“The story is told by a series of ‘moments’”: Coral Rumble introduces her new verse novel 'Little Light'
Coming very soon is a brand new verse novel from award-winning children’s poet Coral Rumble.
Little Light is the story of Ava, whose family’s life has fallen into dififculty. Presented in a seamless poetic narrative, Ava’s world is peppered with utterly believable characters and feelings, and her story sensitively highlights some of the dilemmas and challenges that many young people face as they grow up. Can Ava be brave enough to shine light when life gets dark?
All will be revealed on publication day, 27th June!
In the meantime, we chat to Coral to find out more about her inspiration for the book.
Where did the idea for Little Light come from?
Coral Rumble
I’ve wanted to tell Ava’s story for a long time. Although Ava’s obviously not me, I’ve borrowed a lot from my own childhood experiences and adapted them. When I was a child my family lost everything (financially) and we became homeless. We didn’t end up in a hotel, like Ava, but we lived with my grandparents in their small terraced house which had just two bedrooms and a box room to sleep the six of us! We weren’t rehoused for a few years because ‘technically’ we were safe and catered for. I’m very aware that some children today have a difficult start in life and that they don’t expect things to get better. My father didn’t have a drink problem like Ava’s dad, and he didn’t leave us, but my parents had to cope with huge levels of stress and there were dark times. I suppose if there’s a ‘message’ in Little Light, it’s for children going through a similar experience. I want them to know that there’s always hope, and that the harsh judgements made by others shouldn’t be listened to as they’re borne out of ignorance. And also, one day, they might even use their experiences when they’re writing a book!
Why did you choose to write it as a verse novel? Was there something about the structure of a verse novel that lent itself to the story in your mind?
I adore verse novels but had never considered writing one. But then during lockdown (when I had more time to write!) I realised that a verse novel was the ideal form to tell this story. It would enable me to bring together my scattered childhood memories of that time, and to marry them with fiction to weave a narrative.
I often tell children that a poem can be a small slice of a bigger story; that writing poems about ‘moments’ in our own stories can help us to look really closely at them without rushing by. In a way, a verse novel does this in an organised thread. The story is told by a series of ‘moments’ and the challenge is in creating a flow of connection.
Like others, I’ve broken a few verse novel rules along the way, but I’m hoping for forgiveness from purists!
How would you use Little Light in schools, since it's not a poetry collection but a narrative story?
As I mentioned above, I see a verse novel as a sequence of moments, so many of them can be isolated and looked at separately. In a school situation I would select some of those moments, as explored in individual poems, to discuss relevant situations and experiences that the pupils have encountered themselves. This would lead to them writing their own poems as they reflect on what happened to them.
Of course, the ideal would be to work with pupils who have actually read the whole novel. We could then have a broader discussion and the children could write a series of a few linked poems about moments in their own lives.
The story has many themes - bullying, parental separation, homelessness, friendship, loneliness and love, which are all explored in a sensitive and caring way. Were these woven into your imagination before you wrote the story or did they develop as the story grew? What themes would you want to impart when working in schools with children?
I have a very uneasy relationship with ‘imparting themes’, as sometimes the word ‘theme’ is synonymous with ‘issue’. The story must be the thing. Any story will reflect our common and not so common human experiences to varying degrees, but it shouldn’t be written around an ‘issue’; the story must be the master and not the servant of an issue. In my opinion, a story should reflect life, truthfully, in all its messiness. When a story becomes directly didactic, however worthy the intention, the story becomes secondary. Writers should allow the reader to draw their own conclusions and explore their own convictions.
At a very simple level, this is Ava’s story, but if it leads naturally to discussions about some of the life experiences she encounters, that’s fantastic, and it could be very helpful to some children.
Which character did you envisage first? Was it Ava and then the story was built around her?
Yes, this was always going to be Ava’s story from the very beginning, and the narrative revolves around her as an individual. After my answer to your last question, you can tell how important I think this is! At the beginning of writing, I was reliving my own story, and then it became Ava’s story. Very different people can have similar stories.
Where did the title ‘Little Light’ come from?
The title, Little Light, comes from the song Nana taught Ava when she was very young. Nana also encourages Ava to become a ‘little light’ herself, when life gets dark. This concept of light and dark in opposition has been explored since the beginning of time. Whether your awareness of light and dark has grown in a Christian context, as with Nana, or whether it was sparked when you watched Star Wars, it’s somehow there, deep in your psyche. This seems to be cross-cultural. Nobody really wants to side with Darth Vader!
Ava's relationship with Tracker is beautifully realised; have you had a similar relationship with a dog or other pet?
I have, I’ve had 3 dogs over the years (and a number of cats) and they’ve all captured my heart! After we moved from my grandparents’ house to a council estate we got our first dog, just like Ava. She was a stray, just like Tracker, but we got her from an animal shelter. She’d been found on the streets, expecting puppies. In my imagined backstory Tracker has escaped from a puppy farm. There are hints in Little Light that he’s been treated badly.
There’s a lot of my current dog, Gus, in Tracker and I suspect that many dog owners will detect their own dog in him, too!
One of the most loveable and endearing characters in the story is Mr Amir. Is Mr Amir based on someone you know or knew?
Mr Amir is based on the owner of a grocery shop at the end of the road where we lived with my grandparents. I used to go there to buy sweets once a week. He was a very kind man. One of my strongest childhood memories is of sneaking off there when my mum was upset, to buy her a Walnut Whip because she loved them. I didn’t have quite enough money but the shop owner let me have it anyway, so I could cheer Mum up!
What is your main hope for Little Light?
I suppose my main hope is that some children will be able to recognise themselves in Ava, and in other characters. We all acknowledge that every child should be able to see themselves in books but we need to widen our focus. There’s a multiplicity of ‘minority’ groups but some get less attention, like the homeless and young carers; some minorities fall through the cracks. However, I hope that Little Light chiefly tells Ava’s story, as an individual human being rather than as part of a ‘category’.