A Valley-based children’s book author is out with a new book, and it’s a spin-off of sorts. "The Beat I Drum" tells the story of Connor Bradley, who appeared in earlier books by Dusti Bowling, as the best friend of another protagonist, Aven Green.
In this book, Bradley is starting a new high school, has recently moved into a new apartment in a new part of town and is dealing with his father, who’s trying to come back into Bradley’s life. Also, Bradley has Tourette syndrome.
Dusti Bowling joined The Show to talk about her new book and why she decided to focus on Connor and show us his life.
Full conversation
DUSTI BOWLING: So some people will probably be familiar with my two earlier books, “Insignificant Events In The Life of a Cactus” and “Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus,” which are told from the perspective of Connor's best friend, Aven Green. So people really like that character, and they liked her best friend, Connor Bradley, who this book is about. And so I had the idea when I was finishing up the second book about Aven, to write a whole story about her best friend, just because people really liked the character and so do I.
MARK BRODIE: Was there something about being able to expand on who he is, and in his case, his struggles that appeal to you?
BOWLING: Yes, he's a very special character to me. Actually, he was first inspired by my husband and daughters, who all have tic disorders. Now, a lot of people will probably be familiar with Tourette syndrome. Unfortunately, Tourette syndrome has been really badly stereotyped for a very long time in books and especially movies, as always being people shouting bad words.
So when I had the idea to write Aven’s story, Aven is actually, if you're not familiar with those books, she's a girl who was born without arms. And I wanted to write a story about this girl with this pretty significant disability, but not have it be about the disability. I wanted it to be about her, and who she is as a person, and her sense of humor, and her talents and all these things, and not have it be this serious, solemn story, like so many stories I had read that featured characters with disabilities. I wanted it to be something different.
And as I was starting to write about Aven’s character, my daughter, who's 21 now, she was 11 at the time. She was just starting to have tics, and so she has really severe motor tics where she twists her neck, and she twists her ankles, and her wrists and taps her fingers, and scrunches up her face. And it causes her a lot of physical pain, a lot of muscle pain, and also a lot of emotional pain from people always telling her, “stop doing that. Why are you scrunching up your face? Why are you doing that?” And then the pain that comes with her, having to tell people, you know, I can't stop. It's a tic. I have Tourette syndrome. And so many people saying back to her, “Oh no, no, you don't have that. I know what that is. That's when people shout bad words and things like that.”
So the stereotyping of Tourette syndrome has gotten so bad that even when people meet someone with real Tourette syndrome, they sometimes don't even believe them that they have it. And so I decided at that time to put Connor into Aven’s story, simply because I wanted to have a more authentic, accurate representation of what Tourette syndrome is for a lot of kids. But I just fell so much in love with him that I decided he needed his own story.
BRODIE: Well, so when you were writing his story, were you trying to do for him what you did for Aven and not make it sort of about Tourette syndrome, but make it about a child who has it, but also about his life, sort of the ups and downs of, in his case, a kid starting a new school?
BOWLING: Right, so this story is about so many things that aren't related to his Tourette syndrome. It's about having to start over at a brand new high school where you know nobody. So I think starting in high school for any kid at a new school where you are starting completely from scratch, with no friends, is terrifying for all children.
So that's a really relatable problem that Connor is having in the story, and a big part of why he has to start over at a new high school is because he and his mom have moved across the city in order to be closer to his father, who he has a really contentious relationship with. So he doesn't want to reconnect with his father. His parents got divorced a couple of years ago, which I also think a lot of children can, of course, relate to. And I think all of these problems are really relatable to all children, not just children with Tourette syndrome.
So there's a lot going on in the book that doesn't have anything to do with that. Although, there is definitely a storyline about him connecting with this music teacher and learning how to play an instrument. You could probably tell which one it is from the title, in order to as a kind of, almost help a therapy for his tics, because music, playing musical instruments, singing, all, all kinds of musical therapies are really good for kids with tic disorders.
BRODIE: I’m interested in what you said about having aspects of Connor's life that are relatable, in terms of, you know, his parents split up, he's starting a new high school and the difficulties of that. I wonder if, in some ways, that is a way to help readers and other kids or adults who are reading this book, to also sort of maybe understand the thing that is less relatable to them, in terms of Tourette syndrome?
BOWLING: Definitely, I think finding that common ground with another person. Look, hey, we're not different in every way. We actually have all these commonalities. We share all these things, these life experiences. I really think that helps kids and people in general to connect with people and be more understanding and empathetic about the things they don't have personal experiences with.
BRODIE: Yeah. So in your past books, your home state has played a fairly sizable role in many of them. I'm wondering in what ways Phoenix or Arizona plays a role in this book?
BOWLING: So, yeah, I tried to bring in some things I love about the city. A lot of my books take place like out in the desert, but the cactus books, definitely. And then this one now takes place in the city, and so I try to bring in some of those quirky things that I love.
So there's a storyline within the book about where a friend of Connor's family works this restaurant they own, and it's a pizza place where they have this huge organ it's called Organ Pipe Pizza. And it's based on a place, a real restaurant in Chandler that I've been to.
And so there's definitely Phoenix has its own perks and strange things that I don't think exist really anywhere else. So I'm always trying to touch on those fun things that I love about Arizona, whether it's out in the desert or in the city.
BRODIE: Well, I thought it was interesting, even just at the very beginning of the book, you reference Connor's first day at his new school, and his dad comes to pick him up. I hope I'm not giving too much away here. And they sort of have this disagreement about whether or not the dad is going to drive Connor home.
And you reference how hot it is, which is obviously a very sort of Phoenix thing, that school starts when it's still unbelievably hot outside. And it almost seems like you make the heat outside almost like a metaphor for how they're feeling about each other, even when they get in the car and sort of have this very uncomfortable ride back to Connor's apartment?
BOWLING: Absolutely, the heat definitely plays a role in a lot of my stories, because how can you not think about the heat in a Phoenix summer? It's overwhelming. And anyone who's ever been here over the summer knows how incredibly hot it gets, especially inside of a car. And so I definitely wanted to, I guess you could say, turn up the heat on that scene where they're butting heads. And, you know, there has to be always a lot of conflict in the story. And, definitely, Connor and his dad have a ton of conflict in this story. And so that is played out in so many different scenes and ways, until they also have to find a common ground where they can meet at, just like so many other people.
