August or Forever
Written by Ona Gritz
Ages 9 + | 108 Pages
Publisher: Fitzroy Books | ISBN-13: 9781646033072
Publisher’s Book Summary: Ten-year-old Molly has always loved having a sister, but sisters are supposed to live together, right? Molly certainly thinks so. Unfortunately, her older half-sister Alison lives on a whole other continent. Their video chats are great, and Molly is thrilled when Alison’s hand-written letters arrive in the mail like surprise gifts.
Still, it’s not enough, not compared to what other siblings have. That’s why when Molly finds out that Alison is finally coming to visit over the summer, she devises a plan to get her sister to stay. But then Alison arrives with plans of her own, a fragile heart gets broken, and Molly stumbles upon a painful piece of her sister’s past. Molly has always loved having a sister, but this is the August when she’ll learn what it really means to be one.
Available for purchase on: Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes and Noble.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ona Gritz is the author of two previous children’s books, including Tangerines and Tea, My Grandparents and Me, a Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Alphabet Book of the Year and Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine Teacher’s Pick. Her essays and poems have been published widely. Recent honors include two Notable mentions in The Best American Essays, a winning entry in The Poetry Archive Now: Wordview 2020 project, two 2021 Pushcart nominations, and a 2022 Best of the Net nomination.
Learn more about her work at onagritz.com.
Ona Gritz is the author of two previous children’s books, including Tangerines and Tea, My Grandparents and Me, a Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Alphabet Book of the Year and Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine Teacher’s Pick. Her essays and poems have been published widely. Recent honors include two Notable mentions in The Best American Essays, a winning entry in The Poetry Archive Now: Wordview 2020 project, two 2021 Pushcart nominations, and a 2022 Best of the Net nomination.
Learn more about her work at onagritz.com.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Life Is What It's Called - As a writer of children’s and adult books, how do you find the experiences similar and different?
Ona Gritz - My background is in poetry, so regardless of whether I’m writing for children or adults, when I sit down to work, mostly what I’m doing is listening: to the rhythm of the language and the authenticity of the voice, to what I’m trying to say in a given moment and what unexpected places the piece may be trying to go. My writing for adults has all been either poetry or nonfiction, so it’s only in my children’s novels that I’ve had the privilege, and taken on the hard work, of inventing characters and constructing plots. And because it’s the only time I’ve had a cast of characters living in my head, it’s only while writing for children that I’ve had the experience of one of them going rogue and surprising me to the point that they either exasperate me or make me laugh out loud.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to take away from your writing in general?
Ona Gritz - My hope is always that readers see a bit of themselves in my work, not necessarily in the details, but something in the inner life of the speaker or the character that rings true and feels familiar. I’d love for the book, essay, or poem to be like a friend to them: the kind who, when they’re with them, they find themselves saying, “I feel that way too” or “I know just what you mean.”
Life Is What It's Called - What inspired August or Forever?
Ona Gritz - While most of August or Forever is not autobiographical, I did have a much older half-sister I never had a chance to live with or get to know very well. As a child, I was fascinated by photographs of her, especially because we looked a lot alike. I wondered about her life and imagined what it would have been like if we’d been closer in age and could have been raised together. It was that memory, together with my longing for my other sister who I had been close to, but who was away from home a lot of the time, that first sparked the idea for the story.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you think readers will enjoy most from August or Forever?
Ona Gritz - Having worked as a children’s librarian, one thing I know they’ll like is that it’s short! I’d also like to think that they’ll relate to the narrator Molly and care about what happens to her, and that they’ll find that the story moves well and is compelling.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to learn from August or Forever?
Ona Gritz - I haven’t really thought in terms of what readers might learn from the book, but I have thought about what Molly learns as she grows and changes through the story. For one thing, she starts out with a very set idea of what constitutes a family and, by the end, comes to realize that families can take many forms. She also recognizes that close friendships are their own kind of family.
Life Is What It's Called - How does August or Forever stand apart from others on the market?
Ona Gritz - There are middle grade books about divorce and about blended families, but August or Forever is the only one I know of that takes on the perspective of a child from a parent’s second happy marriage. It’s not about the heartbreak of a family falling apart or the drama of taking on a new sibling. Rather, it’s about the particular kind of loneliness that comes from having a sibling who’s both yours and not yours, who may be reachable on a video call but who doesn’t share in your daily life. It’s not an uncommon experience, yet, until now, it hasn’t been portrayed in a book for children.
Life Is What It's Called - What did you enjoy most about writing this story?
Ona Gritz - One of the most magical experiences I’ve had as a writer is when the project I’m working on seems to know things that I don’t. In August Or Forever, there were scenes I wrote because they made sense in the moment and then they surprised me later by coming back around as the answer to a question in the plot. In fact, a scene like that gave me my ending. The writer Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the act of creating as a collaboration between an idea and a human partner. That feels so true to me when those seemingly incidental scenes show me why they are important to the story.
Life Is What It's Called - What writing projects are you working on next?
Ona Gritz - I just signed a contract to write a young adult novel in verse with a main character who, like me, has cerebral palsy. I’m also editing a book about the poet Sharon Olds who was an important mentor to me in graduate school and throughout my writing life.
Life Is What It's Called - What authors inspire you?
Ona Gritz - Among the children’s authors who really inspire me are Kate DiCamillo, Patricia MacLachlan, Meg Medina, Rebecca Stead, and Jacqueline Woodson.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to know about you?
Ona Gritz - I’m eager to meet my young readers in their classrooms, book groups, or libraries. Come find me on onagritz.com if you’d like to meet in person or on Zoom.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of August or Forever, autographed by Ona Gritz, and a glass heart necklace (like one that figures prominently in the story)!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
Nine (9) winners receive:
August or Forever Book Giveaway
Life Is What It's Called - As a writer of children’s and adult books, how do you find the experiences similar and different?
Ona Gritz - My background is in poetry, so regardless of whether I’m writing for children or adults, when I sit down to work, mostly what I’m doing is listening: to the rhythm of the language and the authenticity of the voice, to what I’m trying to say in a given moment and what unexpected places the piece may be trying to go. My writing for adults has all been either poetry or nonfiction, so it’s only in my children’s novels that I’ve had the privilege, and taken on the hard work, of inventing characters and constructing plots. And because it’s the only time I’ve had a cast of characters living in my head, it’s only while writing for children that I’ve had the experience of one of them going rogue and surprising me to the point that they either exasperate me or make me laugh out loud.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to take away from your writing in general?
Ona Gritz - My hope is always that readers see a bit of themselves in my work, not necessarily in the details, but something in the inner life of the speaker or the character that rings true and feels familiar. I’d love for the book, essay, or poem to be like a friend to them: the kind who, when they’re with them, they find themselves saying, “I feel that way too” or “I know just what you mean.”
Life Is What It's Called - What inspired August or Forever?
Ona Gritz - While most of August or Forever is not autobiographical, I did have a much older half-sister I never had a chance to live with or get to know very well. As a child, I was fascinated by photographs of her, especially because we looked a lot alike. I wondered about her life and imagined what it would have been like if we’d been closer in age and could have been raised together. It was that memory, together with my longing for my other sister who I had been close to, but who was away from home a lot of the time, that first sparked the idea for the story.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you think readers will enjoy most from August or Forever?
Ona Gritz - Having worked as a children’s librarian, one thing I know they’ll like is that it’s short! I’d also like to think that they’ll relate to the narrator Molly and care about what happens to her, and that they’ll find that the story moves well and is compelling.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to learn from August or Forever?
Ona Gritz - I haven’t really thought in terms of what readers might learn from the book, but I have thought about what Molly learns as she grows and changes through the story. For one thing, she starts out with a very set idea of what constitutes a family and, by the end, comes to realize that families can take many forms. She also recognizes that close friendships are their own kind of family.
Life Is What It's Called - How does August or Forever stand apart from others on the market?
Ona Gritz - There are middle grade books about divorce and about blended families, but August or Forever is the only one I know of that takes on the perspective of a child from a parent’s second happy marriage. It’s not about the heartbreak of a family falling apart or the drama of taking on a new sibling. Rather, it’s about the particular kind of loneliness that comes from having a sibling who’s both yours and not yours, who may be reachable on a video call but who doesn’t share in your daily life. It’s not an uncommon experience, yet, until now, it hasn’t been portrayed in a book for children.
Life Is What It's Called - What did you enjoy most about writing this story?
Ona Gritz - One of the most magical experiences I’ve had as a writer is when the project I’m working on seems to know things that I don’t. In August Or Forever, there were scenes I wrote because they made sense in the moment and then they surprised me later by coming back around as the answer to a question in the plot. In fact, a scene like that gave me my ending. The writer Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the act of creating as a collaboration between an idea and a human partner. That feels so true to me when those seemingly incidental scenes show me why they are important to the story.
Life Is What It's Called - What writing projects are you working on next?
Ona Gritz - I just signed a contract to write a young adult novel in verse with a main character who, like me, has cerebral palsy. I’m also editing a book about the poet Sharon Olds who was an important mentor to me in graduate school and throughout my writing life.
Life Is What It's Called - What authors inspire you?
Ona Gritz - Among the children’s authors who really inspire me are Kate DiCamillo, Patricia MacLachlan, Meg Medina, Rebecca Stead, and Jacqueline Woodson.
Life Is What It's Called - What do you want readers to know about you?
Ona Gritz - I’m eager to meet my young readers in their classrooms, book groups, or libraries. Come find me on onagritz.com if you’d like to meet in person or on Zoom.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of August or Forever, autographed by Ona Gritz, and a glass heart necklace (like one that figures prominently in the story)!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
- A signed, paperback copy of August or Forever
- A glass heart necklace
Nine (9) winners receive:
- A signed, paperback copy of August or Forever
August or Forever Book Giveaway
This post is in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Ona Gritz.
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