Local author Becky Smeltzer-Lowe continues to address the problem of bullying with Book Four in her Marigold and the Marvelous Misfits series, titled Slimy Scumbuckets.
A retired middle school teacher with 26 years in the profession, Smeltzer-Lowe is actively dedicated to supporting kids facing bullying, providing them with encouragement, resources and a safe space to express themselves. Together, she believes we can make a difference in their lives.
With each new adventure, readers learn to love the misfits, whose members span races and religions, some suffering from mental illnesses and disorders.
And each boasts a special gift such as speed, strength, vision, creativity and hearing. Marigold's is empathy.
The group is part of an ancient society that travels the world using their gifts to help the victims of bullying.
And cover art for each new volume is created by Becky's brother Steve Smeltzer, a professional cartoonist, bringing each misfit to life in the reader's hearts and imaginations.
Here WBOI's Julia Meek and Becky discuss the real-life story that inspired this series, its catchy middle grade appeal, and the power of fighting bullies with "right, not might."
Find ordering information and connect with the author at her website.
This is a transcript of our conversation:
Julia Meek: Becky Smeltzer-Lowe, welcome.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Thank you for allowing me to be here.
Julia Meek: Now you have just published the fourth title in your clever Kids series, Marigold and the Marvelous Misfits. Very briefly, what's it all about?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe:This series entails a group of children, middle schoolers, who are bullied, and they come together with lots of fantasy and magic and meeting in an underground cave.
And they meet together to help victims of bullying.
Julia Meek: So, they are champions?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: They are champions.
Julia Meek: And now okay, before we meet this marvelous cast of misfits, Becky, would you tell us how the series came to be?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I was teaching middle school language arts, eighth grade, and a student left a note on my desk that she was considering suicide.
And it all became apparent to me, it was because she was being bullied in the locker room. She was chubby, and she said when she would dress, the other kids would make fun of her.
I found her in the hallway, and she did get help, and as a result, she's doing fine.
Julia Meek: Still.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Mmhmm.
Julia Meek: That's wonderful. And you have been on this crusade, if I might call it that, since.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Ever since.
Julia Meek: Good for you. Now, your style of storytelling is a clever, clever blend of fable, fairy tale, superheroes, modern gaming, ancient sorcery, almost. Just where and when did that side of your writing develop,
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I would think, and it sounds kind of strange, but I would sit down at my computer after I retired and decided that I would write the series, and the words and the ideas and everything just sort of came into my mind.
I don't know where it was coming from, experiences, I guess, that I'd witnessed. And it just...it happened.
Julia Meek: That's wonderful for a divine gift to strike that way. [chuckles] The marvelously clever styles and passages and the way you tie things together.
Maybe I should ask, when did your love of multi-genre reading and writing all start?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I believe I developed that as a child just reading stories. I was an avid reader. And because I was a quiet person, I got my words out by writing.
Julia Meek: And then the passion for education in there, somewhere in between, it sounds like.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Yes.
Julia Meek: And there you go. There you've gone, and now, here we are.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: [chuckles] Yes.
Julia Meek: So, the art of engaging Middle School chapter book readers all in itself, you have everything from the lingo to the characters to middle school humor. It's just spot on.
Was it hard to develop? Even though you taught these youngsters, was it hard to develop talking like them?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I don't think so. I think it happened because I spent so many years with them, 26 years of middle schoolers.
And I think it just became part of... [chuckles] I would find myself using some of that lingo. [both laugh] Yeah, so I think that's where it occurred. It was just kind of a progressive thing, and being around kids.
Julia Meek: Well it suits you, and you certainly wear it and write it well. So keep doing what you're doing, Becky. And now titles do speak volumes.
And your original is Marigold and the Misfits, Book Two is Misfit Mayhem, Grizzly Griddle [chuckes] and now Slimy Scumbucket.
And plot-wise, super powers abound. How does this all tie together and actually directly attack the problem of bullying?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I believed I needed a group of kids that not just tried to help the victims, but they needed to have talents.
And their talents, or their gifts, like the one Jade, a supernatural talent, and by adding all of the different gifts that they had together and meshing these talents together, they were able to work together to reach their goal.
Julia Meek: And to make the magic happen.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: And to make the magic happen.
Julia Meek: That's something all ages not only can relate to, but they do relate to. And gaming is very, very popular, and back at the kids level, choose your own adventure.
Again, mix and mash it all together. Is that how the inside of your head works? [both laugh]
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I think so. I think so. It's just kind of creativity. It's like going into a different world, and what happens, you know, and you write it down and establish it.
Julia Meek: I think we should know at this point, are you, were you a Harry Potter fan?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I have read some Harry Potter, and I did enjoy it, yes.
Julia Meek: That kind of shows around the edges. I would have to say that. [both laugh] And now that you have evolved through book number four, what levels of interaction and life changing has Marigold's team achieved in the series?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Yes, and I think I would begin with Marigold who was expected by this group of kids that she'd never met on her first day of middle school, and she grew and changed.
And as a group, they became more adventurous. They travel on the back of a bird. They go different places. They experience lots of different things. And as a result, they mature.
And in the books, they become older. You know, they go up in grade levels. And they accomplish more, and I think they become braver.
Julia Meek: Which is certainly essential to dealing with the problem. And is the power, the momentum advancing your misfits and your readers equally, is that part of the point as well? Misfits can do more and more?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Yes, they can do more and more, and they become more adept at doing more and more.
Marigold, who had no friends in the beginning now suddenly is surrounded by people that...her gift is empathy. They feel that she could never leave their group.
And none of them could ever leave the group. It would just, it would tear the whole group apart. And so she is astonished that she belongs.
Julia Meek: Which is a big overwhelment, and something every kid should experience, and get.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Exactly, and that what she has is important and attainable.
Julia Meek: That's always a big part of your writing, and that is certainly wonderful. Now, in full disclosure, your own brother, Steve Smeltzer, a well-known cartoonist and musician locally, illustrates this clever series. How does his work enhance yours?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I had asked him if he would be interested in doing the covers. And he said, of course, but I don't know, I'm more used to cartooning. And I said, anything you do will be wonderful.
And when he was finished, I was blown away by his artwork, as always. And I said, Steve, you know, people might not buy my book for my book, but they'll buy it for the covers, because I loved it. [both chuckle]
And when my granddaughter looked at the covers and she said, Grandma, that is just how I picture the characters looking.
So, I was amazed at what he was able to do, and that helped me, too with my writing, when he did the first cover and then the second and the third and the fourth, yes.
Julia Meek: Good for you. And with book four under your belt, by the way, what's up on your own writing board now, more with Marigold, other people to meet, other people to talk about?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I think writing is in my blood, and I have to write. I have to create. It's just something inside of me. And so I had started an adult book of an 80 year-old woman who is stranded on an island when the cruise ship goes down.
[chuckles] And then I started thinking, I still can't give up Marigold, so, I'm thinking book five will be kind of an ending book. And they're older, they have their own children.
And they go down to the cavern and the inner sanctum and experience that with their children and have some excitement happen. So, that's in the back of my mind I'm still thinking right now.
Julia Meek: Well, we like the way you think, and you will let us know as things progress, right?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: [chuckles] Thank you. Thank you.
Julia Meek: Now back to the issue of bullying, Becky. It is an ancient, unfortunate behavior. How do you see it shifting as awareness, like the kind you are making, is being raised and nonviolent solutions enacted? Are we getting better?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I think we are getting better. I think with school systems, having groups and having kids that are made to feel special and important and develop ideas on how bullying can be stopped.
And I think it's very important to understand that a lot of kids who are bullied, in fact, the majority, when I did research, come from homes where they themselves are bullied.
And so that's important to work with these kids, so that they themselves see their gifts and their importance, because a lot of times they don't, so they attack.
Julia Meek: Major, major points. And thank you for that. And one big game changer in this century is the internet and social media.
Unfortunately, cyberbullying is the newest form of hazing like that so take the good with the bad. Can we have one without the other? The good part of internet but without the cyberbullying?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I think we can, but I think that's going to come from families and parents who work with their children and schools that are trying to help in that area.
And by doing that, maybe we can get rid of the bullying, and it has to happen that way, and then have the good.
Julia Meek: The good part of the that kind of communication, which is certainly a good thing if it can be controlled. [chuckles] And control seems a big part of all of this issue too, unfortunately.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Yes.
Julia Meek: And this last year has been terribly painful for all kinds of education budget cuts, project cuts, and everywhere we look, bullying kind of seems like the new normal from the top down. How is this slowing or skewing the progress, do you think?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I...It scares me a lot. It scares me with the bullying that's happening with immigration, with, like you said, from the top down.
Somehow, some doors have been opened with people thinking that it's all right to be racist, to hurt people, to bully people. Cultures aren't respected.
It scares me a lot, and I do think that that contributes, and if, if kids see this at home, they're going to repeat it at school.
Julia Meek: That's inevitable, and that puts us back to square one or less. We know that.
And I do wonder, Becky, lots of folks want to think this is being blown all out of proportion, that bullying is a normal part of growing up, you know, making you tough and you can take it and all. How do you respond to that kind of thinking?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I think that you have to make compassion and caring stronger in the eyes of people that think hitting someone or verbally abusing someone is okay.
That has to be taught, and I think it has to be understood that that is not okay. It's not all right.
We need to reflect on actions and promote kindness and not look at kindness as being weakness, but as actually strength.
And compassion for other people, no matter where they're from, what they're doing, we need to love each other and care about each other, and that's the only way.
And it scares me that somehow it's opened doors somewhere, and people have come out thinking that's all right.
Julia Meek: It is a scary, scary thought, and a time for a lot of this. Personally, are we going to be okay, do you think,` are we going to get over this one?
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I think we will. I see movement in a positive direction, and I hope that's the way it goes.
Julia Meek: Amen to that. And okay, Becky, you are retired now, and would not have to work so hard, care so much about the world, but you do.
So, my last question, at the end of the day, at the end of the chapter, at the end of the book, what does all of this literary adventure and giving do for you.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: I believe it was something I had to do. It was inside of me. I needed to write about this.
And I have often thought, even if just one child reads a book and feels, hey, I am unique, I have a super talent, I'm good, then that book is worth it.
Julia Meek: Fort Wayne native, Becky Smeltzer-Lowe is a retired educator and author of Marigold and the Misfits series.
Thank you for the work you do, Becky and the stories you tell, including this one. Continued success. Do carry the gift.
Becky Smeltzer-Lowe: Thank you.
