Shelley Tougas

Shelley Tougas's new novel for kids is Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life. From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:

Q: How did you come up with the idea for Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life, and for your main character, Charlotte?

A: I lived in Mankato, Minnesota, for 20 years, so Laura country was in my backyard. I'd been to Walnut Grove (the setting for On the Banks of Plum Creek), and the kernel of an idea formed.

It's a small town - about 800 people - and it's very Laura-centric. There's not just a single museum. It's a complex. There's a reconstructed sod house, an old school house, an old church and more. Plus there's the dugout site near the town. And every summer, the community puts on a pageant with a musical production about the town's history and the Ingalls family.

I wondered, what's it like to grow up in a town like that? A small town with such an interesting identity? When I got my second contract with Roaring Brook, I knew I wanted to use that kernel for my novel.

I didn't want to write historical fiction, though. I wanted to write a contemporary novel that had parallels to Laura's story and include lots of Easter eggs for Laura fans.

The first sentence in the book, for example, is exactly...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue