Courtesy of Rachel Browdy
Author Rachel Browdy
A couple of years ago, Rachel Browdy, a local teacher, author, and mom of three, sat down with her husband during a stressful season of life. Browdy’s husband suggested that she find a hobby for herself, to find some more enjoyment and take the pressure off. That’s when Browdy got the idea to write. So, whenever her kids would sit down to watch Moana, Browdy would plop down next to them with a pad of paper and start writing. The hobby turned into more than a way to pass the time during Disney movies. Browdy started publishing fantasy thrillers under a pen name. Those caught the attention of Reedy Press’ Josh Stevens, who contacted Browdy when the publishing house had the idea for a book in which a child gets pulled into an Advent calendar. Browdy, Beati Publishing, and Reedy Press recently published Journey Through the Advent Calendar ($18), a middle-grade fiction book targeted at kids ages 8–14. In the book, a 14-year-old orphan named Zachariah travels to four magical lands and must save one of them, the world of Burra Din. The Advent themes of hope, faith, joy, and peace or love play heavily in the book. “One of my favorite things about Advent is that even if you're not Catholic or Christian, the four main points are essential elements to religions all over the world,” Browdy says. “People who aren't religious can appreciate them, too.” Find out more about the book below and here.
Tell me about your book’s hero.
We had a lot of meetings about a book that all ages could appreciate. We came up with a kid around the age of 14, so kids who are younger than 14 can appreciate it, and people who are older than 14 can also appreciate it. If you have that main character a little too young, people tend to not be associate with them. The orphan thing—we went back and forth about that a little bit because in a lot of books or every Disney movie known to man, the main character doesn’t have a parent.
The mom is always dead!
Right, exactly. We went back and forth, but we really wanted the book to portray that life is full of struggles and suffering, and you have to work through those things. Your faith can be a major part of helping you through these things that people all over the world go through.
How do you figure out what kids want to read and write for them?
I was lucky because as a teacher I spend my entire day with people around this age. I just thought of how I explain things to them. And my inner child is really hard to get rid of. I just kind of sat down and embraced that. I had to think about what a kid would say and think about what would be going through their minds.
Why does it feel so daunting to write for younger audiences? That seems way harder to me.
It is, especially if you don't spend every day with them. I think that's why there are so many children's books and shows that tank because they talk down to kids. And kids can sense that. When you talk to students, they'll say stuff like, “Oh, this adult was acting like I was stupid.” They hate that. When they get a book, a movie, or TV show that tries to talk down to them, they immediately go “Nope, not doing this.” The humor that I put in it also was something that I really enjoyed about the book because it's more sarcasm and stuff that a 14-year-old boy would say. That was a bit challenging at first, but then after I thought about my 16 years of experience with teaching, it came. I was like, “Oh, I know what these guys would say. They've said it. To me.”
Courtesy of Reedy Press
The cover of "Journey Through the Advent Calendar"
Have your kids read the book?
They did, and if you want honesty, you give your book to your own children. Other people are going to lie to you. Your own kids are just going to be like, “No, this stinks.” I gave it to my daughter first. In the first draft, I wrote it a little bit more storytelling/narrator style. She said it was too cheesy. That's when I decided to write the story like how I would say it in school. My daughter read it again, and she was like, “Oh, this is good.” She finished it really quickly. She was excited to find out what happened next. Saying that she liked it was awesome, but noticing that she couldn't put it down was probably the best compliment ever.
Tell me about Advent. Why is it important that kids better understand the season leading up to Christmas?
As a kid, I went to Catholic school, and there were a lot of materials and teachings to make Lent very accessible. As far as Advent went, it kind of got brushed over by the commercialism of Christmas. And I am a huge fan of all things Christmas, but I thought, “Wouldn't it be cool if there was something that the kids could do in school that actually explained what Advent meant. That also inspired me to make the book interesting, so that kids would actually learn about Advent without even realizing they're learning about it. The book can be used in Christian or Catholic education because I modeled a lot of the characters after saints, and I snuck in a lot of language and ideas that are related to history or the Christian faith. At the end, there's a whole section called “Inspirations and Meanings” and it tells you what everything means. Because I'm a teacher, I wrote a curriculum guide to go with it.
I can’t believe you have three children and wrote this in under a year. That’s incredible.
I can’t believe it either. When I started writing, it was kind of interesting because I realized I really enjoyed writing not just for the storytelling aspect, but also for the sense of control. I could control what was happening in the story. When you have kids, the idea of control is an illusion.
