Eaglebait is generally cataloged in libraries as YA, or Young Adult. Though Wardy is a male, girls readily identify with him and his situation. Many older students and adults have told me Eaglebait is a page-turner that resonates with all ages.
The Library of Congress description follows: “A shy, unpopular fourteen-year-old, taunted and bullied by his classmates for years, is excited and grateful when an exchange teacher from Germany takes an interest in his scientific abilities, and he begins to blossom for the first time in his life, although he begins to feel uneasy when his teacher expects total devotion to science to the exclusion of family and friends.”
There are several themes, but the strongest ones involve building self-esteem, following your own good instincts, realizing what is important in life and what is just plain unnecessary and acting on the advice of knowing people.
When bullies attack, victims and their families frequently feel helpless to remedy the situation; they look for positive ways to change things. Building self-esteem is a powerful tool which often requires “outside” help for the victim.
I was teaching intermediate school (7th and 8th grades) at the time I wrote Eaglebait. I witnessed a lot of bullying—both psychological and physical—right before my eyes. A great topic for a writer/educator!
I based the teacher, Heinrich Guterman, on an English professor I had in college. Brilliant and exacting, his classes truly generated mental fireworks, though his personality was very different from my fictional teacher.
I had only one grandmother living during my childhood and she was nothing like Grandma Lou. I wanted my character to be strong and wise, but also to have had major doubts about her own life and worth. Meg was actually loosely based on a student I once taught.
I’ve always been fascinated by science, but can’t say I know much about the technicalities of scientific reasoning and fact. I did some research and got a lot of help from some friends who are brilliant scientists and also happen to love reading.
Wardy goes to Evanstown High (fictional), home of the fighting Eagles. The favorite cheer against rivals is that the opponent is “Eaglebait.” Unpopular Wardy is labeled Eaglebait by a group of bullies who plague him with practical jokes and verbal abuse. My college years supplied the cheer and the title. Yes, we were the Eagles and anybody who rivaled us in any sport was “Eaglebait.”
Writers know who we are, and writers have to write. Say that to a classroom of kids as young as 4th grader and you’ll see heads nodding. The writer will eventually come out—sometimes kicking and screaming all the way. Writing is firmly entrenched in my gene pool. My grandfather was a published poet; my brothers are both published nonfiction authors, and all three of my children are writers. I have been writing poems and stories since I could hold a pencil. Gift or curse—sometimes it’s hard to tell which—we writers will continue to wring out our stories.
Eaglebait was published in hardcover about 30 years ago. Bullying in schools was a problem then; it is a problem now. Though the methods of bullying have changed to include cyber-bullies, the situations that occur and the circumstances that encourage bullying have not changed at all. What has changed, I feel, is the awareness that bullying can cause lasting scars and that it can and must be controlled by authorities who have the means to do so. Cyber-bullying is a huge problem for kids today. This led me to revise Eaglebait, updated with cyber-bullying.
Eaglebait has won major awards. Tell about a few.
The New York Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age,” and the International Reading Association’s “Young Adult Choice” are two of my most prestigious awards. I am particularly proud of the IRA award, since Eaglebait was chosen solely by kids who read a number of YA books. I wrote the book for kids and they recognized that fact!