Behind the Scenes with Perin Gurel: Laleh and the Language of the Birds

[alanajoli]

 Before I started my own platform for book reviews, I was always frustrated at how hard it was to find large sites that would publish coverage of middle grade fantasy. I’m a big proponent of adults enjoying middle grade—and how much grown up readers can get out of reading books intended for kids—so when I saw Wildling Press, a small indie publisher, promoting Laleh and the Language of the Birds, I requested to be part of the review tour! Since I knew there would be plenty of other reviewers offering full reviews, I asked if I could interview Perin instead, and I’m delighted that she took the time to answer!

Laleh and the Language of the Birds is the story of two cousins, one a scientist and one a fantasy reader, who travel through the realm of the birds after Laleh’s ornithologist father disappears. In order to save Laleh’s home—and the habitat for all the birds that live there—the pair have to face off against a mythological evil. The story draws on Sufi legend, features two wise-cracking scientist crows, and embraces middle grade nerdiness with fondness. (It’s cool to be a Bird Nerd!) Keep reading to learn more from the author!

Laleh and the Language of the Birds

Alana: Badly describe Laleh and the Language of the Birds in one sentence. Then, tell us what the story is really about.

Perin: Laleh and the Language of the Birds is for kids who've read Percy Jackson and thought, "This was great, but it didn't have nearly enough ornithology!"

Okay, my actual description: Laleh and the Language of the Birds is a fun, fast-paced fantasy about a girl who has to work with her unpredictable older cousin and quirky crow friends to try to save her father and their bird sanctuary. That's the plot. But, to me, the story is primarily about reconciling science and imagination, and truth and love, in order to save our beautiful, irreplaceable planet.

Alana: Laleh won the A. Orr Fantasy Grant from SCBWI! What was it like to get that kind of award for your debut novel?

Perin: It was absolutely incredible. I worked so hard on this story, drafting, rewriting, revising, and editing for years with the help of so many people. Along the way, there was so much waiting, doubt, and frustration (kind of like Laleh's strenuous adventures through all those valleys). Getting outside recognition from the largest organization for children's literature in the world made me think, "Wow, maybe there is something here." Maybe people who don't have to tell me they like the story because they are my friends and family can actually get something from this! Maybe the story can make people I've never met laugh, cry, and think. What an incredible honor.

Alana: The author credit for the novel is Perin Gurel with Marjane Searl—you’re a mother-daughter team! Can you talk about the collaborative process of working with your eleven-year-old author partner?

Perin: Marjane was actually eight years old when I discovered some pages she had scribbled on and discarded during summer break. She had conceptualized the story of this girl who gets bullied for being a "bird nerd," and then gets to travel to the land of winged creatures. You can see how that's the seed of the actual story. And it immediately reminded me of this legend I knew from growing up in Türkiye, “The Conference of the Birds,” and the story of the Simorgh. I really wanted Marjane to write the rest of the story, but she had only made a cover, written the first page, and the back blurb, and moved on. But I was transfixed and kept wondering what happened to that girl... It was, as I say in the acknowledgments, kind of like a spell: I was compelled to write the story. She also read every chapter and gave me feedback. We also have her to thank for Gold and Silver's names.

Alana: The novel stars cousins Laleh, whose father is an ornithologist from Iran, and Ivy, whose father is a mysterious real estate developer. The two girls have very different personalities. How did you decide on their dynamic?

Perin: I modeled Laleh's personality partially on Marjane, who is earnest and kind—a child who is very attached to her identity as a good person and rule-follower. Ivy, on the other hand, is a bit like the way I was when I was a teenager—a girl who's really into cultivating a rebellious and sarcastic persona as a bit of a shell to hide a complex and fragile interior. It was very important to me that Ivy not be a stereotypical bully, which we see a lot in middle-grade literature. Of course, you are right, the way the girls are raised—their relationship with their parents—has a lot to do with their personalities and their dynamic as well.

Alana: Laleh is very no-nonsense, while Ivy is a huge fan of fantasy novels. When this first comes up, Laleh is very dismissive of Ivy’s interests. It looks like Marjane is also a huge fantasy reader! What came into the decision to have Laleh, the point of view character in a fantasy novel, not appreciate the joys of fantasy reading?

Perin: Yes, this is one of the places where Laleh is not like Marjane at all. Marjane lives many lives through fantasy novels—and novels in general—due to her voracious reading; Laleh is stuck on a singular plane of scientific, empirical thought. However, the idea that rationality is important, but not enough to feel the deepest truths of the universe, is baked into the legend of the Simorgh and Islamic mysticism in general. So, Laleh needed Ivy to help her unlock some of that, just as Ivy needs Laleh to teach her the importance of science.

Alana: Birds and real-world ornithology are both very important to this novel. Which members of your family are bird watchers, and how did you develop that interest?

Perin: Marjane and I are both amateur bird watchers, and her little brother Isaac loves them too. We got into birds the same summer Marjane conceptualized the story, because we were trying to find new ways to get away from screens and reconnect with nature, and birdwatching can really do that for you. The people who got us into birds were my stepdad, Alan Scott, who is from New Zealand, where birds are super important, our friend Jake Wagman, who is a pretty big bird nerd, and my late mother-in-law Margie Searl, to whom the book is dedicated.

Alana: If you could understand the language of the birds, what do you think your backyard would sound like?

Perin: There is a moment early in the novel where Ivy complains about all the bird conversations she has been eavesdropping on; so, I'm with her—most of the conversations would probably be about food, safety, and finding a partner. Later on, however, Laleh hears deeper layers in bird song, and I want to leave those possibilities open, too. I don't think we should underestimate birds' intelligence, wisdom, and love of beauty, given what we are discovering about bird minds and behavior.

Alana: The fantasy elements in the novel are inspired by Iranian folklore. What is your connection to those cultural stories?

Perin: I was born and raised in Iran's neighbor, Türkiye, and we share a lot of the same legends and folklore, as well as the influence of Sufism—that is, the mystical aspect of Islam, which emphasizes love and the unity of all creation. I've also studied Persian and visited Iran for my scholarly research. Laleh was born just as I was finishing my latest academic book, almost as a companion volume to all the things I didn't get to say about Turco-Persian culture and Sufism. In academia, our standard mode is to be cynical and critical—it's a part of our job to be doubters and fact-checkers—but I love that I got to let my imagination free with a middle-grade fantasy novel.

Alana: While this is clearly a book aimed at a younger audience, there are also in-jokes for adults. (The crows, Silver and Gold, make a very funny joke about dreaded PowerPoint presentations, for example.) Who are you hoping will discover this book?

Perin: Everyone! Seriously, the novel is targeted at 9- to 14-year-olds or something like that because of publishing standards, but I believe middle grade is for everyone. This is the age when most of us fell in love with reading, and some of us probably fell out of love for a while as adult responsibilities pulled us, and our brains calcified into boring seriousness. The best scenario would be for kids to enjoy it and to also let loose the love of imagination in adult minds and hearts as well (yes, I am referring to a key plot point here. Hello, Silver!).

Alana: If you could spend time with some of the characters from the novel in a group activity, who would you invite, and what would you do?

Perin: I really want to hang out with the scientist crows Silver and Gold in Avesia! I would love to spend a whole day and night there, wading in the indoor waterfall, hanging out in the palace gardens, eating those fresh fruits and tree nuts, and just breathing in the clean Avesian air. Eternal spring! Maybe they will make me my own chalcedony device, so I can try flying through the flowering vine labyrinth? What about you?

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You can preorder Laleh and the Language of the Birds from my favorite indie site, Bookshop.org, your local brick and mortar, or any of the bookshops linked at the publisher’s website.

For more on reading middle grade as adults, check out my interviews with crossover authors, “Authors for All Ages,” at Paste!