Acclaimed author Kirby Larson (right) and her daughter Quinn Wyatt (left) come to Bellingham this weekend to debut their new book, “Gut Reaction.” The photo was taken by Amanda Waltman.
Courtesy of Kirby Larson
It’s not often that you see a prolific author enlist the help of a first-time writer, but that’s exactly what Kirby Larson did. Larson is a 2007 Newbery Honor recipient and has well over a dozen titles to her name.
“Gut Reaction,” which hit shelves this week, was written by Larson and her adult daughter, Quinn Wyatt. Wyatt, who’s struggled with Crohn’s disease for much of her life, wanted to see her experience better represented, so she got the idea for a book about someone battling the gastrointestinal condition.
“As I’ve gotten older, I wished that I had something to relate to – books, it’s not really in shows,” Wyatt said. “My mom, who’s a fabulous author, I asked if she would write a book with a main character who had Crohn’s.”
The “Hattie Big Sky” author was in, but under one condition.
“She eventually agreed, but only if I would do it too,” Wyatt said.
That’s how Wyatt became a published author. But Larson said she needed her daughter’s experiences with Crohn’s to form the key scenes in the story, which follows a young baker named Tess who navigates the condition.
“She really wrote the heart of the story,” Larson said. “I was the scaffolder I guess, I built the building out of that part.”
When the authors, who both live in the Seattle area, started to map out the story in 2012, they pictured a young-adult novel. But as they worked through their ideas, they decided it worked better as a middle-grades book. Factor in Larson’s existing writing obligations, and the book took over a decade to complete, rather than Larson’s typical one or two years.
Kirby Larson and Quinn Wyatt will host a launch event for their new book, Gut Reaction, at Village Books on Sunday. The book was published by Scholastic Press and its cover art was done by J Yang. Courtesy of Kirby Larson
Larson Bellingham book launch
The pair chose to hold the new book launch in Bellingham, where Larson moved before her senior year of high school and stayed to attend college at Western Washington University.
“My mom still lives there, my sister still lives there, some nieces and nephews, my brother still lives there… So I feel like it’s my hometown even though I didn’t grow up there,” Larson said.
“We’re going to have a little presentation that we’ll give, some treats, question-and-answer time, and basically just a time to celebrate the book and all the people that have helped support us too,” Wyatt said.
Even though the book, which was published by Scholastic Press, is marketed for children, Larson encouraged people of all ages to check it out.
“C.S. Lewis once said that any children’s book that cannot be enjoyed by adults, is not a very good children’s book,” Larson paraphrased. “So I’m an evangelist for more people to read children’s books, especially middle grade novels.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2024 at 10:30 AM.
Daniel Schrager is the service journalism reporter at the Bellingham Herald. He joined the Herald in February of 2024 after graduating from Rice University in 2023.Support my work with a digital subscription
