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Between the Lines |
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Interview with Han Nolan |
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When We Were Saints
Han Nolan
Inspired by his grandfather’s last words and guided by a girl who believes they are saints, fourteen-year-old Archie sets out on a spiritual quest that takes him from southern Appalachia to the Cloisters Museum in New York City.
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Biography |
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Han Nolan is the author of five critically acclaimed novels, including the National Book Award winner Dancing on the Edge. She lives in New England.
A Note from the Editor regarding Han Nolan’s newest young adult novel.
When I first received this novel I was floored. My first reaction was “Where does Han come up with this stuff?” Every one of her characters is different—from the comatose Neo-Nazi Hilary
in If I Should Die Before I Wake to the emotionally disturbed Miracle in Dancing on the Edge, from the impressionable “good girl” Charity of Send
Me Down a Miracle to the highly intelligent but change-resistant JP in A Face in Every Window, from the self-centered dysfunctional Leshaya of Born Blue
to the shy and reserved Archie of When We Were Saints—yet there is an underlying spirituality, a questioning of deep spiritual issues that ties them all together.
A t first glance it seems a very unusual subject to address in young adult fiction. But on further reflection, it really is not. Teens think about these things. They search for truth and
meaning in the world around them—and they discover that the world is no longer the same black-and-white world they knew as a child. There are grays, too—lots of grays. And who is to say
what is true and what is not?
In When We Were Saints Han Nolan opens a door, allowing her readers to explore and question their faith and the world around them. She provides a safe and controlled environment
for teens to think, question, and re-question not only their own spiritual lives but the physical world as well. In fact, it is Han’s incredible talent to open that door that sets her
novels apart. Her stories offer no easy answers, they feature characters that are both noble and troubled, and they encourage tolerance and understanding of human foibles—in ourselves
and in others.
When We Were Saints is well written, challenging, and speaks to a teen’s need for spiritual identity and self-discovery. It leaves a reader wondering...is
there room in our modern world for saints? Or do we label these people as crazy? Where do I fit into my world spiritually? What is the truth?
—Karen Grove
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Interview |
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Q: When We Were Saints is an intense book—its subject is deeply rooted in spiritualism, its message is
one of faith and of choices. Why did you decide to publicly tackle this subject in a society that so carefully separates church and state?
A: Fortunately, as an author, I represent neither church nor state. Several experiences influenced my decision to write this book. First is my own enthusiasm
over the Cloisters Museum in New York. I don't remember how young I was the first time my mother took me there, but I do know that I went as a teenager and I loved it. It is one of my
favorite museums and I have always wanted to put it in a book somehow. I thought that I might write a story about the Middle Ages, a subject that has always fascinated me, and I actually
did quite a lot of research on this. I've also always been interested in stained glass and cathedrals, and another influence on me in writing this story was a book I read about cathedrals
and the way they were built and the reasons for building them. Then last year I spoke at a conference at Calvin College in Michigan, where I met quite a number of young people interested
in spirituality and religion. This made me think about writing a story with a contemporary setting rather than historical. I decided that what I really wanted was to explore what it would
be like for a young person today to experience the deeply spiritual life that someone in the Middle Ages might have experienced. Is it even possible today to have those kinds of experiences?
What would be the consequences today on someone who has visions, and receives the stigmata?
Q: Fourteen-year-old Archie spirals into a whirlpool of spiritual confusion over his Granddaddy’s last words, “Young man, you are a saint.” What connection can be made between his feelings and those of teens today—do kids ponder religious purpose and spirituality?
A: I think everyone does, especially teens although they might not label it as spirituality or religion. We all want to find meaning and purpose in our
lives, and I believe it is during the teen years that this search begins. It's also a time when many teens ask themselves whether they are going to accept whatever religious teachings
they have received from their elders, or they're going to reject all or part of it and search out their own truth and meaning for their lives. I think some strongly religious parents can
be threatened by this and so can parents who are Atheists. The religious parents fear the loss of their child to "the world," and Atheists can fear the loss of their child to God and all
that "religious stuff". I have know both kinds of parents. But I myself would be more afraid for a child who doesn't explore these questions and just accepts without thought or question
someone else's beliefs. I believe in the search, and find the journey most exciting.
Q: Archie and Clare both have spiritual conviction, but at the end of the pilgrimage their choices are independent—a powerful message to share with
teens. Did you think of this as a "message" or did their independence of each other emerge naturally through character development?
A: No, I did not think of sending any particular message. I guess I just believe when it comes to faith that, although we may belong to a particular church,
we each are on our own journey as well, and this belief just naturally came out through my characters.
Q: Why did you choose to present Clare with symptoms of the stigmata (a manifestation of the wounds of Christ), which are said to appear in religious ecstatics, and also are said to be fraudulent, self-inflicted, and psychosomatic?
A: Again, it was asking myself what would happen today if a young person experienced the stigmata, something that we more often associate with the Middle Ages. Is there room in our society today for this kind of ecstatic experience? Is there room in our society today for Saints?
Q: As your editor Karen Grove mentioned, your characters are different in all your books and your stories are hard-hitting—unique in teen fiction.
What drives you to give teens these gritty, too-true-to-be-pretty stories?
A: I'm always searching for the truth in my stories. That truth has led me to the characters that I have created.
Q: Where do you get your characters? Are these people you’ve known, met, or are exposed to in your travels, work, or research?
A: I guess in a sense they are people I have known or met but I could never point to one person and say that's Charity or that's Archibald, etc. They are who they need to be given the situations that I place them in. They must be a mixture of everybody and anybody I have known, as well as part of myself.
Q: Do you like these characters, these kids who ride the edge of society and sometimes perish during their journeys?
A: I love these characters, even the tough ones to love. I know why they are the way they are, why they choose to do the things they do, so how could I not love them?
Q: What drives Han Nolan to write? Where do you find your inspiration and to whom do you turn for encouragement and creative influence?
A: I guess creating stories drives me to write. I like the creative process. I like exploring lives so different from my own and I like the way I learn so much about these other worlds and about myself when I write. Young people inspire me, my own children especially, but young people in general. I like their spirit and their energy and all the growing and changing and exploring and questioning that is going on inside them. I turn to my family for encouragement, especially my husband. He is the first reader of my manuscripts and is always supportive, attending every conference and book signing and promoting my books every chance he gets. He's amazing.
Q: What is your background and how did it lead you into a young adult writing career?
A: I always loved to write stories, ever since I could write (so my mother claims), and I discovered in the sixth grade, which is when I was given my first
creative writing assignment in school, that I was good at it. I didn't consider writing as a career though. I majored in dance in college and grad school, and I thought I would be a dancer
and perhaps when I retired I would become a writer. I loved dancing, but it was hard for me to be married and raise a family and dance so I asked myself, "Why am I putting off what
I love to do for when I retire, why not write now?" I found that writing suited my personality better than dancing did.
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