Channelle Desamours introduces her new YA mystery, Needy Little Things
About Author
Needy Little Things is Channelle Desamours' debut YA novel. When she's not writing, Channelle is a high-school science teacher based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Twitter & Instagram: @ElleDesamours
Interview
Channelle Desamours introduces her YA mystery, Needy Little Things (Bloomsbury YA)
February 2025
Debut author Channelle Desamours talks to ReadingZone about her debut YA mystery, Needy Little Things, about teenage Sariyah who can 'hear' the things that other people need; a hat, a nail file, an epi pen... pepper spray.
When her best friend, Deja, goes missing, things take a darker turn and the novel follows Sariyah and her friends as they search for Deja, highlighting the disparity in media coverage for white and Black missing persons cases.
Read a Chapter from Needy Little Things
Review: "Needy Little Things has a gripping plot with the ending being both unexpected and heart-stopping."
Q&A with Channelle Desamours
Channelle Desamour tells ReadingZone how Twilight helped inspire her idea for Needy Little Things; why missing persons cases drove her to write about a missing Black girl; and what the author might want to find in Sariyah's 'Santa bag'!
"Needy Little Things is a message to young people that says we still have a long way to go,
but I see you, and I hear you, and I love you."
1. You're a science teacher by trade - so what brought you into writing for YA readers, and why this age range? Do your students help inspire ideas? How do you squeeze writing into your day, and how long have you been writing for?
My students are wonderful character inspiration. I'm surrounded by so many different, amazing, and rapidly developing personalities every day. They help keep my well of ideas full, that's for sure. I also recently started teaching forensic science, which has kept my mystery/thriller wheels turning!
I finished writing my first book about a decade ago, right around the time I graduated from my master's program in biology. Everyone was congratulating me on my new degree, and while I was so proud of that achievement, I distinctly remember feeling like finishing my first book was the bigger feat. I knew then that I had to give the writing thing a go. I am usually pretty drained after a long day in the classroom, so I quickly learned that if I wanted to meet my writing goals, I'd have to carve out time before work. For me, that means 5am writing sessions! Luckily, I'm a morning person, so getting up that early isn't too much of a struggle.
2. Can you tell us a little about your debut, Needy Little Things, and what happens in the book?
Needy Little Things is a YA speculative mystery that follows 17-year-old Sariyah Bryant, who can hear what people need - tangible things, like a pencil, a hair tie, a phone charger - an ability only those closest to her know the truth about.
But when Sariyah fulfills a need for her friend Deja who vanishes shortly after, she's left wondering if her ability is more curse than gift. This isn't the first time one of her friends has landed on the missing persons list, and Sariyah's determined not to let Deja become yet another forgotten Black girl.
This book shines a light on the disparities in media coverage between white and Black missing persons cases, but it's also about mental health, friendship, and family.
3. Why did you want to write this book? What inspired you to put pen to paper about a missing Black girl, and society's response?
The mystery portion of the book was inspired by the 2021 disappearance of a young white woman named Gabby Petito. Gabby's story went mega-viral, and social media actually ended up playing a pretty notable role in solving her case. Her story was undoubtedly a tragedy, but the virality of it helped her family learn what happened to her and hopefully find some sense of closure.
Her disappearance also reignited difficult but essential conversations about whose stories get told and why. A tiny minority of missing person cases get mass media coverage, but there are some undeniable similarities about the ones that do. The stories we see most often do not accurately reflect the actual demographic breakdown of those who go missing, with white women being overrepresented and minority groups - especially indigenous and Black - being underrepresented.
It was an eye-opening experience as a teacher to see how my students processed Gabby's story and to hear the conversations they had about it. That's around the time I started outlining Needy Little Things.
4. We love the concept of 'Needy Little Things' - can you explain it, and what gave you the idea? What things would you be most likely to need from Sariyah's Santa Bag?
One of my favorite shows of all time is the original Twilight Zone series. Sariyah's ability was inspired by an episode called "What You Need". In that episode, an older man carries around a box of trinkets and gives people what they need based on visions he has. We don't actually see his visions in the show, so sometimes it was surprising to see what item he gave and how the person ended up using it.
It got me thinking… what if he were a teenage girl instead? And what if that girl knew what people needed but didn't know why? What kind of good or bad surprises might come up? How might constantly processing the needs of others interfere with her ability to see to her own?
As a teacher and a writer, I love office supplies, so I sure wouldn't mind if Sariyah pulled some pens and highlighters out of Santa Bag for me - but I do wonder if I'd end up using them in an unusual way!
5. How did Sariyah and her voice develop? What did you enjoy about writing her character?
Sariyah's voice came to me very naturally. I thought a lot about her family and closest friends and how they helped shape her into who she is. I enjoyed writing a character with a superpower that doesn't always feel super. I thought a lot about that quote from Spider-Man: "With great power comes great responsibility". What if you don't want to always be responsible? What if you just want to be a typical teenager? Are superheroes allowed breaks and rest? How much of themselves are they expected to give?
6. Why did you write the novel from Sariyah's perspective? What are the challenges in writing a first person narrative, and what are your top tips for getting it right?
I chose to write from Sariyah's perspective because to truly understand her ability and what life is like for her, you have to be in her head. You have to hear the needs yourself. You have to feel her frustration when the needs are too loud and she can't focus. You have to feel her physical pain when she is unable to fulfill.
The limited perspective can be challenging, especially when it comes to building a fully fleshed-out world, but the first person narrative lets you fully empathize with Sariyah's complex and unique situation. I think to get it right, you really have to lean into the fact that your narrator cannot see everything objectively. Their biases create interesting spaces to explore plot-wise.
7. There are some lovely relationships within Sariyah's group of friends. Is it important for you to see positive friendships represented for this age range, alongside the challenges they might face?
It's very important to me! I am an only child, so my best friends are the closest thing I've ever had to siblings. I wanted to capture that deep bond where the line between friend and family blurs. Where loyalty is both comforting and challenging.
8. Do you feel that movements like Black Lives Matter are helping to shift perspectives, and resources, to help young Black people, or have you written Needy Little Things because you feel things aren't changing for them?
Movements like Black Lives Matter have certainly helped shift perspectives and bring attention to systemic issues, but awareness of a problem doesn't mean the problem is automatically solved. It's a critical early step, though.
I wrote Needy Little Things as a way to say I see you to young people who may be struggling with things similar to what my characters are going through or who may have questions about what they are seeing in the media and in everyday life. Needy Little Things is a message to young people that says we still have a long way to go, but I see you, and I hear you, and I love you.
9. Other than a great story, what would you like Needy Little Things to inspire in your readers?
Mostly, I'd like it to be a reminder that while they are beautifully strong and resilient, they still deserve to have people they can lean on, talk to, and trust. They deserve love, guidance, and rest. They deserve safety and protection. And when they are lost, they deserve to be found.
10. Do you plan to write more YA novels? What are you writing currently? And where do you go to seek out inspiration for your next book?
Yes! I am deep into revisions on my next YA novel. It's another mystery, but it's a bit spookier than Needy Little Things. I can't say much about it yet, but I did get lots of inspiration from a very unusual and highly creepy hiking trail not far from my house.
Needy Little Things: The new YA thriller with a twist that will leave you speechless
