By Virginia Dean, Standard Correspondent
Writer Lindsey Stoddard’s new children’s novel, “just like jackie” (Harper Collins 2018), begins with a punch – literally.
With character Alex Carter’s nose blood on her right sweatshirt sleeve, tough and volatile protagonist Robinson aka “Robbie” Hart retaliates for being made fun of for not having a mother.
“What I hope I’ve done is craft characters who readers will care about,” said Stoddard in a recent interview about her debut book. “I hope they root for Robbie. I hope they understand her tough side, her sometimes unsavory behavior, and that they love her tender relationship with her grandpa.”
In fact, it is the 11-yearold’s grandfather who is her own life’s blood even though he is the only thing she cannot handle, understandably perhaps because he suffers from Alzheimer’s and continues to buckle under its insidious nature.
“I hope that, by the end, what Robbie has learned is what I hope readers, especially children, will come to understand,” said Stoddard. “I hope they see that family is who you get, who you find, and who you keep, and that all families look different. I hope they learn that, even when they are faced with great hardship and challenge, they can be – as Robbie would say – ‘pretty ok.’” With a long history of writing, author Stoddard puts pen to paper using her experience with her own grandfather who also suffered from Alzheimer’s.
“I remember feeling sad and confused when he would forget the end of his sentences,” said Stoddard. “I remember wanting to help him but not knowing how. Should I finish his sentence? Change the subject? Just pat his hand as if to say, ‘It’s ok or I understand?’” Stoddard took that emotion and experience from her childhood and imagined what it might be like if her book character Grandpa were her guardian and she were his caretaker and how protective and scared she might have become. The other memory she used as an anchor for Robbie’s story was when a childhood boy hit a bird’s nest out of her backyard tree with his whiffle ball bat. “The eggs splattered on my yard, and I never got to see them hatch into the little birdies I was waiting so patiently for,” said Stoddard. Before she knew it, her anger boiled up and her “little kid fist” connected with his face.
“Even though kids have different experiences growing up, I think that these emotions are common,” said Stoddard. “Fear and sadness and rage. I hope that all kids can recognize Robbie’s feelings and want to read about how she finds her way through them.” Stoddard was born in Burlington and grew up in Shelburne, Vermont. She and her parents – who currently live in Woodstock and have a camp on Silver Lake in Barnard – moved to Norwich, Vermont, when she was in 7th grade. Stoddard graduated from Hanover High School in 2002.
Both of her parents are native Vermonters (her mother is from St. Albans and her father from Bethel) and currently live in Woodstock where her father has retired as the general manager of White River Toyota, and her mother works at Woodstock Terrace.
She and her family, including their beloved golden retrievers, were active in maple sugaring and skiing. It was also where she learned to write.
“They say that a writer is really writing her first book all her life,” said Stoddard, “For me, that certainly was true. In ‘just like jackie,’ I really felt like I was writing my way home.”
Stoddard, who describes her writing style as “honest,” said she enjoys writing about friendships, families, and “the real things that kids go through day to day.”
“I also like to write endings that are full of hope, but not tied up neatly or solved or rose-colored because many situations that kids face will not turn out that way,” Stoddard said.
Earning her Bachelor of Arts in English at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, in 2006 Stoddard attended Pace University in New York City, where she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching Secondary English in 2008 and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2011.
Her writing career so far has included being a writing tutor in Northfield, Minnesota, for four years and a journalist for the Valley News in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, from 2001-2002 and again in 2004.
She was also a middle school English teacher in Washington Heights, New York City, from 2006-2016.
Stoddard is currently finishing her second middle grade book, “Right As Rain,” slated for publication in January 2019. She is also beginning to ink up some notebooks with a third book idea, she added.
Currently a resident of New York City, Stoddard and her husband, Kamahnie, and one and a half-year-old son, Miles, continue to travel to Vermont to stock up on maple syrup, enjoy the snow and visit family. The Stoddards are expecting a daughter in February 2018.
This article first appeared in the January 18, 2018 edition of the Vermont Standard.