Know More About Shruthi Rao's Latest Nonfiction Releases

Author Shruthi Rao shares details about her two latest nonfiction reads for middle grade readers-India To The Rescue(Juggernaut) and Spaceship To The Universe( Duckbill). Both the books are based on little known topics and packed with interesting information never explored before in Indian children's books.

1.What drew you to this nonfiction project on armed forces? The unique topic?

- Yes. And that it was completely out of my comfort zone, and hence a splendid chance to push my limits. Also, that I knew little about the army and this was an opportunity for me to learn.

 

2. India to the Rescue is your first book as a co-author. Was it an easy role to fit in?

- Co-author would usually suggest that the two authors wrote it together. That was not the case with this book. The original was already written and published, and had been on the market for a few years already. I had to pick it up and rework it to suit a young audience. So, it wasn't very difficult. I did approach Sushant Singh with a few questions before I started adapting the text, but after that, I was mostly on my own.

3.The book is an easy read mixed with details from Mission Cactus and the armed forces. Was it easy to write about an event of pre-internet era to a net savvy generation?

-- It wasn't really a problem. I put in the dates of the event right at the beginning, so the readers would come to the story knowing this is from "ancient times" where communication networks were still limited. 

4.This nonfiction book is action packed and thrilling when in compared to your earlier realistic fiction chapter book releases. Was the writing interesting/exhausting with all the research and finding the right way to express it?

-- The major challenge was that I had only a month to write it. But apart from that, since I was already used to quick and deep research when working on all my other non-fiction books, not that hard. I used my nonfiction research skills with my fiction-writing skills to produce the book. I had to think like a child who is hard to please, and easily distracted. So I made use of short sentences and fast-moving active sentences. There were many details that fascinated me as an adult, but I had to let those go, because I realized they wouldn't be of as much interest to children.

5.Your latest book on libraries is co-authored by your aunt. What are the advantages/disadvantages of working with a blood relative?

-- I can't think of any disadvantages! That my aunt and I are very close, and know each other really well, and think alike, helped us. Of course, we disagreed on a lot of things, and we were quite opinionated when we argued about what to include or how to say certain things. But both of us won some battles, and lost some, but throughout, we were confident that we could say anything and not offend the other person. This experience made me realize that working with a co-author can either throw the two authors together, or really drive them apart. In our case, there was no danger of the latter, so we were fine.

 

6.What made you choose your aunt as a co-author? What strengths of hers amplified and brought the project to a fruitful completion/creation?

-- When Sayoni Basu of Duckbill proposed this topic to me, I loved it but the research seemed daunting. I am not quite clear how exactly I arrived at the decision to ask my aunt, but it seemed so logical. She loves books and libraries too, much more than me, perhaps. She has read widely, and has a lot of perspectives on the world that I still don't have. She's excellent at research, and is one of the best editors I know - she has been the beta reader and first editor for many of my manuscripts. We had already worked together on translating my grandfather's memoirs from Kannada to English. So, she was a natural choice.

 

7. Libraries are a unique choice for a book's subject. What were your criteria for short listing libraries for the book?

-- Sayoni was particular that the libraries had to be from all over the world. So that was our driving force. Everywhere we looked, we found British and American libraries. So, we had to go hunting with microscopes and telescopes for libraries from lesser-known places. The second criteria was one that we gave ourselves - we just had to be impressed or fascinated or just awed by the story behind the library, and not just include a library for the sake of ticking a box. We ended up with far, far more libraries than we had intended to write about.

 

8. You have written picture books and chapter books in the past. Your two recent creations cater to MG readers. What's the biggest challenge writing for a diverse set of readers?

-- Constantly putting myself into the shoes of children of different ages - rethinking each sentence based on what a child of that age would know.

It has helped that I have been working as a freelance leveler for Newsela Inc for the last couple of years. My job is to write the same content in four different lexile levels to cater to four levels of readers. So it is becoming easier and easier for me to level my own words too.

 

9.Your past few releases have been nonfiction. Can readers expect fiction from you soon?

-- Yes! I have an upcoming hOle book with Duckbill. I'm also working on several picture book manuscripts (though some are nonfiction!) and one middle-grade fiction (which may or may not stay hidden forever in the recesses of my computer.)

 

 Get your copy of India To The Rescue(Juggernaut) and Spaceship To The Universe( Duckbill)!It's definitely worth your time!

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