When Lorie Ann Grover was young, she wanted to dance. But her body kept growing, refusing to cooperate. So, instead of giving up her dream, she redirected her passion
The first thing one notices about Lorie Ann Grover is her positive spirit! If you are facing a roadblock, don’t ask Grover for advice if you are just looking for someone to give you permission to quit. When she grew too tall to continue in ballet, for example, she shifted her passion to art, and came to understand that, regardless of her height, it is her love of dance that makes her a dancer at heart. She poured this love of dance and the challenge of heartbreak into Clare, the main character of her novel, On Pointe (Margaret K. McElderry, 2004). In fact, it’s hard to imagine that this award-winning book would exist at all if it were not for Grover’s determination to keep dance in her own life. On Pointe is the current Readergirlz selection of the month, and has been named a Girls' Life Magazine Top Ten Summer Read, the Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, and a Dorothy Canfield Fisher Top Ten Book of 2006.
Mechele R. Dillard: Your love of dance is evident in On Pointe, but is Clare’s struggle to find the dancer within her heart actually your struggle?
Lorie Ann Grover: Oh, definitely, Mechele! On Pointe is about 70% of what truly happened to me. While I was writing the book, I was still trying to believe that I am a dancer at heart even though I no longer dance ballet. I can say I do believe that now.
MRD: When Lorie Ann Grover grew too tall to continue with classical dance, was she as devastated by the realization as Clare?
LAG: I was totally devastated. More than Clare. I couldn't be in the room if ballet came on the TV. I couldn't go to see dance troupes perform. I did make myself go see my former classmate Deirdre Carberry dance a pas de deux with Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Little Ballet. But I was so upset that I hadn't succeeded and she had, that my eyes swelled shut with hives! I had to try and pry them open to see the performance. It was such a relief to write On Pointe and make Clare's final choice different than my own. When my career ended, I didn't dance again for twenty-five years!
MRD: On Pointe is written in a style recalling free verse poetry rather than prose fiction, as are your debut novel, Loose Threads and the more recent Hold Me Tight. Did you have a particular author/poet/mentor in mind when you began styling manuscripts as “novel en verse?”
LAG: My editor Emma Dryden was the one who pointed me to the novel in verse format. I had been busy writing picture books and actually sold Loose Threads as a picture book to another house. When the editor moved on, no one else was up for the project. When I submitted the work to Emma, she encouraged me to try writing a novel in verse like Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust. I also had recently finished a poetry class taught by Janet Wong. Fueled by Emma's idea and Janet's teaching and energy, the novel in verse form fit my voice instantly.
MRD: Was the form—particularly the lack of chapters—a point of discussion?
LAG: The form in On Pointe was discussed. Unlike my other two novels, all the titles were removed from the On Pointe poems so that the work would flow like one long dance. Hold Me Tight and Loose Threads both carry such difficult scenes the reader needs the poem breaks and titles for a chance to recover and ponder before reading more.
MRD: In addition to writing, you love illustration. Do you find that characters often develop independent of a story, or are your illustrations most often in response to a storyline?
LAG: Currently, my illustrations always spring from story. For some reason, I hear the words first. Then, it is a pleasure to let the imagery grow in my mind and out onto the paper.
MRD: It seems that illustrators frequently get the short end of the stick, so to speak, when it comes to being credited with the creation of stories and books. For some reason, people feel free to leave the illustrator’s name out of reference citations, for example, as long as the author’s name is present. As a writer and an illustrator, do you find this lack of consideration for the importance of illustrations—especially in children’s literature—frustrating?
LAG: Hm. I've only experienced this when I go to look for a work I've illustrated and of course have to find it under the author's name. But next year, Little Simon is releasing my board book text, Hugs, with another illustrator's art. And it will be cataloged under my name. Maybe I'd feel differently if I only illustrated. A picture book or board book is truly defined half by the words and half by the text. Both artist and illustrator have created one story. Yet, it has to be cataloged somehow. On the opposite side, I'd like to see an award category for picture book text. The Caldecott awards the illustrator, but there is no equal award for the writer.
MRD: You are, along with Dia Calhoun, Justina Chen Headley, and Janet Lee Carey, a Readergirlz diva. What were your initial thoughts concerning the creation of such an online group for girls? As busy as your daily life must already have been, balancing career, husband, and kids, what about the Readergirlz project was important enough for you to say, “Yes!” when Justina talked with you about becoming a part of her initial vision?
LAG: Oh, yikes. When I was approached, I was scared! I thought I can't do this: all the technical work, the time, the possible travel. I'm a shy introvert. But with these amazing women at my side, I had to get on the roller coaster! What a perfect chance to give back to the community and meet readers. So despite homeschooling and chronic rheumatoid arthritis, I knew I had to be a diva. And I'm thankful to be one. Besides, what woman doesn't like to be called a diva?
MRD: Your novel, On Pointe, is the April 2007 Readergirlz Book of the Month. What would you like readers to walk away with after reading this novel?
LAG: I'd like readers to remember that when one dream ends, another one can follow. The next one may even be better and more fitted to us. I'd like everyone to believe art can be created for the joy of creating rather than for performance or fame. We each can dance in a multitude of ways and express ourselves beautifully!
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In a world where our strategy all too often is to quit if a goal isn’t easy to obtain, Lorie Ann Grover is an excellent example of what heights one can reach if she is willing to face her roadblocks. Don’t quit when the road gets bumpy. Redirect your passions instead of giving up on your dreams. Disappointment is a part of life, it’s true, but the type of person YOU become will be reflected in how you face those disappointments. Will you give up, or will you rise to face your challenges? If you are at all like Lorie Ann Grover, you will rise to meet those challenges head-on and then ask, “What more can I do?”
On Pointe is available at your local bookstore and online. And, when you are ready for more Lorie Ann Grover, try Hold Me Tight (Margaret K. McElderry, 2005) and Loose Threads (Margaret K. McElderry, 2002). And, certainly do not miss this month’s issue of the Readergirlz—celebrate Poetry Month with the novel en verse of Lorie Ann Grover: writer and illustrator in profession, dancer at heart, and winner in spirit!
