ABOUT THE BOOK
Written by Jasmine A. Stirling
Illustrated by Vesper Stamper
48 Pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
ISBN-13: 978-1547601103
Publisher’s Synopsis: Witty and mischievous Jane Austen grew up in a house overflowing with words. As a young girl, she delighted in making her family laugh with tales that poked fun at the popular novels of her time, stories that featured fragile ladies and ridiculous plots. Before long, Jane was writing her own stories-uproariously funny ones, using all the details of her life in a country village as inspiration. In times of joy, Jane’s words burst from her pen. But after facing sorrow and loss, she wondered if she’d ever write again. Jane realized her writing would not be truly her own until she found her unique voice. She didn’t know it then, but that voice would go on to capture readers’ hearts and minds for generations to come.
Jasmine A. Stirling is the debut author of A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice, a picture book biography of Jane Austen about persistence and creative mastery. Jasmine lives on a cheerful street in San Francisco with her husband, two daughters, and their dog. From a young age, she loved to write poems and stories and worked her way through nearly every children’s book (and quite a few for grownups, too) in her local library. When she’s not writing, Jasmine can be found hiking in the fog, singing songs from old musicals, and fiddling with her camera.
Jasmine first fell in love with Jane Austen as a student at Oxford, where she read her favorite of Jane’s six masterful novels, A Most Clever Girl is her dream project, done with her dream team—award-winning illustrator Vesper Stamper and Bloomsbury Children’s Publishing. Jasmine also has a YA/New Adult history of the women's suffrage movement out soon, titled We Demand An Equal Voice.
Visit www.jasmineastirling.com to get a free Jane Austen paper doll kit with the purchase of A Most Clever Girl. While you're there, enter to win a Regency tea party gift basket! Follow Jasmine on Instagram and Facebook @jasmine.a.stirling.author where she posts about kidlit and life with two young girls.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Life Is What It's Called - What
is the central theme of A Most Clever Girl?
Jasmine A. Stirling - Many of our narratives about women in history revolve around them being
the first to do one thing or another. In A Most Clever Girl,
I wanted to tell a different kind of story—one centered on Jane Austen’s
genius. Where did it come from? And more broadly, how do artists learn and
grow over time?
I wanted young people to see that genius is the product of experimentation, persistence, and life’s hard-won battles. A Most Clever Girl is about the process of creative mastery. I thought that if children could learn more about how someone becomes a great writer, or filmmaker, or photographer, or musician, it would give them insight into how to nurture their own talents—whatever they may be—to greatness.
The key message of the book is that, to become truly extraordinary in any creative field, you must do more than be inspired and passionate. You must:
I wanted young people to see that genius is the product of experimentation, persistence, and life’s hard-won battles. A Most Clever Girl is about the process of creative mastery. I thought that if children could learn more about how someone becomes a great writer, or filmmaker, or photographer, or musician, it would give them insight into how to nurture their own talents—whatever they may be—to greatness.
The key message of the book is that, to become truly extraordinary in any creative field, you must do more than be inspired and passionate. You must:
- Have a community that supports what you do
- Get consistent feedback from others
- Attain basic financial security
- Find the routines and places that inspire you
- Pour all that you’ve experienced in your life into your work
- Persist through obstacles, practice discipline, and improve your craft
Jasmine A. Stirling - Both girls and boys can take much away from a study of Jane Austen because her
unconventional life and sparkling, bookish, and outspoken characters flew in
the face of everything women were expected to be at the time.
As a girl, Jane Austen was a rebel with a dark sense of humor who bucked traditional gender roles, focusing more on what made her happy than on fitting in. As she grew up, she chose to remain a spinster and a writer, despite the incredible pressure on women at that time to marry in order to preserve their financial security.
In her novels, Jane Austen’s heroines challenged the prevailing notion of the ideal woman as passive, emotional, and decorative. She wrote vibrant and flawed female characters who were often outspoken and brainy—women who grew and changed over time. Jane Austen’s heroines also helped readers experience first-hand the shockingly precarious and inhumane status of women in Regency England. Never before had an author written so vividly and realistically about women’s lives. Her novels helped fuel radical new ideas then circulating about women’s rights, freedoms, and access to education.
Finally, Jane Austen championed the novel notion of the ideal marriage as a match between two rational and emotional equals, which challenged both the idea of marriage as a strategic alliance between two families for the sake of building wealth and the Romantic idea of marriage as a purely emotional affair. Austen harkened back to the Aristotelean virtue of the mean, insisting that her heroines learn to balance reason and emotion, and that they enter into marriages fueled by love as well as logic and mutual respect.
As a girl, Jane Austen was a rebel with a dark sense of humor who bucked traditional gender roles, focusing more on what made her happy than on fitting in. As she grew up, she chose to remain a spinster and a writer, despite the incredible pressure on women at that time to marry in order to preserve their financial security.
In her novels, Jane Austen’s heroines challenged the prevailing notion of the ideal woman as passive, emotional, and decorative. She wrote vibrant and flawed female characters who were often outspoken and brainy—women who grew and changed over time. Jane Austen’s heroines also helped readers experience first-hand the shockingly precarious and inhumane status of women in Regency England. Never before had an author written so vividly and realistically about women’s lives. Her novels helped fuel radical new ideas then circulating about women’s rights, freedoms, and access to education.
Finally, Jane Austen championed the novel notion of the ideal marriage as a match between two rational and emotional equals, which challenged both the idea of marriage as a strategic alliance between two families for the sake of building wealth and the Romantic idea of marriage as a purely emotional affair. Austen harkened back to the Aristotelean virtue of the mean, insisting that her heroines learn to balance reason and emotion, and that they enter into marriages fueled by love as well as logic and mutual respect.
Life Is What It's Called - Why did you choose to focus on Jane Austen?
Jasmine A. Stirling - When I set out to write this book, I chose Jane Austen because I admire her
life and her work, and because I believe she is one of the most misunderstood
women in history.
Jane Austen was far from being the prim, prudish, “dear Aunt Jane”
depicted by her brother Henry and her nephew Edward in their biographies of the
author.
She is also far from being an author of swoony romances, as some
of her film adaptations might lead us to believe.
These discrepancies between the popular image of Austen and the real Jane
Austen gripped me. I wanted to help young people understand Jane the rebel,
Jane the humorist, and Jane the artist, so that when they encountered her work
later on, they might better be able to fully appreciate and enjoy it.
However, as I delved into my research, it became clear that Jane
Austen was a perfect subject for a children’s book about creativity and
persistence, because her upbringing, life struggles, and triumphs tell us a
great deal about what a writer needs, both internally and externally, in order
to fully master her craft.
Life Is What It's Called - How could teachers use this book in a classroom?
Jasmine A. Stirling - A Most Clever Girl provides an ideal jumping off point to teach:
Women’s history and women’s rights
How to identify and develop your voice as a writer
What artists and writers need to focus on besides creativity and inspiration
Please check my website for learning guides and articles written to help teachers lead these discussions.
Women’s history and women’s rights
How to identify and develop your voice as a writer
What artists and writers need to focus on besides creativity and inspiration
Please check my website for learning guides and articles written to help teachers lead these discussions.
Life Is What It's Called - What's your favorite Jane Austen book?
Jasmine A. Stirling - I love all of Austen’s novels, but my favorite is Persuasion, which I
first read and fell in love with at age nineteen while studying abroad as an
associate member of Keble College at the University of Oxford. I also adore Pride
and Prejudice.
Life Is What It's Called - How has Jane Austen inspired your own life?
Jasmine A. Stirling - Like Jane Austen, I began writing very young, but as an adult, abandoned
writing completely. Jane Austen’s story of persisting through grief, doubt, and
the obstacles that life throws each of us helped me persist in my dream of
becoming a writer.
Life Is What It's Called - Will you write additional books on female authors?
Jasmine A. Stirling - I have a 450-page YA/New Adult narrative nonfiction book coming out next year
about the women’s suffrage movement titled: We Demand An Equal Voice: Carrie
Chapman Catt and Votes for Women.
Carrie Chapman Catt may have done more for women’s rights than any other leader in US history. She harnessed the power of millions of women, each taking small but thrilling steps to achieve their rights. After a 72-year struggle, she finally managed to achieve universal suffrage for American women despite overwhelming odds and entrenched corporate interests formidably aligned against the cause. Carrie was also unofficially married to a woman: “Big Boss Mollie Hay” who led the fight with her every step of the way. Their story is a rollicking adventure; incredibly exciting and impressive.
Here is one of my favorite Carrie Chapman Catt quotes:
“WHAT is feminism? A world-wide revolt against all artificial barriers which laws and customs interpose between women and human freedom. It is born of the instinct within every natural woman's soul that God designed her as the equal, the co-worker, the comrade of the men of her family, and not as their slave, or servant, or dependent, or plaything.”
—Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt may have done more for women’s rights than any other leader in US history. She harnessed the power of millions of women, each taking small but thrilling steps to achieve their rights. After a 72-year struggle, she finally managed to achieve universal suffrage for American women despite overwhelming odds and entrenched corporate interests formidably aligned against the cause. Carrie was also unofficially married to a woman: “Big Boss Mollie Hay” who led the fight with her every step of the way. Their story is a rollicking adventure; incredibly exciting and impressive.
Here is one of my favorite Carrie Chapman Catt quotes:
“WHAT is feminism? A world-wide revolt against all artificial barriers which laws and customs interpose between women and human freedom. It is born of the instinct within every natural woman's soul that God designed her as the equal, the co-worker, the comrade of the men of her family, and not as their slave, or servant, or dependent, or plaything.”
—Carrie Chapman Catt
Life Is What It's Called - Did you learn anything new about Austen while writing this book?
Jasmine A. Stirling - Yes! I was familiar with her novels but knew almost nothing about Jane Austen’s
life when I began this journey. I researched this book for two years before I
wrote a single word.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a glorious Jane Austen-themed picnic basket, including a hardcover copy of A Most Clever Girl autographed by Jasmine A. Stirling!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
A picnic basket filled with:
- A copy of A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice, signed by author Jasmine A. Stirling
- A vintage teacup 1 oz of tea From Adagio Teas
- Truffles from Moonstruck Chocolates
- Gardenia hand cream
- A set of Jane Austen playing cards
- A $15 gift certificate to Jasmine A. Stirling’s Austenite Etsy Shop, Box Hill Goods
Two (2) winners receive:
- A copy of A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice
The giveaway begins March 16, 2021, at 12:01 A.M. MT, and ends April 16, 2021, at 11:59 P.M. MT.
DISCLOSURE: Per FTC guidelines, This blog post is in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Jasmine A. Stirling.
My granddaughter will love reading this. I have not read her books before but look forward to it now.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read it with my daughter . I am a big Jane Austen fan as well so this is a wonderful giveaway i would love to win.
ReplyDeleteI love getting my kids new books.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan. I especially love Pride and Prejudice.
ReplyDelete