Meet-the-Author Recording with Mae Respicio
How to Win a Slime War |
Mae Respicio introduces and shares some of the backstory for creating How to Win a Slime War.
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Mae Respicio: Hello, my name is Mae Respicio, and I'd love to tell you a little more about the inspiration behind my latest middle grade novel, How to Win a Slime War. Like all of my books, this one was inspired by many different parts of my life. How to Win a Slime War is about a boy named Alex Manalo, who learns to find his voice through a sixth grade slime war.
The story begins when Alex and his dad move to a new city, to take over their family's struggling Asian market. At his new school, Alex gets roped into selling slime on campus. Alex's dad doesn't think his son should be spending so much time on slime. He wants Alex to join a soccer team that he's coaching, which Alex does, reluctantly.
The very first spark for Alex's story came one summer day when I opened my refrigerator. I found a big glob of something blue, glittery, and oozy, sitting in a container. It turns out that one of my kids had been experimenting with different slime recipes. Pretty soon, neighborhood kids were all coming over to get their sliming on. They had such joy while they were creating, and I began keeping a notebook of observations, recipes, details about what the slime felt like, and snippets of their conversations, thinking that someday, it might go toward a story.
Other inspiration came from my childhood. Growing up, my family shopped in Filipino markets, so I was able to infuse a lot of the colorful details I remember into the book's setting. I also drew from my experiences as a sports mom, where I've had the chance to observe a lot of different dynamics and expectations between kids and their parents.
Eventually, I tied all of these elements together, with themes around family, friendship, and finding yourself. What arose was a story about an empathetic boy, who learns what winning really means. And a final fun fact, Alex's last name, Manalo, is a Filipino surname that means to win.
Thank you for listening to the story behind my story of How to Win a Slime War and happy reading.
This Meet-the-Author Recording with Mae Respicio was exclusively created in November 2021 by TeachingBooks with thanks to Penguin Publishing Group USA.