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Holly M. McGhee is the author of six books written under her pen name, Hallie Durand. Her three energetic and exciting picture books are Catch that Cookie!, Mitchell Goes Bowling, and Mitchell’s License. Her three chapter books, Dessert First, Just Desserts, and No Room for Dessert, are for kids in the 2-5 grade reading levels, but she most often hears from first-grade readers. They are narrated by Dessert, Holly’s hilariously original third-grade heroine. Her seventh book, Matylda of the Bright and Tender Skin, will hit bookstores in 2017. It is her debut middle-grade novel, about two friends and Matylda (with a y so it’s all her own), a leopard gecko. It’s also the first book that will be published under the name Holly M. McGhee.

“I’m obsessed with fairy tales and I love them,” Holly told PonyApps. She loves that, just as in life, both good and bad things happen in fairy tales, and feels that books are a comfortable way to process that fact. She has a very old volume of fairy tales entitled The Juniper Tree and Other tales from Grimm. She said, “I’ve read this myself, I’ve read it to my children. If you have only one book to explain good and evil in the world, this is that book.”

 

Holly M. McGhee

Holly M. McGhee

The particular fairy tale that has inspired Holly the most is Brother Gaily. In it, St. Peter and Brother Gaily, a trickster soldier, go on a journey together. Holly enjoys Brother Gaily’s exploits. She said, “I find that many fairy tales endorse the trickster (think Puss in Boots). The trickster “seems” to win, just as he sometimes does in real life, but he’s going to be accountable to himself when the time comes.” She says, “Brother Gaily is far from Grimm’s best fairy tale, but I like to root for the underdog —the book or character that has its flaws. Those flaws make it more human to me.”

Holly M. McGhee

There is a scene in the story that had a profound impact on Holly. St. Peter brings a princess back from the dead by arranging her bones “in their natural order.” That idea was compelling and inspiring to Holly. She said, “As we go through life, our bones get out of order. Our ideas, dreams, and wishes get mixed up. Grief throws us a curve ball, and we don’t know who we are any more. Then, we have the chance to put ourselves back into our natural order and be born again.” She noted that while this lesson is not the main message of the fairy tale, “It’s what meant the most to me and the idea stayed with me and ended up inspiring my novel.”

Visit Holly M. McGhee website: http://www.hollymcghee.com

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