by Han Nolan
A woman eating from a large bag of popcorn walked up and sat down next to me. She looked at me and smiled and held out her bag, offering me some of her popcorn. I reached in, took a handful, and popped a piece in my mouth. She nodded and I smiled, thinking of her kindness, of Aunt Casey and Grandaddy Opal, thinking that love might turn out to be the truest, realest thing I’ll ever know.
Reader Chat Page
Miracle wears Dane’s robe as a way to feel closer to him. Have you ever had a sentimental attachment to an object? What was it, and what did it represent to you?
When Miracle and Gigi go to live with Grandaddy Opal, it seems like he will reject Miracle. But over time it becomes clear that he loves his granddaughter very much. Has your first impression of someone ever been wrong? What did you think at first? What did you find out that made you change your mind?
Dancing is Miracle’s escape from all the pain in her life. Is there an activity that transports you the way Miracle’s dancing does for her?
How does Aunt Casey change after she starts learning about psychology? Do you think her course of study helped her to understand Miracle?
Why does Miracle keep up the charade of being the school “love magician”? Have you ever found yourself so deep in a lie that lying becomes easier than telling the truth?
When Aunt Casey first explains to Miracle about seeing Dr. DeAngelis, she admits that talking to a stranger might be weird when their family doesn’t even discuss their problems with one another. How might talking to a stranger be even more beneficial than talking with a family member?
How is Dr. DeAngelis’s manner of relating to Miracle different from Gigi’s? How do Miracle’s reactions to each of them differ?
Miracle’s family sees many similarities between Miracle and her mother. How does this affect their attitude toward Miracle? Have you ever felt that you were unfairly compared to a member of your family?
Chatting with Han Nolan
Question: How long have you been writing?
Han Nolan: I started writing stories as soon as I could write, or so my mother says. What I remember is reading Nancy Drew Mysteries and wanting to write some of my own mysteries. I was about nine years old at the time. Harriet the Spy also influenced me back then. I started spying and keeping a journal. I soon realized that I didn’t make a very good spy (I kept getting caught), and that I wanted to write more about my own thoughts than about the people I spied on. Still, that was the beginning of keeping a journal and I’ve kept one ever since. I wrote my first novel-length story in the hopes of getting it published back in 1988.
Q: What is your writing process? Do you work certain hours or days?
HN: I use a computer to write, and I try to write from about five or six o’clock in the morning until about four o’clock in the afternoon. When my children were living at home, I wrote during the hours they were at school and stopped when they came home.
Q: Are your characters inspired by people you know?
HN: I guess they would have to be in some way—but not really. I never sit down to write a story based on a specific person I know. The characters evolve as I’m writing and they act and react to the situations I’ve created. I never know who I’m going to meet when I write.
Q: How do you come up with story ideas?
HN: I write about things I care about—those things closest to my heart or things that scare me the most. My ideas come from inside me but they are stimulated by conversations I’ve had, things I’ve read, and stories I’ve heard.
Q: Do personal experiences or details ever end up in your books?
HN: Yes. All the interiors of the houses in my stories come from houses I’ve been in before. They never come out just the way they are in real life, but in my mind’s eye I am picturing a certain familiar house. Casper, Alabama, in the book Send Me Down a Miracle, was based on a street in Dothan, Alabama, where many of my relatives have lived. The street is named after my great uncle. I created a small town based on that one street.
Q: Your characters often face a life without one or both parents. What do you hope readers will take away from your exploration of this situation?
HN: Every reader comes to a book with their own history and will respond to the book according to that history. I would want my readers to take away from this exploration whatever they need. I don’t create a story to teach a certain lesson to my readers. I create a story to explore a certain truth about life.
Q: How did your experience as a dancer influence this story?
HN: I didn’t have to do any research for the dance scenes, for one thing. But since I didn’t write too much about actual dancing in this story, in a way any author who did his research might have written similar dance scenes. Still, dance has greatly influenced my artistic abilities and sensibilities which has carried over into my writing. Dance is a discipline, an art form, a craft; the same can be said of writing.
Q: Both Aunt Casey and Miracle experience positive changes after learning more about themselves through psychology. Are there any ways you can recommend for teens to get to know themselves?
HN: Well I’m not a psychologist, but I would think that it’s those times we spend alone, when we take off our social masks, that show us who we are and even give us time to think about who we want to become. Some young people have such busy schedules these days that they don’t get to experience much alone time. They don’t know who they are when nobody’s looking because somebody always is. I know people who are afraid to be alone for any length of time. I think they’re afraid to meet themselves and find out they don’t like who they are. Who we are in social settings can tell us a lot about ourselves as well, it’s sometimes just harder to pay attention to the clues. Paying attention helps.
Q: Did you spend any time in an actual psych ward when researching this book? If so, what was that experience like?
HN: Yes, I did. I think my book shows what that experience was like and does it better than I could do describing it briefly here.
Q: Miracle’s problems escalate when Gigi forbids her to dance. One thing the story seems to tell us is that a person can go crazy if they are kept from doing what they love. Would you agree with this?
HN: No—I think Miracle’s problems run deeper than her being forbidden to dance. But I do think that if a person is constantly denied the opportunity to do what he or she loves, then that person could become seriously depressed, or develop some other issues in an attempt to deal with that frustration.
About the Author
HAN NOLAN is the author of the National Book Award–winning novel Dancing on the Edge, the National Book Award finalist Send Me Down a Miracle, and many other acclaimed novels for teens. Known for her evocative language, gritty subject matter, and multidimensional—and often surprising—characters, Ms. Nolan tackles the difficult choices of teenagers with courage and compassion.
Han Nolan lives on the East Coast. www.hannolan.com.