Alan Silberberg
About Author
Author and illustrator Alan Silberberg lost his mum to cancer at a young age and has always believed in the power of using cartoons as a way to engage young people with series issues. He believes that its OK to laugh and cry at the same time, if you like and uses Milo to address his own story and share it with others. Alan gained a BA in Cartooning and Education from the University of Massachusetts and a MA in Education from Harvard. He is a successful TV writer whose clients include Disney Channel, Fox and Nickelodeon. Originally from Boston, he now lives in Montreal with his wife and son, and is currently working on his next novel.
Author link
Interview
MILO AND THE RESTART BUTTON
Published by Simon & Schuster
February 2011
Alan Silberberg, a Canadian, has been writing television scripts for children and families for 20 years but hadn't thought about writing a book for children until his wife suggested it after reading one of his descriptive action pieces.
Silberberg says, "We are big readers in our house and we always read to my son and I started to love the idea of telling stories in a different way so I took up my wife's challenge and Pond Scum was the result."
Milo and the Restart Button is his second book. It is about 13-year old Milo whose mother died of a brain tumour a few years previously. He and his family, who have recently moved to a new house and new area, are still grieving her loss. The book describes Milo's healing journey through the new friendships he makes.
With the Wimpy Kid series opening the way for more illustrated children's fiction, Silberberg decided he would illustrate the book. "I have been a doodler since my teenage years and I have done some cartooning work but there has never been any career in it. When I started writing Milo I knew I wanted to include cartoons in it - in fact I was challenged by a bookseller to write a 'Wimpy Kid' type book." Silberberg didnt want to do that, but did want to use his cartoons in a funny way.
The finished book is very different from the one Silberberg started. He says, "I started to write a book about a boy in junior high school, it was going to be a silly book with cartoons, and I got two chapters in and started to draw back to my own experiences.
"I lost my mum to brain cancer when I was nine years old and as you can imagine, that event has coloured my entire life. My own teenage years were very difficult and, as I began to write Milo and the Restart Button, I slowly came to the conclusion that I would tell a story with many emotional levels and use cartoons."
Silberberg admits that it was "hard to go back" to those childhood experiences but adds, "It was a choice that I made because I knew on some level it would be a healing choice and ultimately it was. I basically tell the story of what I wish had happened for me; writing about Milo was a chance to have the experience of healing through his route. There was also the feeling that I might be able to help families going through this kind of experience."
As the book reflects, Silberberg's experience of loss was compounded by his fathers grief. "Everyone in my family was grieving and it was hard on my dad to be able to take care of us through his grief," he says. He had to cope with his mother's death largely alone.
Despite the great sadness that Milo experiences, this book is not a 'sad' book; Silberberg describes it as "a funny story with grieving in it". He also explores Milo's other experiences as he grows up, including his friendships, geekiness and falling in love, although within the context of his bereavement. Silberberg explains, "I wanted to write a book that was funny and not sad but that would also reflect the real duality that a child goes through with this kind of experience; they are fine but they are not fine. It's very common for young people who have gone through a loss to show one face that appears to be fine but there is a deep emotional fog that always exists at the same time."
Silberbergs cartoons are funny but also pack an emotional punch. He says, "I used the cartoons to tell the story. There's one full page cartoon that talks about Milo's dad and how much Milo misses his dad as much as he misses his mum. I could have told that in the text but telling it in a visual style had more emotional surety."
Silberberg believes that including images helps broaden the appeal of the book. "I feel that the visual style of the book will appeal to younger readers, but I don't think it would turn off anyone older because the story is well told and has an emotional journey attached to it. Cartoons appeal to kids of all ages but older readers will be pulled in by the text." He was recently contacted by a middle school that wanted to buy multiple copies for their English classes for readers aged 13 or 14 years who wanted to discuss its emotional content.
He adds, "Teachers have told me that children will take out of Milo what they are emotionally ready to accept, some will get the relationship and love, or the friendship, will others will get the story of loss."
Silberberg is currently finishing a new book that he describes as a "funny and silly wish fulfillment story" that will also use his cartoons. After that, he may write a sequel to the Milo book. "I'd hate to say goodbye to the characters I have created."
He admits it was difficult to begin writing the new book. "I had just come from telling an incredibly emotional story that was grounded in reality and then moved from drama to comedy; I felt I couldnt do it but then I realised that while I am a deep person, I am also very silly."
He adds, "It felt very natural writing Milo, I just wanted to tell the story and to go on the journey with Milo, something I had not done yet. I hadn't realized I had not fully said goodbye to my mum or remembered her in the way Milo tries to. The cartoons Milo draws of things he remembers of his mum's, those were objects I drew from memory of my mum. It was telling a true emotional story. It was a very surprising journey. The story crept up on me and became much more than I had intended or planned when I started."
Silberberg is now working mainly on his novels, but he acknowledges a debt to his earlier career. "What screen writing has given me a wonderful ear for how children will speak and it's a great thing. Its also how the story flows."
His writing day is not a traditional nine to five, he says. "It goes something like this, nine to nine twenty, nine forty five to nine fifty... But I do sit down every day in my chair, coffee by my side, and start. I'm easily distracted though but I will try to write every day. I like the flexibility, I can go on errands, go to the gym, but I do try to devote the mornings to my writing. I have always wanted to write for children and I do love my work."
