PATTERSON
JAMES
Teach Kids Kindness Even though I’ve been writing books for kids for some years now, I always feel just a bit of a thrill calling myself a children’s author. For a long time, I wrote only adult mysteries and thrillers—stories that are pulse-pounding, fast-paced, compulsive reads. One of the biggest challenges I’d faced when I started to write for children was remembering what it was like to actually be a kid. I grew up in Newburgh, New York. My mom was a teacher, and my dad worked in insurance. My family was working class—we didn’t have all the money in the world, but I found ways to keep myself entertained. I have three sisters—three!— which would’ve made life for any little kid difficult. I tried not to get roped into their girly stuff too often. Instead, I liked to be outside, riding my bike. I played with the kids who lived on my street. I was a great student, but I wasn’t a big reader. Back then, reading books for fun was oftentimes a way to distance yourself from the other kids. Not to say I was so concerned with my social standing when I was 10 years old, but when you’re that age, all you want to do is fit in. I already got called out for being the son of a teacher, and I had pretty wild, curly hair that people just loved to make 14
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fun of. I wasn’t going to do anything that might make that worse. Flash forward many years, and I’m sitting down to pen my first book for children: Maximum Ride. Of all of the characters I’ve ever written, Max Ride is still one of my favorites. And the reason I love her so much, and have so much respect for her, is that she’s different—and she owns it. She isn’t afraid of what people say about her, because she’s above that. She’s in a class of her own making. She doesn’t let the bullies get her down. When you’re a kid, life is hard. Adults expect you to understand difficult subjects like money, and work ethic, and family responsibilities. They expect you to act like an adult, but you don’t know how to do that when you’re 8 years old. My kid characters know how hard it is to be a kid, and they know that there’s usually nothing worse than coming head to head with your peers when all you want to do is fit in. Humans are social creatures; we crave acceptance. But when sometimes all we get instead is derisiveness, cruelty, and mean names, it can really bring you down. I think we’ve all had experiences with bullying in our childhoods. It’s a singularly shareable human condition.
