NOT NOTHING by Gayle Forman is the moving story of 12-year-old Alex, who is sent by a judge to volunteer in a retirement home. His own family is fractured, and he is resistant to making connections, especially with Maya-Jade, another young volunteer. But slowly, things change as he meets Josey, a 107-year-old Holocaust survivor. Alex listens and learns, and as his heart softens, unexpected relationships develop. NOT NOTHING is a poignant story of empathy, friendship, and forgiveness. And as Gayle writes, “rising to the occasion of your life.”

I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to learn more about NOT NOTHING. Welcome, Gayle!

Alex and Josey have an unlikely connection, yet they are drawn to each other in a very authentic way. Can you share a bit about their dynamic and why it is so integral to the story?

The intergenerational friendship is the heart and soul of this story. Before I knew what the story was, I knew this was its center. One of the things I love about the dynamic is that on the surface, these two seem to have nothing in common, have nothing to offer the other. But once they get talking, they realize how untrue that is. Alex benefits from Josey’s view of the world–and his story about Olka–and Josey benefits from being able to help Alex. I’ve also spent many years visiting people in assisted-living facilities and have always been struck by how much those facilities resemble middle school, with people in a time of transition thrown together and all the drama that ensues. It was fun to be able to play with that.

Similarly, Maya-Jade and Alex seem to be opposites, but their friendship develops in spite of their differences. What do you hope readers take away from their relationship?

We are living in a time of extreme polarization, where we meet people and immediately focus on what is different, what divides us. And while it’s important to honor and celebrate that diversity, I feel it’s equally important to be able to find the common threads of what unite us. At first, Alex and Maya-Jade each make judgments about the other, at times negative judgements, which are even justified, but we are all so much more than our worst parts, and when we can let down our defenses, surprising and deep connections ensue.

As a writer, what are the challenges in creating a flawed character who makes bad decisions yet is likeable to the reader?

I believe that every single one of us is flawed and every single one of us is occasionally unlikable—and still completely deserving of love. Sometimes I wonder if we all walk around so scared that someone is going to find us unlikable that we quickly judge others that way, but who isn’t unlikable at some point?  Every character I write is flawed and at times unlikable and I love them all, even ones like Alex, who have done something truly reprehensible. I want to show my characters growing from their mistakes, bridging the gap between the person they are, and the better version they might become. I think all children deserve that grace. All people, actually. 

There is a phrase in the story about “rising to the occasion of your life.” What does this mean to you?

I’ve grappled with how to explain this because it is so very individualistic and personal. To me, rising to the occasion is beckoning to what Abraham Lincoln called to the “better angels of our spirit.” Or what the writer Jonathan Haidt talks about as “Godliness.” Which is not about angels, or supreme beings or religions at all but about that feeling of touching the divine within yourself. I believe when you rise to the occasion, no matter how you do it, you connect with that part of yourself, you feel bigger than yourself, part of a larger world. To me, any time I put myself out there for someone else, any time I respond to a situation with more generosity, more love, I feel like I am rising to the occasion of my life. It’s a wonderful feeling. And that’s why I want to help my readers to find ways to rise to the occasion of their own lives.

Thank you, Gayle!

Award-winning author and journalist Gayle Forman has written several bestselling novels, including those in the Just One Day series, Where She Went, and the #1 New York Times bestseller If I Stay, which has been translated into more than forty languages and was adapted into a major motion picture. Her first middle grade novel, Frankie & Bug, was a New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2021. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.

Tagged Aladdin, Gayle Forman, middle grade, Simon and Schuster