MG KidLit ALERT!
From Prose to Verse: An Interview with Bobbie Pyron
Welcome, Readers and Creatives,
Today I have a special guest on Teazurs Blog. Please join me in welcoming Bobbie Pyron, a beloved middle-grade author with seven books and counting, who is here to chat about her debut novel in verse, Octopus Moon. Since its publication, it has earned numerous honors, including the ALA Schneider Family Award.
Before I began my MFA journey, I was lucky enough to share a critique group with Bobbie. She was generous with her insights, open about her process, and always willing to help fellow writers find their way.
I'm delighted to welcome her back to Teazurs. (read her other inteview here: Bobbie Pyron)
Bobbie's newest novel, Octopus Moon, is a heartfelt middle-grade novel in verse that explores childhood depression with honesty, compassion, and hope. As I read Pearl's story, I found myself returning to my own childhood. When I was little, there were many times when I felt anxious, and I didn't know who to turn to, how to move through those big feelings, or whether I was going to be okay.
Through Pearl, Bobbie allowed me to revisit my younger self and acknowledge needs that went unseen for far too long. Not only that, but as I continue to navigate anxiety as an adult, I've found myself using some of the tools woven into this story—and they work.
I won't spoil them for you.
You'll have to discover those golden nuggets for yourself.
Please join me in welcoming Bobbie back to Teazurs.
Great to have you on Teazurs again…I'm so lucky-strike (wink-wink). I am so grateful for Ocotpus Moon.
You've shared that this story was for your younger self—what did your ten-year-old self need most then, and how did that shape Pearl's story today?
When I was ten, no one talked about mental illness, and certainly not in children! If a child’s depression/anxiety was acknowledged at all, it was labeled the child being moody, overly sensitive, and a worry wort—all things the child would “grow out of.”
What I needed at the age of ten
was for someone to see me!
For someone to say,
“How are you feeling inside?”
But no one did. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I got the help I needed. So, needless to say, I wanted Pearl to have the things I didn’t have as a child: a supportive family, understanding friends, and a good therapist. I did have a wonderful beagle, though, who was my closest confidant.
The main character in Octopus Moon is Pearl, and she feels everything. How did you move depression beyond the stereotypes and show it in such a truthful way for children?
It was very important for me to move beyond the stereotype of what depression looks like. To me, the stereotypical image of depression is Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh: sad-sack face, hangdog look, negative and moaning about everything. But depression manifests in many different ways in different people. In some people, it comes out as anger. In others, like Pearl and myself, we feel everything, whereas other people go emotionally numb. Kids need to know all the different ways they or someone close to them may express depression.
I've been studying verse novels and worldbuilding at VCFA for my MFA — and so, I have questions: How did you build Pearl's world with minimal words? When building a world in prose, what literary tools do you use most, and when building one in verse, what were your go-to tools?
You ask that as if I have tools! It was very hard writing an entire novel in verse! I had to think about every word in the first draft, which is something completely opposite of my usual vomit-on-the-page pantser process! Fortunately, there are a ton of WONDERFUL novels in verse out there to study. They were my “tools.” I studied how they conveyed so much with so little.
What do you suggest for other authors if they are curious about trying a different format, like verse for a novel?
Do it! Try all different kinds of formats, genres, tenses, points of view. Stretch yourself as an artist. I promise no planes will fall out of the sky if you try different things!
In Octopus Moon, how did you approach writing therapy and mental health support in a way that feels safe and accessible for MG readers? What do you hope they feel after finishing the book?
Because I didn’t have therapy as a kid, I wasn’t sure how it worked! Luckily, a very kind child and family therapist was willing to meet with me and talk to me about how she approaches therapy with kids Pearl’s age and their families. That was hugely helpful! She even read early drafts of the book and gave me feedback. That was invaluable.
What do I hope MG readers feel after finishing the book?
I hope kids who do struggle
with depression
(or any kind of mental illness)
feel hopeful.
Feel seen.
And those kids who don’t struggle with depression? I hope Pearl’s story will serve as a window into what it’s like living with this insidious illness. That it’s not just a “bad mood,” but something much different. My goal with most of my books, Octopus Moon especially, is to open readers’ minds and hearts. It’s what I hope to do.
Writers often hear "Write what you know," and in this case, you've said that this book is your most autobiographical. What felt different for you when you were writing it? What felt most important to keep true to your own experience, and what did you shape for the story?
I will be honest and say I felt very vulnerable writing a story and a character so close to me. All my main characters have bits of me in them—longing for a stable home, love of dogs, love of the ocean and the outdoors—but this was different.
It was my “soft underbelly.”
I’ve worked very hard my adult life to understand, accept, and manage my depression. But going back to my ten-year-old self, who didn’t have those things, was very hard. I leaned into what depression felt like when I was a child—the fear, the hopelessness. I wanted to keep that true to my experience, so kids who live with depression recognize it for what it is.
What I “shaped” for the story was a very different family environment and a great therapist. Things I didn’t have.
Many people struggle with talking about depression, and you tackled it straight on—what conversations are you hoping this book opens for others?
I hope, hope, hope, that Octopus Moon will take some of the stigma away from mental illness so that we can have open and honest conversations about mental illness rather than treating it as something shameful. We’ve come a long way since I was a kid in the late 1960s, but we still have a ways to go.
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Thank You, Bobbie!!
Thank you for joining us on Teazurs and for writing Octopus Moon. As both a reader and a writer, I resonated so deeply with your willingness to bring vulnerability to the page. So many children grow up with fears, worries, sadness, depression, and anxiety that they don't have the words to understand or the tools to help themselves. Stories like Pearl's stand next to them, reminding them that they are not alone.
Your honesty in this book is one of the things I admire most. Mental illness is often hidden in the shadows, but when we hide our struggles, we also hide opportunities for those who love us to show understanding and compassion. By bringing our truth into the light, we create space to heal and hold one another more gently.
I am so very grateful for brave authors like you, Bobbie! Those who are willing to share their "soft underbellies" so that young people (and adults like me) can feel seen and become hopeful.
Octopus Moon is out in stores and libraries now. I hugged this book when I finished reading it... and hope that you, like me, will find pieces of your younger self in it, pieces that needed some extra care, and will receive it from this amazing author, too.
To learn more about Bobbie and her amazing middle-grade books click: Bobbie Pyron Website
One final thought - what you needed at ten, we need at any age. We need someone to ask, "How are you feeling inside?" And to stay and listen.
Thank you for the reminder!
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And as always, if you would like to share your book, your writing journey, or your illustrations with us, please reach out to me. I love supporting authors, illustrators, and other creatives who are guiding our kids and young adults.
Write~on
Angie
ang azur @ gmail.com
or find me on Instagram
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