Meet Jasmine Warga

author of Other Words for Home and The Shape of Thunder

Do you have a favorite writing ritual?

Candles! I love writing with candles. And I also eat too many Twizzlers. 

What is the best writing advice you ever got?

That the reason it takes so long to write a book is that you have to go through the process of becoming the person who is able to tell that story—essentially that you grow as your story grows. 

Have you had any hilarious/horrible/awesome jobs besides writer?

I was the world's worst 6th grade science teacher, but I loved my students!

Jasmine’s Top 10 Animals:

1. Walrus 

2. Jaguar 

3. Penguin 

4. Elephant 

5. Tiger 

6. Orangutan 

7. Arctic Fox 

8. Red panda 

9. Polar bear 

10. Scout, my dog, and Salvador, my cat (but shhh, don't tell them that a walrus beat them for the #1 spot)

What is The Shape of Thunder about?

A year after a school shooting has devastated a small Ohio town, two best friends hatch a seemingly impossible plan to try to make everything okay again, and they discover that hope might be the most impossible, but also the most important, thing of all. The novel is about the possibility of time travel,  the magical qualities of trees, the trauma of gun violence, and the power of friendship.

About Jasmine

Jasmine Warga is the author of the New York Times bestseller Other Words For Home. Other Words For Home earned multiple awards, including a John Newbery Honor, a Walter Honor for Young Readers, and a Charlotte Huck Honor. She is also the author of young adult books, My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now, which have been translated into over twenty different languages. The Shape of Thunder, her next novel for middle grade readers, will be published in May 2021. Originally from Cincinnati, she now lives in the Chicago-area with her family. Visit her online at www.jasminewarga.com, on Twitter @jasminewarga, or on Instagram @jassiewarga.