There will be hard decisions that come their way, even as kids. Because that is such a crucial thing that gives kids confidence, and makes them feel they can address and handle anything that comes their way. I wanted kids to have a sense of belonging early on. Anything that makes them feel isolated from the kids around them and can be a source of anxiety. It wasn’t something that was in the literature I came into contact with, but it was important for me to include that because so often, kids feel alone in things. One of the things that was important for me to incorporate was ancestry. I thought, how do people do that? How is that possible? Little by little I connected the short stories, and moved and shifted them around, and eventually I came up with a book that is now called Root Magic.

But I was totally intimidated by the idea of writing that much on one project.

During that mentorship, I realized I wanted Root Magic to be a novel. I was accepted into Writing in the Margins, which paired experienced writers with new writers to mentor them for a summer. Then I realized I had more to say about these characters and the world, and I wanted to bring readers into the place where I grew up because I didn’t see many books set on a sea island off the coast of South Carolina. So Root Magic itself started out as a short story. Before it, I was firmly a short story writer.

Root Magic is the first book I’ve ever written. What was the inspiration behind Root Magic? Today we’re honored to welcome Eden Royce to the WNDB blog to discuss Root Magic, for which she is a 2022 Walter Honoree in the Younger Readers category. The 2022 Walter Awards & Symposium will be held on Thursday, June 23 at 10:30 AM, both in-person and via livestream.

Eden royce root magic