies (February 2020).

Between them, her children’s books have won numerous awards
including Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, the
Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Historical Association Young Quills
Award, and the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year. They have been
shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize, the Little Rebels Prize, the Branford Boase
Award, the Blue Peter Best Story Award, Costa Children’s Book Prize, and
Foyles’ Children’s Book of the Year, amongst others.

The Mercies debuted at number one of the The Times bestseller
list, is a Sunday Time bestseller, and was selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book
Club. It is listed for the prestigious Prix Femina in France, and was called
‘unquestionably the book of the 2018 London Book Fair’ by The Bookseller.

Kiran lives
in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and their rescue cat,
Luna.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

About Tom de Freston:

Tom de
Freston is an artist based in Oxford with his wife, Kiran Millwood Hargrave.
His practice is dedicated to the construction of multimedia worlds, combining
paintings, film and performance into immersive visceral narratives.

Website | Instagram | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of JULIA AND THE SHARK, US Only.

Ends April 4th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway