Yay for Middle Grade Books: Interview With Jess Keating!

Today I'm happy to present an interview with Middle Grade author Jess Keating! She is the author of the My Life is a Zoo series (The first book is How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied!), and the non-fiction Picture Book, Pink is for Blobfish! She is also the author of the upcoming PB, Shark Lady! :)

Here is the interview! :)

The bold font are the questions I asked her, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.  

1. Pink is for Blobfish (Which was so fun!) is the first book in The Weird World of Animals series. Is there anything you're able to tell us about the next book?

Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love working on these books, and I’m happy to say there will be more in the series! In book 1, we turned the idea of pink on its head. In book 2, we’re going to do the same with monsters! There are some incredible real-life creepers out there in the animal world, and I can’t wait for you to see more. Warning: some just might give you nightmares. (Muwahaha!)

Ooh, this sounds good! :)

2. I know I asked you a question similar to this last time, but I wanted to ask again! Would you like to share a fun/weird/interesting animal fact?
I’m always happy to share a weird animal fact! So get this: koalas eat eucalyptus, right? But eucalyptus is toxic. Grown up koalas have enzymes to help them digest this toxic plant, but the babies don’t. So what do they do? The baby koalas eat the mother’s poop! This poop is called ‘pap’, and it’s how the baby koalas get the right microbial enzymes to eat toxic eucalyptus! Gross, huh?

This is both gross AND interesting! :)

3. Random question! If you could go into the world of any MG book for a day, what book/world would you want to go into?
Hmm. Confession time: one of my all-time biggest fictional crushes is on Dustfinger, the fire-eater from Inkheart. For that reason, it’s Inkheart all the way!

4. If you're able to talk about it, are you working on any MG books now?
This past year I’ve been working on several new stories, including a fantasy and a thriller! I usually like to work on more than one book at a time, so it’s been really fun getting to dive into so many different worlds.

Neat! :)

5. What are some of your favorite MG books?

There are too many to count! Some recent favorites have been A NIGHT DIVIDED by Jennifer Nielsen, PAPER WISHES by Lois Sepahban, and THE LITTLE ROBOT by Ben Hatke. Some of my favorite “oldies but goodies” are FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER and, of course, MATILDA!

Thank you so much for having me, Jessica! I’m a huge fan of the blog!

Aww, thank you! And thank you for participating in this event! :)

Author bio: As a zoologist turned middle grade and picture book author, Jess Keating has been sprayed by skunks, bitten by crocodiles, and been a victim to the dreaded paper cut. Her MY LIFE IS A ZOO series earned two Kirkus stars, a Red Maple nomination, a Rocky Mountain Book Award nomination, and a spot on the LA Times Summer Book Pick List. Her quirky nonfiction picture book series kicked off with PINK IS FOR BLOBFISH, with a sequel to follow in 2017. Her first picture book biography, SHARK LADY, will also be published in 2017. You can find her on Twitter at @Jess_Keating!

Here are a few links:

Her Website
Her Twitter
Her Instagram
Her Facebook
Her Goodreads