Kathie: Hi Jess, and welcome back to MG Book Village! I’m very excited that we get to host the cover reveal for your upcoming book MONOLITH. Can you tell us a bit about it and its scheduled release date:
Jess: Thank you so much for having me back. I love MG Book Village! Monolith is scheduled to launch on March 12th, 2024.
Kathie: What was the inspiration behind the story, and can you share a bit about your writing process?
Jess: This is my pandemic baby. (But there is no pandemic in it!) In 2020, I, like many others, struggled with the uncertainty of what was going on, not only with covid but other sociocultural issues as well. We were thrown into a collective state of questioning. For a lot of creatives, making art was a struggle, and at first I was one of the ones who wondered what was the point of trying to create during all the chaos and suffering? But then after a conversation with my husband about feeling dried up with no ideas, he said “What if you write a story about a boy who finds a monolith?” based on my oldest son who was obsessed with the monolith that appeared in Utah at the same time all of this upheaval was happening.
All of that came together in Monolith, the story of two kids and how they handle questions/answers differently during a difficult time. They represent several sides of us: some research, some hide, some question, some pray, some fall into conspiracy because truth is too hard, some make art, etc.
Kathie: Who are your main characters, and how would they describe each other?
Jess: The story is told in multiple POV, but the two main characters are August and Tilly, who are both 13. At the opening of the story, August has a bit of a crush on Tilly. They live in rural central PA and have known each other their whole lives. August admires Tilly’s persistent drive to find and tell stories, and he and his Gram, who he lives with, read her newspaper every week. He thinks Tilly’s pretty cool because she’s not only super smart, but really good at their favorite video game: Space Wars. And she’s always been kind to his little brother, River.
Tilly loves August, but not necessarily in a romantic way. She worries about him when River goes missing because he becomes obsessed with the monolith and thinks aliens are involved with both the mysterious tower and River’s disappearance. August has always been imaginative and curious and loves the stars–so much so he’s trying to save money to go to Space Camp next year–but she’s afraid he’s taking his theory too far and just distracting himself instead of facing the truth that River might be gone forever. But Tilly also knows August has had a lot of sad things happen in his life and accepting one more sad thing might be too much.
Kathie: Stories sometimes don’t have a neat and tidy ending. How can this comfort readers even when it leaves them with questions?
Jess: First, I want to assure everyone that most of the questions Monolith brings up are answered. Readers won’t be left wondering what the heck just happened?? the way we felt in 2020! They will know what happens to River, where the monolith came from, and whether or not August was right about his theories. But there are many subplot aspects of the story that don’t have a neat and tidy bow. I firmly believe that kind of unknowing is the best representation of real life and the whole point of this story in the first place. I have always found comfort with the people who admit they don’t know everything, who keep an open mind, who seek for answers but are still okay if they don’t find one.
I remember books like this from childhood where sad or scary things happened but the main character was still okay, and you knew they would make it through the difficult thing even if it changed them. One of the biggest examples being Bridge to Terabithia. There’s something about stories that grapple with really tough issues with subtle and poetic language that have always had a comforting effect. I know not every reader is the same, but this reader has always felt like she’s not alone when she reads stories like that. Thank you to Katherine Paterson for always doing it so very well!
(Also, I weirdly just won the Katherine Paterson Prize for Writing for Children and Young Adults with a different story that is very much in the same vein as Monolith–dealing with really hard stuff, but in a careful way.)
Kathie: Can you tell us about the cover and who designed it?
Jess: This is the exciting part I can’t wait to brag about! Corina Alvarez Loeblich is not only the cover artist, but the concept designer of the whole project. She took my little story and created an incredible design from cover to cover. Wait until you see the extra goodies inside this book! I don’t even want to spoil it…
Corina and I have become friends since the making of Monolith and she has an amazing brain–artistic and smart and always pushing the boundaries of what the industry says we can and can’t do. We were perfect partners for this.
Kathie: OK, it’s time for the big reveal!
Kathie: What an intriguing cover! What was your first reaction when you saw the cover, and what’s one element that you like about it?
Jess: I had very few ideas for a cover because I’m not a visual person. With all 6 of my previous books I pretty much just waited to see what the artist did and was like Wow, cool! I actually have framed prints of all my covers and some interior art because I am always blown away with what they come up with and how they envision my story in their own way.
With Monolith, I think I mentioned hoping to see the old, crooked barn that August and River are forbidden to go in, but other than that…maybe corn? (Corn is a huge motif in this story) So I was floored when Corina sent me the sketches–moody, a little eerie, and still beautiful. Exactly how I think of rural PA, which is where I lived for about 25 years. Corina is in Argentina, but she captured Pennsylvania really well!
The best part? There is a hidden monolith on the cover, but you won’t find it unless you get the book. 🙂
Kathie: What else would you like our readers to know about the story?
Jess: I suppose I’d like to add that this is what editors frequently call a “quiet” book. I used to take offense to that, honestly, but I’m starting to embrace it, especially considering my writing has won a lot of awards for that exact reason. Quiet is not bad, it’s just a bit more literary and less commercial. My hope is that Monolith will be found and loved by readers like myself, both young and not so young, who appreciate that kind of storytelling.
And also, I hope it makes readers embrace their own curiosity in creative ways. Art is born from curiosity and uncertainty. And thankfully so is science! Humans are always seeking answers and this is why we create communities, go to space, develop cures, write songs, have religion, read books, paint…the list goes on forever. August and Tilly both learn to accept some difficult, some incredible but unanswerable things, and they are better for it.
Kathie: I’m very interested in reading your book, and thanks for sharing this cover reveal opportunity with us. Best of luck to you!
Thank you, thank you! The only thing I’d like to add is to let people know to stay tuned to my website for a virtual book launch in March involving several of the creators of Monolith.
Jess Rinker is an award winning writer who has several books for young readers including picture book biographies and middle grade fiction. Titles include Gloria Takes a Stand, a biography of feminist icon Gloria Steinem, Send a Girl!: The True Story of How Women Joined the FDNY. Middle grade novels include The Dare Sisters and The Dare Sisters: Shipwrecked!, Out of Time: Lost on the Titanic, The Hike to Home and the forthcoming MONOLITH, a Wandering Moth Press endeavor.
Jess has a BA in Social Welfare and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also teaches in the University of Reno, Nevada at Lake Tahoe’s MFA program in the Writing for Children and Young Adults track, and undergrad creative writing at Centenary University in New Jersey. Most recently Jess won the Katherine Paterson Prize for her middle grade The Girl in the Window and was awarded the Excellence in Teaching and Learning award for quality online course creation and teaching. She currently lives in a small river town in New Jersey with her husband, Joe McGee.
Website: jessrinker.com
Instagram: @jessrinkerauthor
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