I’m certainly not an expert on this subject, but my research, which included talking to survivors of suicide, indicated that the stages that Isabel goes through are typical. The sadness, the anger, the trying to figure out why it happened. One thing the suicide crisis director told me was that the survivor has to find something of her own to help her get on with living. For Isabel, that is the diving.

What is your response to stress?

I’m afraid I’m not good at handling stress. Thank goodness, I married someone who is. Although I do think I am good at handling big difficulties. It’s the small ones that I find most challenging. I guess you could say I sweat the small stuff.

Are you a list maker like Isabel?

Yes, I feel most secure with my lists. This drove my mother crazy because my dad was a list maker too. And he even made lists for her.

One theme that emerges from the book has to do with asking for (or not knowing how to ask for) help from other people. Why does Isabel struggle alone until the last part of the book?

I believe it’s because she is a firstborn and thinks it is a weakness to ask for help. Tata’s neglecting to deal with his wife’s death plays a huge role in this family’s lack of communication. One thing the crisis counselor from Guam told me was that when a Chamorro wife dies, the father goes on with his life and the grandmother or auntie steps in and tries to fill the mother’s role. The counselor said Guam was very much a matriarchal society.

Isabel is very much afraid to let the bucket of her emotions spill over. What do you think she fears will happen?

Tata is not holding the family together. Isabel feels that someone must, and that someone is her. I think Isabel believes she must stay strong, and that means not releasing her emotions.

What do you like best about being a writer?

I get to wear my pajamas to work.

Teaser chapter

Some summers change you forever.
Toby’s mom leaves. His best friend’s brother
is away at war. And then Zachary Beaver,
the fattest boy in the world, shows up.

Read on an excerpt from When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt.

Chapter One

Nothing ever happens in Antler, Texas. Nothing much at all. Until this afternoon, when an old blue Thunderbird pulls a trailer decorated with Christmas lights into the Dairy Maid parking lot. The red words painted on the trailer cause quite a buzz around town, and before an hour is up, half of Antler is standing in line with two dollars clutched in hand to see the fattest boy in the world.