Interview: What’s your new book ‘Lola in the Middle’ about?

Lola in the Middle is the eighth novel for girls that author Cecily Anne Paterson has written. It’s also the third book in her Kangaroo Valley School Series.

What’s Lola in the Middle about?

The story is based on real life events of a few years ago, when a team of Year Six girls from Kangaroo Valley School made it all the way through the Netball Knockout competition to compete at the State Finals. It was crazy! Our school was tiny, in an area not known to be strong for netball, and yet somehow, we were good enough to compete against massive schools in areas with a strong netball culture.

Tell us about Lola, the main character.

Lola’s a peacemaker. She hates conflict and is good at fixing things so that other people feel better, but at the moment she carries quite a few burdens.

Problem number 1 is in Lola’s family. She’s the only child of career-focused parents. Her dad is in the Navy and goes away for six months at a time. Her mum is a lead engineer on a big road project in the area and is struggling with keeping her focus on her job while being a single parent for half the year. Lola’s nervous that her parents might be heading for a separation as they don’t seem to be able to solve their differences. If she can work things out for them, she thinks she might be able to keep them together.

Problem number 2 is Lola’s friends. When she arrived at Kangaroo Valley School in Year 4, she immediately became best friends with Indiana and Tasha. She has fun with them both, but they get sulky and annoyed easily. Also, they can’t stand each other! Lola’s caught in the middle, keeping the peace and trying to make their lives easier so they don’t get upset.

None of this is very good for Lola herself. Her big challenge in the book is how much she’s going to stand up for herself, and let go of feeling responsible for her friends and her parents.

You’ve written in some based-on-real-life characters. Why did you do that?

Mariella the netball coach and Mrs Robinson the Year 6 teacher are both entirely their real selves in this book. I asked their permission to put them in, and happily they said yes. Both are wonderful people and they translate fantastically well to the page. I love to write a real character because I’m pretty lazy. Writing real people makes my writer life easy. I don’t have to come up with any extra ideas, because the character already exists. I just reach for what I know of her and write it down.

Lola gets Type 1 diabetes in the book. Why did you put this in? Do you have any personal experience with diabetes?

I’m not a diabetic (I had Type 2 diabetes in pregnancy once) but I’ve known a few people with Type 1 diabetes over the years.

The diabetes came about because I needed a significant reason for Lola to begin to look after herself. She’s such a peacemaker that she always puts herself last, but you can’t do that if you’ve got a condition that might threaten your life. People with diabetes always have to be aware of their bodies, their blood sugar and how they feel, or they can get very ill very quickly. Lola needed something significant so that she would change her habits.

It was tricky to write the diabetes sections. I didn’t want to focus on the medical details too much, because that’s not what the book’s about, and yet I also didn’t want to minimise it, because it does change a child’s life when they get it. I did some research and had some medical people and parents of diabetic children read through the details to make sure it was close to reality. *Please – see medical professionals if you think you have diabetes. My little novel is not a reference or diagnostic tool.*

Are you a netball player?

I’d love to be good at netball and ball sports in general, but I’m sadly not. I have slow reflexes and these days, a middle-aged fear of injury. My daughter played netball (she was in this very team that got to State) and loved it. I learned a lot watching her games and was impressed by the way it is truly a team sport. Actually, that’s something that comes out in the book. All the girls had to work together to succeed; they couldn’t rely on one person’s talent alone.

Who should read Lola in the Middle?

I want to say all girls between 9-12, but that’s pretty broad. Let’s see…

Girls who like netball will obviously enjoy this story, but it’s not just a sports book. Readers who enjoy realistic stories about friendship and real-life relationship issues will enjoy it. Kids who like stories set in Australia will enjoy the Aussie-ness of it.

Parents of ‘peacemaker’ children who get easily trodden on may find Lola in the Middle a useful book to read with their child, or refer to in discussions. A kid who’s struggling with difficult friendships might enjoy it. And a child who’s been given a leadership position will find it useful.

When does Lola in the Middle come out?

Official release date is 15 May, but you can start ordering sneaky early copies right now.