Atlanta children’s book author Laurel Snyder has a graphic memoir coming out next year called “Glimmering: A Mostly True Tale” that explores, in part, her experience as a person with epilepsy.
But her upcoming book, “Shrinking Violet” ($18.99, Chronicle Books), publishing March 31, was also inspired by her condition.
When her son Mose was 6 or 7, he crawled in bed with his mother to sleep one night when his father was out of town. In the middle of the night, Snyder had a seizure.
“I kind of came to in the middle of the seizure and through the fog of that I could see Mose, and he was terrified. Once the seizure was over and I could get my wits about me, I went to reach out for him and he was shrinking from me,” she said. “I was scaring him because he didn’t understand what had happened.”
Featuring LeUyen Pham’s lush, joyful illustrations drenched in shades of purple, the book tells the story of a girl named Violet who’s frightened by rustles in the rafters and spiders on the stairs in the big castle where she lives. When frightened, Violet literally shrinks in fear. But one day, when her bird friend is in peril, Violet is able to overcome her fears and grow big and brave to save him.
Credit: Chronicle Books
Credit: Chronicle Books
Snyder said she was interested in exploring “what fear does to us physically — how it makes us cower, or shrink or become a smaller version of ourselves.” She wanted to imagine “what would it take to get (Mose) to grow? What can I give him in order to get him back to normal size? That is where the story began.”
Snyder has built a successful career writing books for children of all ages, from picture books for toddlers to chapter books for middle-graders. Combining elements of magic and joy, her books depict kids grappling with big emotions related to loss, uncertainty, family dynamics, faith and community.
Like many children’s authors, Snyder has had to navigate the wave of book bans sweeping the country’s school libraries in recent years.
In 2023, the Forsyth County School District challenged Snyder’s pick-your-own-adventure-style retelling of classic fairy tales, “Endlessly Ever After” for ages 5-8. An objection was raised because a little girl is given the option to awaken the sleeping princess with a kiss in Snyder’s take on “Sleeping Beauty.” The book ultimately was not banned.
“Charlie & Mouse,” her collection of stories about two playful brothers for readers ages 4-7, was challenged by multiple school districts because the next-door neighbors are a gay couple named Eric and Michael.
Nevertheless, Snyder acknowledges her books don’t often attract much negative attention. The books that typically get challenged or banned are books that focus on LGBTQ content or issues related to race.
“For me personally, it doesn’t affect the work I make,” said Snyder. “I do think it affects what gets published, and I think it affects what gets attention. … If the fear is that a book about a Black family or a book about a family with two moms is going to attract attention and get your librarian in trouble, or your teacher in trouble, or your principal in trouble or whatever, then you just never do it. So, the schoolwide read is never that book or the classroom pick for required reading is never that book. Even if we don’t remove the books from the shelves, there’s this chilling effect that comes everywhere because of all of this.”
Credit: Chronicle Books
Credit: Chronicle Books
And those bans have a domino effect on the whole industry, she says.
“A lot of how (children’s authors) stay alive, how we make a living, is school visits — events for children — and there’s been a huge, huge shutdown basically of all queer authors,” Snyder said.
“And that ripples into the whole community. Honestly, schools are just afraid to have school visits now. All of us are seeing a lack of that business and also, it’s just sad for the kids. It doesn’t affect my writing, but it affects the professional world that I live in.”
Noting that “the things we teach children are actually good lessons for all of us,” Snyder has taken a page from “Shrinking Violet” to stand up for her fellow authors.
As Georgia coordinator for Authors Against Book Bans, an organization that supports librarians and teachers on the front line of book bans, Snyder spoke to the House Rules Committee in February to voice opposition to Senate Bill 74.
The bill would allow for the conviction of librarians for lending “materials harmful to minors” with the potential for up to 12 months in jail and a fine. What constitutes “materials harmful to minors” is left open to interpretation. The bill has passed the Senate and is before the House.
“No librarian can know every book in a library,” said Snyder.
Little Shop of Stories in Decatur hosts an author event with Snyder April 4. For details, go to littleshopofstories.com.
Suzanne Van Atten is a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
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