Since When the World Turned Upside Down has been circulating, I feel like I’ve been waiting to hear what kids think of the book. I still don’t have that insight yet (might help if I got going with some school visits, lol), but I’ve been hearing more from adult readers. Two comments in particular made me feel like the deeper themes of the book are being felt.

• Thank you for making current events accessible for younger readers, highlighting the importance of using your voice, providing affirmations and inspiration throughout!—Onyx Editions
• Books like @K_Ibura’s When the World Turned Upside Down—timely with a voice for the ages—are what we need. What kids need.  They need neither hand-wringing nor sadness. They need us to show them how to act. This book does that.—Lorie Barber

Writing When the World Turned Upside Down was an extremely fluid experience. The characters were fully formed, the outline flowed from my imagination easily and each draft expanded organically from the previous draft. It was as if the book had its own vision and mission for itself, and I was jut the medium for it to come through.

I didn’t plan to write an instructional book showing kids how they could stay balanced in a turbulent world, but as I dug in, that’s exactly what evolved. I certainly didn’t plan to write a social justice book. I tend to avoid being the voice in social justice conversations, but the times demanded it. Writing a current events book during the time those events were unfolding meant that I had to surrender to the topics that dominated life during that time period.

In surrendering to 2020’s themes, I truly feel like When the World Turned Upside Down is a story I was in service to instead of the other way around. And it is so gratifying to hear that those efforts are being felt, heard and valued.

Onward!

—K.