Today we are chatting with Adele Griffin, author of
All Pets Allowed: Blackberry Farm 2!
Read on for more about Adele, her book, and giveaway!
Meet Adele Griffin!
Adele Griffin is the acclaimed author of Tell Me No Lies and Be True to Me, as well as Sons of Liberty and Where I Want to Be, both finalists for the National Book Award. She lives with her husband and children in Brooklyn, New York. You can find her online at adelegriffin.com or on Twitter: @adelegriffin.
Website * Facebook * Instagram
Meet All Pets Allowed: Blackberry Farm 2!
New dog, no tricks!
Becket Branch has one birthday wish—a dog! Dogs are outgoing and friendly, and they live life loud, just like Becket. Becket’s twin, Nicholas, wants a pet more like him—a peaceful, quiet indoor cat. When their parents take them to the shelter to choose a dog and a cat, it should be Becket’s biggest BEAUTIFUL ALERT ever. But Becket’s dream dog, Dibs, turns out to be a super-shy scaredy-pooch. Meanwhile, Nicholas’s kitty, Given, loves being the center of attention and greeting visitors to Blackberry Farm.
Can Becket and Nicholas learn how to love Dibs and Given as they are—even if they aren’t exactly the pets the twins dreamed of?
With black-and-white drawings throughout by award-winning illustrator LeUyen Pham (Real Friends), this second volume of the Blackberry Farm series offers a gentle message about embracing new friends who may not match preconceived expectations.
Amazon * B & N * Indiebound
~ Author Chat ~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
My family! We are a family of Live Out Loud Beckets, where I’m the quiet Nicholas.
Also I love observing Trudy our dog & Toby our cat and making up stories about them.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
Dibs the Scaredy Dog is my favorite because he tries so hard!
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The title came first. My son and I wanted to walk Trudy on some grass and we kept running into the warning: No Dogs. My son said “I wish we saw signs for All Dogs Welcome!” Got me thinking …
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
My last scene. The last scene is frosting—the final taste that makes you happy you picked up this book.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
How much I learn from all kinds of book lovers—my writer friends, my teacher and librarian and bookseller and reader friends—great readers give great advice.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
LeUyen Pham! I am such a FAN.
The hilarious expressions of the pets.
Big fluffy Given the cat looks exactly like our family cat Toby.
YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2021?
I looked up what I sent my (almost) 14-year-old reader at camp this summer, after checking out these excellent new releases. These titles went in the care package:
Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve
The Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
Rise of Zombert by Kara LaRue
The Wild by Owen Laukkanen
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
We moved to California this year! We are sort of like the Branches—a Brooklyn family
that left the city, and now we’re all very excited to see trees.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
Becket gave me some trouble because I invented her when I had a ten-year-old in the house—very inspiring. My ten-year-old is now thirteen, but Becket stayed the same age. I had to go back to my Becket of Blackberry Farm to hear that voice again.
YABC: Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?
Drafting is always lots of fun, but there’s something so satisfying about the work of revision. Not in the moment—but after a chunk of time, when I read it fresh and feel the improvement.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
Pretty sure I love every single flavor of ice-cream—even blue cheese and prune.
All Pets Allowed: Blackberry Farm 2
By: Adele Griffin
Publisher: Algonquin YR
Publish Date: August 31st, 2021
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
