Alexandra Sheppard
About Author
Alexandra Sheppard introduces her latest novel, Alyssa and the Spell Garden, exploring community, teamwork - and the magic of nature.
Alexandra was born in North London, where she still lives with her family. Oh My Gods was her first novel for teenagers. Alex is also the co-author of Fly High Crew and The Day We Saved The Future, in collaboration with the Banjo Brothers, and has contributed to Happy Here, an anthology of stories from Black British authors and illustrators. Her second YA novel, Friendship Never Ends, published to great acclaim.
Interview
Alyssa and the Spell Garden (Faber Children's Books)
April 2024
Alexandra Sheppard introduces her latest novel, Alyssa and the Spell Garden, exploring community and the magic of nature set against the busy backdrop of a North London high street. When Alyssa goes to stay with her mum's estranged family, she doesn't expect to find a 'spell garden' and a secret magic school for the local children. While the spell garden has for generations helped keep the community safe, something is draining its magic and the local community is under threat.
Find out more about Alyssa and the Spell Garden. Download a chapter from the books.
We spoke to Alexandra to find out more about the book's themes of community and gentrification, the challenges and joys of dual heritage, and how important it is for all children to see themselves in stories.
Q&A with Alexandra Sheppard
"I'm one of those writers who doesn't always enjoy writing but enjoys having written - much like going to the gym. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes from seeing sentences and paragraphs build into chapters."
1. What has been your journey into writing, both YA and books for children? Do you do other kinds of work as well?
I started writing my first novel, Oh My Gods, about five years before it was published (though the idea was swimming in my head well before that). Going to a weekly creative writing workshop kickstarted my writing journey, as it gave me the confidence and discipline to finish the first draft of my novel.
Alongside writing books for young people, I'm also a freelance Social Media Strategist - this was my job before I became an author.
2. What are your favourite parts of your writing day?
When it's over! I'm one of those writers who doesn't always enjoy writing but enjoys having written - much like going to the gym. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes from seeing sentences and paragraphs build into chapters. At the start of a first draft, it feels like that day will never come!
3. What happens in your new book, Alyssa and the Spell Garden?
The novel is about 11-year-old Alyssa, who is on the cusp of some pretty major life changes. Her parents are on the verge of separation and she's about to leave the safe confines of primary school for Year 7.
When she's forced to spend the summer holiday with her mum's family, who she's never met before, Alyssa's latent magical powers explode into life. Her great-aunt reveals that she's descended from a line of "magically-inclined beings", and she runs a secret magic school in her spell garden where local kids can hone their power.
They only use their power for the good of the community - Auntie Jasmine dispenses magical tea blends through her tea shop that heal, restore and help their neighbours. The garden grows magical spell ingredients that have protected their family and the wider neighbourhood for decades - ever since they arrived from Jamaica with their mother Effie in the 1960s, bringing their secret power with them.
Why has Mum kept Alyssa's magical lineage a secret from her? And can Alyssa learn to control her magic and use it to heal her parents before they split for good?
"The story was mainly inspired by lockdown, when my craving for the outdoors and
green spaces was at its highest."
4. What inspired this story about friendship, magic and community?
The story was mainly inspired by lockdown, when my craving for the outdoors and green spaces was at its highest. I spent a lot of time in the garden and bought house plants to compensate for how much smaller my world had become. Escaping to a story world of magical gardens on my doorstep was such a balm.
The story is also set in my neighbourhood of Holloway, North London. My first book 'Oh My Gods' was also set in Holloway but, in Alyssa and the Spell Garden, I got to focus on the themes of community and gentrification that were so important to me.
5. How do you make the magic in the story believable? What are the 'rules' for the Spell Garden's magic?
I think the magic in the story feels somewhat believable because the spells are largely tea blends, and they use a mix of real and fictional ingredients. I wanted to highlight the everyday magic that's in a good cup of peppermint tea as well as proper spells!
My number one rule for writing a magic story was ensuring there was an energetic exchange that took place when creating spells. I needed to think about what fuelled the magic, and what happened when that fuel ran out.
"It worries me because we're witnessing the real-time destruction of communities that helped to make this city what it is.
If lockdown didn't teach us the importance of community, then what will?"
6. Alyssa's community in London has to fight to protect its high street. As a Londoner, do you see the gentrification of neighbourhoods first hand, and why does this worry you?
Like many Londoners of my generation, not only do we see gentrification, but we profoundly feel its effects. So many of my friends choose to live at home with their parents because the rents in our neighbourhoods are so exorbitant. Yes, we could leave the city, but not without negative effects on our immediate communities - our parents, siblings, aunties and uncles.
So it worries me because we're witnessing the real-time destruction of communities that helped to make this city what it is. If lockdown didn't teach us the importance of community, then what will?
7. The Jamaican roots of the family and community in this story are part of its magic; did you want your story to encourage children to bring their history and family roots into their everyday lives?
If my story has that effect then I'd be very proud indeed. I've had the privilege of running creative writing workshops in very diverse school classrooms, and one of my exercises involved getting the students to write modernised myths from their culture: we had everything from Irish fairies to enchanted Ashanti stools. I know I left the classroom richer as a result of hearing their stories.
8. Eating traditional foods is part of the magic of the Spell Garden in the story; what are your favourite childhood memories of food and eating, and your favourite meals?
As you might have guessed from reading the book, I LOVE food. I always try to sneak in moments around meals into my stories. My favourite childhood memories of food include getting penny sweets in paper bags at the cinema, unwrapping the plastic from a toy in a Happy Meal, fried plantain with eggs and baked beans for breakfast and my grandad's delicious Saturday Soup.
"If I ever found myself in a Spell Garden, I'd want to create something very ambitious: a teleportation spell!
I love to travel but hate flying and long journeys."
9. Are you a keen gardener like the characters in your story? What kinds of spells would you enjoy making if you found yourself working in the Spell Garden?
Although I massively appreciate the beauty of gardens, the green thumb sadly has not rubbed off on me. Maybe one day.
If I ever found myself in a Spell Garden, I'd want to create something very ambitious: a teleportation spell! I love to travel but hate flying and long journeys, so that would come in very handy.
10. What are your favourite ways to relax and where do you go to inspire more story ideas? What are you working on currently?
I like a long soak in a warm bath - there's nothing quite like the restorative magic of water. I also love baking with some music or a podcast on in the background.
I don't seek out story ideas; I wait for them to come to me. I find meditation a very useful tool for relaxing and for allowing ideas to float upwards.
Alyssa and the Spell Garden
Happy Here: 10 stories from Black British Authors and Illustrators
O.M.G.s (OH MY GODS)
