“When I was at ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥, I wanted to write very seriousÌýthings about adult problems,”ÌýAmber MorrellÌýsays.
The 2011 Academy alum pauses to smile. She had deepened her voice humorously when pronouncing “very serious.” A full decade afterÌýgraduating, she has a husband (whom she met in Idyllwild), an eight-year-old daughter, and a contract withÌý, which focuses on middle-grade fiction and will bring out herÌýdebut novel,ÌýThe Magic Method, in the spring of 2023.ÌýAmberÌýis mature enough to see the irony in a teenager’s determination to write aboutÌývery seriousÌýadult problems, and in herÌýmaturity she is confident that writing for young people is important.ÌýÌý
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“LookingÌýback onÌýmy timeÌýat ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥, I see that I was trying to figure out who I was. What’s more necessary than that? And in myÌýfiction I likeÌýrevisiting that experience of people figuringÌýout who they are.”Ìý ÌýÌý
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She notes that while young-adult fiction addresses teenagers,Ìýmiddle-grade targets aÌýslightly younger audience.
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“I would say thatÌýThe Magic Method is for children who are between nine and twelve. We think aboutÌýteenagers trying on different identities in order to understand themselves, but it starts earlier than that.”
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The central character inÌýThe Magic Method is on the cusp of becoming a teenager: she is twelve years old. One thing she has known about herself for some time is that she loves science–in particular the science of entomology–and the scientific method. But growth, or at least the possibility of growth, comes when she finds she has developed magical powers.Ìý
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If the most universal coming-of-age experiences include the discovery of the fallibility of one’s parents andÌýthe discovery of sexuality, Amber’s novel offers a different take on how a child’s worldview can be upended. Her protagonist is challenged to maintain her appreciation of science alongside recognition of its limits.Ìý Ìý
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But you’ll need to wait until the spring of 2023 toÌýreadÌýThe Magic Method and find out how successfully theÌýchallenge is met.
TikTok, theÌýGame’s Not Locked
The connection between science, which Amber loves as much as herÌýMagic MethodÌýheroine does, and fantasy fiction, which Amber writes, is surely the imagination. The latter drives science as much reason does; or perhapsÌýreason provides structure while theÌýimagination supplies fuel and does the driving.ÌýConsider, for example, the combustible forces ofÌýimagination that must have driven theÌýancient Greeks who designed and built the AntikytheraÌýmechanism.
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TheÌýmechanism,ÌýoftenÌýdescribed as the oldest example of an analogue computer, is the topic of Amber’s most popular (3.4 million views!)Ìý, where herÌýusernameÌýisÌý@
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Amber began herÌýpractice of occasional disappearances down what she calls theÌý“Wikipedia Rabbit Hole” last year, when the coronavirus pandemic forced a temporary layoff from her librarian’sÌýjob. She vanishes so that she can retrieve odd tales from the history of science for herÌýfollowers.ÌýÌý
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Neither the fascination with obscure but intriguing information, nor the gift for relaying that information creatively, is unexpected in someone who is studying for herÌýMaster’s Degree of Library and Information Science, from San Jose State University. TheÌýMLIS will come on top of the Bachelor’s degree in English that she earned fromÌýCalifornia State University, Fullerton, half an hour from Chino Hills,Ìýwhere she grew up.ÌýÌý
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In pursuitÌýof herÌýMLIS, Amber can study all-online and therefore remain in Southern California, even thoughÌýSan Jose is four hundred miles to the north. The online program allows her to keep working asÌýa children’s librarian, as she has done the last four years except during the previously mentioned layoff.Ìý
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LuckyÌýchildren!
