Astro Girl has just won an award- a science award. While I have been fairly consistent through the years I haven’t won many awards. That isn’t my aim, so perhaps that’s why it has turned out that way. It always seemed way too obscure to come up with an award-winning idea. Sometimes just seeing a book in a shop window feels like an award, or seeing a child’s face light up as they hear or read the story feels like a victory.
I had a strong feeling that Astro Girl’s story would resonate with families, gender politics, aspiration, and race in a very natural way. We all have dreams. But exploring the WHY and the HOW behind those dreams was a revelation! The vision for the story opened up and I remember being very excited. All this thinking took time, of course, and I wonder if there will ever be that much time available again. There is a reason why a book should take as long as possible to complete…
There are many wonderful books for children and families out there. They inspire us to be better if we allow them to. So what not be inspired?
Astro Girl is a winner, just like its readers and the real people that inspired it.