This interview originally appeared in the March/April 2025 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Spring 2025, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a chance to each highlight a book from its current list. They choose the books; we ask the questions.

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Band Nerd Lucy thinks that becoming first chair flute might solve everything, but this graphic novel, illustrated by Emma Cormarie, explores the complications in her quest.

Photo: Dancing Lemur Photography.

1. This made me so tense! How did you balance Lucy’s pain and happier moments?

Some kids endure real hardships during those formative middle school years. I wanted to honor those challenges but also show that lighthearted moments happen even during difficult periods. Friends, music, jokes, and art make hard times more bearable, in real life and in fiction.

2. Your story but also not your story: what percentage of Lucy is the historical you?

I’m going to go with fifty percent. There’s a lot of twelve-year-old Sarah in Lucy, but she’s also very much her own person.

3. What piece of flute music did you most recently enjoy?

I listen to a lot of acoustic music while writing. Two pieces that I had on repeat this past fall and winter are “Silver Salmon Bear” featuring R. Carlos Nakai’s gorgeous Native American flute playing, and “The Waits’ Song” by Jeff Johnson, with a flute melody in the lower register so lovely that it astonishes me every time I hear it.

4. How did Emma Cormarie’s pictures make you see yourself/your novel in a new way?

They made me see that my memories and this story, which had until then lived almost entirely in my head, were now actually a book. A tangible thing that people would read and enjoy. Her renditions of Lucy’s friends and family, many of whom were based on people I love, made me cry. The illustrations of Lucy’s dad, a character inspired by my own father, were a true gift. Emma’s pictures let me see him and his struggles from an adult’s perspective.

5. Is Band life?

It absolutely can be. For band kids (and adults), music is so much more than a class or hobby. It’s a passion that incorporates and often dominates social lives, free time, and creative expression for years and years. And we love it! Nearly all of my close friends from high school and college were in band. I even married a trombone player. I am so grateful for the years I spent following this passion.

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