Catching a “Curveball” with Pablo Cartaya

Pablo Cartaya’s novels touch on themes of family, culture and community, so it was no surprise when my 11-year-old daughter Ellie connected with the young characters of his latest book, “Curveball.”

He’ll be at the National Book Festival this Saturday, reading from his book “Tina Cocolina: Queen of the Cupcakes,” and talking on a panel, “Sports and Why We Love Them: Graphic Novels with Pablo Cartaya and Hena Khan. Pablo and Hena will also sign copies of their books.

If you can’t attend, their conversation will be posted in a few days on the Library’s website and YouTube channel.

Ellie and I came up with some questions for Pablo about “Curveball,” as she loved the book.

“I really felt a connection to Elena and the pressure she felt to always work harder to be the best baseball player on the team,” Ellie said. “I don’t play baseball, but sometimes I get tired of the things I love because I want to be perfect at them … and I’m glad that Elena learned how fun it is to use her imagination!”

Here are our questions and Pablo’s answers.

What inspired you to write this story and what do you hope your readers take away from the book?

Have you ever felt pressure to perform? Have you ever felt like you were going to let someone you care about (a parent, a teacher, a coach) down if you didn’t succeed? When I was a kid, I felt that a lot. I played many sports growing up (basketball, soccer and baseball specifically) and my dad was the coach on many of my teams. My dad was an Olympian representing his country of Cuba, my dad is in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, my dad was recruited by a Major League Baseball team. That casts a really big shadow. And he was my coach! I was a pretty good athlete and even the leading scorer on a few of my teams, but I always worried that I was never going to live up to my dad’s success. It wasn’t anything my dad was doing, it was more the way I was thinking about that pressure. Then one day, I was with my grandfather after a baseball game in which I missed a ground ball and the opposing team scored a run and won the game. I was feeling really bummed. My grandfather told me, “You don’t look like you’re having fun out there, mijo.” And it was so hard to admit that I wasn’t having fun but my grandfather told me that I should tell my dad how I felt. So I did. What my dad said surprised me. He said, “You have to do things for you, not for anybody else.” I never realized he just wanted me to love to play. So when I was writing “Curveball” I thought about that experience.

How did you work with illustrator Miguel Díaz Rivas to create the illustrations that bring this graphic novel to life?

The incredible team at Disney asked me to write the script first and, well, to be perfectly honest, I was terrified. Yes, even after writing a whole bunch of books, writers still get scared to write. The reason I was so nervous was that I had never written a graphic novel before! But that’s the great thing about teams, you see, you work together to achieve a common goal. The team at Disney, led by my incredible editor, sent me guidelines and tips and emails of encouragement and before I knew it, I had written my very first graphic novel script! And when the script was sent over to Miguel, he really knocked it out of the park. Teamwork makes the dream work!

How is it different writing a graphic novel versus a chapter book?

The writer of the graphic novel (if they are not also the illustrator) is to give direction to the illustrator about how you want the story to unfold. It’s a collaboration between two art forms (creative writing and visual art) to tell a story. You have to give enough information to the illustrator to allow them to interpret the story. There’s a lot of trust involved and it was a great deal of fun. When I write a chapter book, the process is a little different. You have to rely on your storytelling to engage a reader. That has its own challenges, but like a graphic novel, when you do it well and a reader connects with the story you wrote, it’s an awesome feeling.

What do you think happened for after the book ended? Is there an epilogue for Elena?

I’ve written epilogues in other novels but hadn’t really thought about one for Elena.

What advice would you give to kids who wants to write a book of their own?

Remember three very important things: 1. Your voice matters. 2. Read as much as you can. 3. Revision is your friend.

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