Today we are very excited to share a special interview with author’s Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman (The N.O.A.H. Files: I Am the Walrus)!
Read on to learn more about them, their book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Neal Shusterman
Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of over thirty books, including Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award; Scythe, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; Dry, which he cowrote with his son, Jarrod Shusterman; and Unwind, which won more than thirty domestic and international awards. He invites you to visit him online at storyman.com.
Website * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook
Meet the Author: Eric Elfman
Eric Elfman is a screenwriter and the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Very Scary Almanac and Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive (an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers); and coauthor of the popular Tesla’s Attic trilogy. He invites you to visit him on Twitter @Eric_Elfman.
About the Book: The N.O.A.H. Files: I Am The Walrus
Eoin Colfer meets Rick Riordan—with a little Margaret Peterson Haddix sprinkled on top—in this hilarious new sci-fi series from award-winning authors Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman.
When fourteen-year-old Noah falls from the trees on his classmate Sahara, he doesn’t understand how, or why, he would have been up there. It’s just one more in a string of strange things happening to Noah lately.
Like when he keels over and every muscle in his body freezes when confronted by bullies. And when he vanishes into the background at a moment he doesn’t want to be noticed. And when he unexpectedly blasts Sahara with a bird shriek while flapping his arms uncontrollably in the middle of a school dance. What does it all mean? And why do there suddenly seem to be so many mysterious people trying to kill him?
Noah’s friend Ogden has an idea…but like all of Ogden’s ideas, it’s out there. Way out there…
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
NS: We were thinking about all the changes adolescents go through, both physically and emotionally, and thought “what if we took a kid and gave him extreme stuff to deal with. But it was the idea of a “human arc” that really intrigued us. The idea of being able to recreate every animal on earth from a single drop of his blood…
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
NS: For me it would be Ogden – Noah’s neuro-divergent friend, who is almost as brilliant at solving problems as he is at creating them!
EE: I agree — Ogden was so much fun to write. Sometimes he surprised even us with his problem-solving.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
NS: The idea for the novel came first – the original working title was “The Fate of Noah Prime,” but then when we decided the titles of each book in the series would be a classic song title, I AM THE WALRUS just popped right out! The series itself was a little harder to name.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
EE: The scene that may have been the most difficult to write was the final sequence at Fossil Fest. It takes up nearly the last quarter of the book. So many things had to happen, and there were so many characters we had to keep track of. And since it’s the climax of the book, it really had to pay off. Luckily, all the pieces came together and it came out as exciting and as funny as I hoped it would!
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
NS: Definitely the importance of revision. Nothing’s ever done the first time you write it! Also, the importance of letting characters drive the story. Forcing characters to follow an outline turns you into a puppet-master, and the characters don’t feel real. Yes, I always have an outline, but the characters subvert it, and I end up having to throw most of it away, and restructure. The story is always better for it!
EE: I learn so much whenever I write with Neal! For instance, when we first started the book, we were having trouble coming up with the opening line of the novel. We each came up with a few but we weren’t happy with any of them. Then Neal wrote the opening sentence we ended up using, “Well, at least nobody died.” Not only was it the perfect opener, even more important was what Neal said right after he wrote it: “Well, that’ll keep ‘em reading.”
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
NS: That the initial concept art was created by my daughter, Erin, who just graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design. Then Jim Madsen and Sammy Yuen did an amazing job taking that concept and creating a great cover!
EE: I love the cover! The publisher originally sent us sketches of different cover ideas, but none of them particularly struck our fancy. Then we came up with the idea of a boy’s silhouette with all of these animals crammed inside of him, and Neal’s daughter did a concept illustration. I thought the artists the publisher chose for the final cover did a fantastic job.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
NS: Courage to Dream – A holocaust-themed graphic novel that I’ve been working on for ten years. It comes out at the end of October, and I’m very excited for it! Andrés Vera Martinez did the artwork, and it’s spectacular!
EE: For the two of us, we’re working on the second book in The Noah Files right now.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
EE: Fine-tuning Noah’s responses to the things that were happening to him may have been the trickiest thing we tackled. It had to be funny, but it also had to stay grounded, and be true to what a real kid would think and do if these things really started happening.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
NS: Our bodies and minds go through weird things as we’re growing up. I’m hoping Noah’s absurd experiences resonate with readers, and allow them to laugh at themselves, instead of stressing out about things.
EE: The main thing I hope Readers get from this book is how much they enjoyed reading it. If it makes them laugh out loud, that would be a bonus. Maybe “reading is fun” is the main takeaway.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
NS: Write! Don’t just say you want to write – actually DO it! Rewrite! Rewriting is the most important part of the writing process. Read! You can’t be a writer if you’re not a reader – and read outside of your comfort zone! Persevere! There are a lot of hurdles and obstacles along the way, but if you persevere, you’ll overcome them!
EE: I have to echo Neal here. The best piece of writing advice I ever heard was when I was a teenager, listening to an established author (I wish I could remember his name!) on a radio talkshow. The writer said “Just keep writing. There are so many opportunities to get your work in print, just keep writing and you will get published.” And I thought to myself, I can do that.
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
NS: We hope that readers enjoy I AM THE WALRUS, and we can’t wait to finish the next book in the series – SHOCK THE MONKEY!
Title: The N.O.A.H. Files: I Am the Walrus
Author/Illustrator: Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman
Release Date: 4/11/2023
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0759555249
ISBN-13: 9780759555242
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Age Range: 8-12
~ Giveaway Details ~
Three (3) winners will receive a copy of The N.O.A.H. Files: I Am The Walrus (Neal Schusterman and Eric Elfman) ~US Only!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
Do you have any advice for new writers?
I NEED this book in my middle school library!
This is a fun cover and I think my daughter would really enjoy this story!
The cover is eye-catching and this sounds intriguing.