Answers With: Author Elisa Stone Leahy
"Each human being is their own endless universe, and I love existing in this world with all these complicated mysteries."
Answers With is a monthly series featuring the best kind of people, book people! I’ll be talking with readers I admire, from authors to booksellers and bookstagrammers, all about where they find answers—in the pages, a movie, song, comfort watch, or dessert. This series is free for now, but if you like, consider pledging a subscription—and supporting the interviewees work!
As libraries continue to face increased challenges, including book bans and funding cuts, it’s important to celebrate these institutions and the people who keep them running. Today’s guest, author Elisa Stone Leahy reminds that us libraries are so much more than books, and so are our librarians and library workers.
Read on for a peek into Elisa’s books, her reading habits, and from her perspective working for the Columbus Metropolitan Library, recommendations for how readers can show up to support libraries.
Where do you turn to most for answers? Books, libraries, documentary films, advocacy work?
My brain is constantly in a frantic buzz for new information, anywhere I can get it. I love books and online resources (thank you libraries!) but I think that people are the most fascinating source of deeper knowledge about life. When you get information from a person, it comes with its own backstory. Even reading something written by another person brings so much depth and richness. Facts are filtered through worldviews, opinions, feelings and personalities. Yes, this means there are underlying biases everywhere, but it is also miraculous. Each human being is their own endless universe, and I love existing in this world with all these complicated mysteries.
Is there a particular lyric, or a quote from a film, book, or TV that runs through your mind often or has become part of your unique Elisa language?
I do love putting quotes in my books! In Tethered to Other Stars when Wendy and her friend Etta are learning about Oscar Romero, Etta says she knows who he is because her mom has a quote by him hanging on their wall at home. It is a quote that I have hanging on my wall at my own home. "The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword. It is the violence of love, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work."
In Mallory in Full Color, Mal encounters a quote by Audre Lorde several times throughout the book as she struggles to find herself in a complicated world: "If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." Both of these quotes decorate my library cubicle, along with many more. Words are inspiring. I'm always finding new quotes that I want to tuck away in my heart and bring out, over and over.
What's something you wish library patrons knew about librarians?
The work we do at the library is vast and critical. For every customer requesting a book recommendation there are three who desperately need resources. We help people find custody documents and wills, log into social service accounts for unemployment, food stamps, Medicaid, register their kids for school, therapy, childcare, and so much more. And we often serve people in high-stress situations who end up lashing out at us. We absorb a lot of pain from a lot of hurting people every day. Library workers are also so much more than their jobs. Most librarians are great at customer service, and it's easy to forget that you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when you get a book recommendation or a resource you need from one of them. I know librarians who play in bands on the weekend, organize social justice campaigns, run the P.T.O., teach painting workshops, sell vampire jewelry, and yes, write books!
How did you decide to write books for middle grade?
It was a bit of a surprise that I ended up writing middle grade, to be honest. I was writing an epic, multi-POV adult fantasy that never seemed to end, when I finally decided to heed the old advice to "write what you know." At the time my oldest kid was entering middle school and I was working with lots of middle schoolers at the library. I was also very involved in immigration activism in Columbus, Ohio, and my friend Edith Espinal had just entered sanctuary. I was thinking a lot about how to share the stories of my friends in the immigrant community in an accessible way. Middle school is a time of awakening, of questioning, of reforming ideas, of discovering beliefs about the world and of shaping your soul. That felt like the right space to tell a story about justice in a world of systems that overlook humanity all too often. Kids get it. They know the world isn't fair and they are ready to do something about it. That's the spirit I wanted to tap into with my books. But I'm also excited to go back to writing my adult fantasy!
Did becoming a published author change you as a reader at all?
It's less about being published and more about being a writer. The more I write, the more aware I am of my own words and communication skills. That definitely affects how I read. When I am drawn into a world in a book, I ask myself what details made it feel real. When I want to throw the book against the wall, I look at how the writer led me to that emotional place. When I'm bored, I pay attention to why and take mental notes about how I can avoid that in my own writing. All of that was happening before I was published. Anyone who takes their writing seriously should be aware of other writing and how they respond to it as a reader. I never had the opportunity to take literary courses or study writing, but I have always read voraciously. Books have been my greatest teachers.
What’s your reading routine or some of your reading habits?
I listen to a LOT of audiobooks. My brain works best with constant streams of input so I always have a book going. I'm listening to a book right now as I type this! But I also have a few books that I come back to as "mentor texts." Those are books that I sit with and mull over. Since I'm back to writing my adult fantasy now, I have some of my favorite fantasy books on my bedside table. When I pick them up I read slowly, paying close attention to why they work so well. When I am writing a particular type of book, I immerse myself in the best of that genre. I love soaking in books by those who have gone before me and lit the way with their words.
We have some great local library events here in Central Ohio. Do you have a most memorable library-hosted event or author talk you've attended or hosted?
The Columbus Book Festival is my favorite bookish event ever, and not just because I get to work it! Our 2025 weekend literary festival is July 12-13 and it is a solid two days of bliss for book lovers! 120 featured authors on over 50 panels, 6 headliners, the official festival bookstore where you can buy featured books and get them signed by the authors, a park full of booths selling bookish merch, a huge tent packed with indie authors, an enormous used book sale, 2 entertainment stages, food and drink and so much more. It's my favorite weekend of the year. I'm so honored that I get to play a role in bringing fabulous authors to our reading community in Central Ohio.
As libraries and books continue be under attack, what actions do you recommend for readers?
Readers everywhere should pay attention to what is happening in their communities. It can be easy to get sucked into the feeling of helplessness, especially when politics feel far away. But if you are paying attention locally, you can show up to school board meetings, speak at statehouse hearings, send written testimony about specific legislation, call the representatives who are threatening libraries and share why they matter to you, etc. There are so many steps you can take, especially in your local community. Find organizations that are supporting books and libraries and follow them for more ideas. I bet your local library can help connect you to resources! Community support has power, so find ways to raise your voice for the freedom to read!
What is the book you recommend the most?
This is a nearly impossible question to answer! It depends on the audience and the genre. I've been reading a lot of adult fantasy lately and I keep coming back to Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows. It's brilliantly written and I reference it every time I have a craft conversation with other authors about multi-POV.
What is your favorite book so far this year?
It came out at the end of last year, but Heir by Sabaa Tahir is another fantasy book that is truly a masterpiece in craft. Sabaa does something very clever that I cannot tell you about without spoiling it. When I got to the moment where I realized what she was doing I had to shut the book and just laugh out loud in delight at how perfect it was.
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. Whether creating award-winning documentary films or connecting readers to books through her work at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Elisa has always surrounded herself with stories. Her most recent book, Mallory in Full Color, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, made the NYPL Best Books for Kids list, was named on SLJ’s Best Books of 2024 list, and received starred reviews from The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books and School Library Journal, which called it “a must-read.”
Connect with Elisa: On Instagram and her website.
I hope you enjoyed this interview and a big thank you to Elisa for sharing her answers!
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