When Joey Green
teams up with
James Patterson,
something funny
happens.

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YA and Kids! BooksCentral
Interview with Joey Green

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Is there a particular scene in this book that you have been saving for a while?
Joey: Nope. Everything in the book is brand-new and fresh, created just for this story. When I was eleven-years old, I did go to sleep-away camp for what was supposed to be four weeks at Camp Ocala in the Ocala National Forest in Florida, about a five-hour bus ride from our house in Miami. I’d never been away from home before and I was incredibly homesick. My first letter to my parents read: “If you love me so much, why did you send me here?” A week later, my parents drove up for visiting day, prepared to take me out of camp and bring me home. By then, I loved camp and didn’t want to leave. I stayed the entire four weeks. So I tapped into that experience for Not So Normal Norbert. When Norbert arrives at Astro-Nuts Camp, he desperately wants to go back home but, at the same time, he’s discovering a place filled with kindred spirits who nurture and encourage his creativity. So he’s being pulled in both directions simultaneously. I think a lot of kids can relate to that..

Which quote from Not So Normal Norbert best describes the message you hope readers get from it?
Joey: Wow, great question. The first line of the song that Crazy Swayzee sings at the first Love Fest is “You gotta be sane to be crazy.” Later in the book, Swayzee sings the same song, but changes the first line to “You gotta be crazy to be sane.” I love how the line works both ways. Being creative and imaginative is awesome. Suppressing your creativity and imagination is nuts. The world has no shortage of grown-ups who try to stifle the creativity and imagination of kids. But fortunately, there are plenty of wonderful teachers, camp counselors, and scout leaders who nurture and encourage creativity. That’s what Not So Normal Norbert is all about.

Is Norbert’s story over or can we expect to see more of him in the future?
Joey: That all depends on whether readers want to see more of Norbert and his friends. Let us know! We’d love to hear from you!

What is the most important thing for you when it comes to storytelling?
Joey: The most important thing to me is getting kids excited about reading. I filled Not So Normal Norbert with jokes, kooky characters, crazy inventions, and wild adventures to make it as funny and wacky as possible because I want kids to laugh out loud and have fun reading it. If you enjoy what you’re reading, you automatically become a great reader without even realizing it… because you’re having too much fun to notice. When kids read Not So Normal Norbert, I want them to love the book so much, they don’t want the story to end, but they can’t stop turning the page and reading more. And when kids finish the book, I want them to say, “Wow! That was awesome! Please give me another book!” Becoming a great reader is vital to every kid’s success. But becoming a great reader doesn’t have to be torture. Kids shouldn’t be forced to read boring books. That kills their desire to read. Reading should be outrageous fun. Like my pal James Patterson says, “There’s no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are kids who love reading, and kids who are reading the wrong books.”

What’s your best and worst writing habit?
Joey : My best writing habit is that I write all the time, which is also my worst writing habit. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So, every day I go for a walk around the block, which is a mile and takes me about twenty minutes. I don’t walk to get exercise or take a break from work. I go for a walk because while I’m walking, my mind wanders freely and I come up with my best ideas and solutions—and I just so happen to be exercising, getting fresh air, and taking a break at the same time. Albert Einstein would go for walks all the time for the same reason. I figured, hey, if it worked for Albert Einstein, maybe I should give it a shot. I haven’t come up with anything as brilliant as the Theory of Relativity, but I did invent the divergent gibberish transducer for Not So Normal Norbert. It’s a start.

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