Author Chat With Tara Dairman (The Girl from Earth’s End), Plus Giveaway! ~ US Only!

Today we are very excited to share a special interview with author Tara Dairman (The Girl from Earth’s End)!

Read on to learn more about her, her book, and a giveaway!

Meet the Author: Tara Dairman

Tara Dairman (she/her and they/them) is the author of multiple middle-grade novels, including the All Four Stars series and The Great Hibernation. Their picture book Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy, illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan, was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year. Tara Dairman holds a BA in creative writing from Dartmouth College and has traveled to more than ninety countries. After a few years of adventuring around the United States in an RV, she and her family now live in Colorado.

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About the Book: The Girl from Earth’s End

Twelve-year-old Henna loves living with her two papas and cultivating her beloved plants on the tiny island of Earth’s End—until Papa Niall grows seriously ill. Now Henna is determined to find a legendary, long-extinct plant with miraculous healing powers, even though the search means journeying all the way to St. Basil’s Conservatory, a botanical boarding school rumored to house seeds of every plant ever grown. At St. Basil’s, Henna is surrounded not only by incredible plants, but also, for the first time, other kids—including her new roommates: wisecracking, genderfluid P, who gleefully bends every rule they come up against, and wealthy, distant Lora, who is tired of servants doing everything for her, from folding her clothes to pushing her wheelchair. But Henna’s search for the fabled healing seed means she doesn’t have time for friends—or so she thinks. This tender tale, blossoming with moments of joy, is a story of hope, grief, and learning to flourish with a little help from those around you.

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~Author Chat~

YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

I’m a bit unusual in that I often start with setting instead of character or plot—and THE GIRL FROM EARTH’S END is no exception. I was planning a trip to the Azores Islands, which are found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and are full of fascinating plant life and elaborate gardens. The isolation of the islands in the archipelago sparked my imagination with a story about a girl and her papas who live on a tiny island far from everything, in a kind of gardening paradise—until one of the papas gets sick. Then Henna, the main character, has to go on a quest across the archipelago to find the seed for the plant she thinks will save his life. I was partway through the first draft when I visited the Azores, and was able to draw additional setting inspiration from everything I saw on the different islands there.

YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?

The novel almost always comes first for me. I struggle with titles. My critique group and I just referred to this one as “Henna” (the main character’s name) for a long time.

YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I’m really proud of the final scene in the book. Of course, I don’t want to give too much about it away. But in addition to bringing the story to the conclusion I was building toward carefully for hundreds of pages, I really wanted to evoke a feeling of peace—for the reader, and for the novel’s core characters—through the final descriptions and dialogue. I pulled it off to my satisfaction, and I hope readers agree!

YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?

I love how saturated it is with plants, since they play such an important role in the story. I love that the foliage wraps all the way onto the back, too. Chantal Horeis did an incredible job—and it’s her first book cover!

YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2023?

May I name two? OPINIONS AND OPOSSUMS by Ann Braden (May ’23) is the deep, funny, eye-opening page-turner of a book I wish I’d had about faith when I was a kid. And HALF MOON SUMMER by Elaine Vickers (July ’23) is a beautiful tale of two kids who take up running as they deal with big changes in their lives. They’re both my critique partners—along with Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, whose latest middle-grade, SISTERHOOD OF SLEUTHS, came out last fall and is also wonderful.

YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?

The themes go a bit deeper with this book than they have in some of my previous ones—with this one, I set out with a goal, which was that I wanted to write a joyful book that also explored the subject of death. Through the plants in the book and the human characters, I wanted to explore what makes our lives good, even as we face the inevitability that every one of us will die one day. How do we want to spend our time in life, and what do we want to leave behind? I hope that these are some questions readers will think about after they read THE GIRL FROM EARTH’S END.

YABC: What would you say is your superpower?

Tenacity. I can devote months and years (and nearly infinite brain space) to writing a book if I love the story enough.

YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?

Read a lot in your genre, and be prepared to spend more time and energy revising than you ever spent on your first draft. Find a few critique partners who are at a similar stage in their careers and, if you connect with each others’ work, hang onto them for as long as you can! Their feedback and their friendship will buoy you up countless times as you deepen your craft and navigate the world of publishing.

Title: The Girl from Earth’s End

Author: Tara Dairman

Release Date: March 14, 2023

Publisher: Candlewick Press

ISBN-10: 1536224804

ISBN-13: 9781536224801

Genre: Slightly fantasy, adventure

Age Range: Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

~ Giveaway Details ~

One (1) winners will receive a copy of The Girl from Earth’s End (Tara Dairman) ~US Only!

*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*

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