Happy, Healthy, And Surrounded By Love
The Body, Brain, and Books: Eleven Questions with writer Christina Wyman
Welcome to another edition of The Body, Brain, & Books. If you enjoy reading these quick, insightful interviews brimming with wisdom and hope, please subscribe to Beyond!
Christina Wyman is a USA Today bestselling author and teacher living in Michigan. Her debut novel, “Jawbreaker,” is a middle-grade book that follows a seventh-grader with a craniofacial anomaly that's caught the attention of school bullies — including her own sister. "Jawbreaker," published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, is a Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2023. “Jawbreaker” is also a Readerlink’s Buzz Reads pick for October 2023 and is available for sale in Walmart and Meijer stores, and is also a November Middle Grade Reader Book Club pick by Target stores. The book can also be purchased online wherever books are sold, including through local independent bookstores.
What are you reading now?
Believe it or not, I am right now reading the very first novel in the Nancy Drew mystery series, The Secret of the Old Clock. As a child, I was obsessed with this series! I was wondering how I’d experience it as an adult.
What are your most beloved books from your youth? Did you ever hide any from your parents?
As a child, I read everything I could get my hands on, and when nothing new showed up, I read them again. Because there are so many books to choose from, I’m able to list most of them according to their author: Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew mysteries!) and Ann M. Martin (Baby Sitters Club series!) come to mind. I should also say that, because I did not come from a family of readers, I got away with reading a lot of Stephen King when I was twelve years old. My first Stephen King novel was IT. I still remember devouring the pages on the family couch, being unable to put it down, my parents none the wiser.
My literature selections really grew more expansive when I started teaching. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, is absolutely breathtaking – it was my first-ever engagement with a book-length story told through poems. Also, anything by Jason Reynolds is a homerun (I devoured GHOST in mere hours).
I also have memories of falling in love with a book called Mad, Mad, Monday, by Herma Silverstein. It’s about a teenager who falls in love with a teenage ghost from another era. I think it stands out to me because of how quirky – and just so cool – the concept was.
What’s your favorite book to reread? Any that helped you through a dark time?
I don’t really reread books anymore, as my stack of unread books continues to grow every week! But one book that I continue to revisit, at least in my mind, is Michael Newton’s Journey of Souls: Case studies of life between lives. The stories and concepts in this book are far more compelling to me than anything organized religion has offered me. It has helped me to reconsider my beliefs about death, but also life.
What’s an article of clothing that makes you feel most like you?
Definitely big, bulky sweaters! (I live in Michigan, afterall.) I just bought another sweater today. I don’t actually need another sweater, but here we are.
What’s the best piece of wisdom you’ve encountered recently?
To “hold everything lightly.”
Tell me about any special relationship you’ve had with an animal, domestic or wild?
My pets have always been special to me. In the past couple of years, we’ve adopted two rescue cats: An adult Siamese we named Alfred, and a kitten Tabby we named Greta-Cannoli. It’s basically my life’s mission to make sure they are as happy, healthy, and spoiled as two domesticated animals can possibly be. I think our bonds with animals can sometimes be stronger than our bonds with some humans, and I take this responsibility seriously.
What's one thing you are happy worked out differently than you expected?
Not too long ago, I was on a very different career trajectory. Had things worked out the way I thought I wanted them to, I likely wouldn’t be writing this piece for you! I am very, very grateful to have been turned down for several career-related opportunities, which were experiences that really bummed me out at the time. But had those worked out, I’d be spending my days doing any number of things that I absolutely now know would not have made me happy in the same way that writing for children does. I wish it were not uncouth to personally thank every person who decided against my candidacy for certain positions for, well, deciding against my candidacy for those positions. If I could send every one of those power-players a card and a box of chocolates, I absolutely would. Their decisions altered the course of my life in a way I never thought possible. The adage when one door closes another one opens comes to mind.
Singing in the shower or dancing in the kitchen? Or another favorite way your body expresses itself?
I’d say both! Especially when it’s 90s rock. I’ve been on a Weezer kick lately.
What are your hopes for yourself?
I like to think that I’m a (mostly) simple human. I just want to be happy, healthy, and surrounded by love. Those are my boundaries, and I walk away from anyone and anything not in service of those efforts.
What’s a kindness that changed your life?
There have been a number of people who’ve taken me under their wing in recent years, both in my personal life and professional life. All of these people have uplifted me in a way that wasn’t available to me before. Not to be too cryptic, but I don’t exactly come from a framework or paradigm in which love, kindness, empathy, validation, and emotional support was the rule. It was quite the opposite. So any person or event that honored my humanity – and my truth – in all situations and circumstances stands out to me in some way.
What’s a guiding force in your life?
My peace is a guiding force. And I protect it at all costs.
Meet me in the comment section
How big is your stack of unread books? How strong are your bonds with the animals in your life? Anyone you’d like to send a card and a box of chocolates of thanks? Do you have people in your life who honor your humanity?
Chiming in with Rona... the series of career setbacks really spoke to me. It was almost nourishing to think about who I might send a card and a box of chocolates for turning me down for a job that wouldn’t have been right in any way. Thank you to everyone who didn’t buy lotions or bath salts from my sensory shop! Processing inventory was not my future. 🫶🫶🫶
The highlight for me was the series of career disappointments that turned out to be an escalating stroke of luck. As for rereading, I’ve read Shirley Hazzard’d glorious TRANSIT OF VENUS three or four times and am not done with this novel.