Author Torrey Maldonado Talks Hating School, Loving Comics, and His Inspiration for Tight

I love first-person middle grade stories that don’t sugarcoat real life, such what it’s really like when a father comes in and out of your life, how to deal with the pressure to act strong when you’re feeling vulnerable, and what it’s like when you desperately want to fit in.

Torrey Maldonado illustrates all of the above with so much heart and voice in his new novel, Tight. He spoke to Barnes & Noble Kids about character, connection and inspiration.

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We all share Bryan’s longing to belong. Our longing takes us down a path and, when we’re there, we end up asking the same questions Bryan has to in Tight, including “What to do?”

But once we’re on Bryan’s path of following to impress others, it gets harder and harder to turn and walk your own path. Bryan’s struggle happens as a middle school boy in Brooklyn, but no matter where we are from, our struggle is the same. What makes it harder for us to walk our own path is the voice of others. For Bryan, that voice is his friend Mike who is about his age, cool, very likable, and has great qualities. But Mike isn’t who he says he is, putting Bryan into a tight squeeze.

How did growing up in the Red Hook housing projects inspire Tight?

We’re sponges, soaking up our surroundings and we squeeze that out. In 1988, Life magazine called the projects where I grew up “the crack capital of America” and one of the ten worst neighborhoods in the U.S.

The neighborhood in Queens where rapper 50 Cent grew up was like mine and he raps in “Hate It or Love It:”

“Different day, same **** / ain’t nothing good in the hood/ I’d run away and never come back if I could.”

I escaped into comics and began wondering, “Whose superpower would I want if I could have one?”

I could’ve used one growing up where Tight is set. As a kid, I constantly soaked up comics and superheroes. So, that pours out of me and into my writing, making Marvel and DC constants in Tight.

Bullying is an everyday thing where I grew up. A mix of bullies bullied me, so you see Bryan discovering there is a mix of bullies on a bully spectrum, like a number line, that he has to respond to. And a tight-knit community helped me navigate through stormy middle school years. So, in Tight, you see how there is good in the hood and the ways Bryan learns to use that to help him.

You’re a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, where you were born and raised. You’ve talked about how “Kids need to know how much you care before they care about how much you know.” 

As a teacher and an author, I wish more people knew that kids need to know how much you care before they care about how much you know. As a boy, uncaring books and teachers led to me hating school. I hated boring books and boring teachers. I hated ones that dismissed my experiences and those around me. And this lack of care for me made me not care about school.

That’s when I had to repeat a grade, nearly three times. Then magic happened. My mom let me choose what to read. I got hooked on comics and then, in time, the right books.

It’s why I made the hashtag #LiteraryChoiceBuildsLiteraryVoice. I believe we all sort of shape each other the way sculptors shape clay. My hashtag touched a super teacher’s heart who I don’t know and he tweeted an image: my hashtag turned into a bulletin board. That touched me.

My dream as a teacher is mine as an author: help more authors and teachers see that kids need to know how much you care before they care about how much you know. Then more books will be written that care about all readers and more readers will love books back. It definitely will make kids care more about school too.

Can you tell us some of recent your favorite middle grade novels?

My favorite middle grade books do a few things. They feel like someone is telling you a story. My favorite middle grade books have language, references, and tween dialogue that my students would say is “popping”, meaning the books are needed, timely, and accurate to the inner and outer lives of readers.

Right now, I’m following the advice of great writers who have published way more books than me. They say don’t read what’s out there; instead, keep writing so a book comes out each year. That means once I’ve caught up to publishing all of the stories I feel need to be told then I’ll read some great middle grade books that are out. Jacqueline Woodson’s newest books are where I’ll start.

What’s up next for you? Are there more books coming that we can look forward to? (We hope!)

In early 2020, Nancy Paulsen and Penguin Kids will publish my next book about a half black and half white tween boy who’s grappling with racial profiling in his community and figuring out how to navigate as a mixed boy in our world.