Cherie Bennett

INTERVIEW

December 29, 1999
  
In her new book ZINK, author Cherie Bennett writes about a ten-year-old girl named Becky who finds out she has cancer. Juggling school, friends, and family with chemotherapy (the strong drug used to treat cancer) is not easy --- and often painful. One day in the hospital Becky is surprised to see three miniature zebras standing at the foot of her bed. They sing to her, they take her to Africa, but most importantly they support and love her. Find out more about Becky, the inspiration behind the polka-dotted zebra named Zink, the children who created the artwork for the book, and more in this interview.  
  
Bookworm: Your novel ZINK is based on a one-page story written by a young girl named Kelly Weil. Two years after Kelly was diagnosed with childhood cancer, she died. How did you find out about Kelly, her family, and her story? Why did you decide to write about her?
  
Cherie Bennett: The funny thing is, I wrote the play first.  And when I wrote it, I knew very, very little about Kelly. The whole thing started when I got a phone call from the Rob Goodman, who runs First Stage Milwaukee, a big youth/family theater in Milwaukee. He said, Cherie, we're looking for a play about a girl with leukemia, zebras, and with the theme of encouraging diversity in all forms. Interested? And I said…YES!  Rob sent me Kelly's simple 130 word story about a zebra named Zink, who had polka-dots instead of stripes. I read it as Zink being Kelly in zebra disguise-she felt, with her bone cancer, like a human with polka-dots. I really didn't want to know much more than that about Kelly before I sat down to write, because Zink wasn't the guts of my play; Becky Zaslow, a new character, would be. But then, when her father, Les Weil, saw the play, he came to me and said, "Cherie, Becky…that's Kelly!"  He was so, so happy. Even when I sat down to write the novel, I didn't know that much about her. Except that I'm sure she was looking over my shoulder when I was writing.
  
Bookworm: You first wrote the story as a play called, "Zink: The Myth, The Legend, The Zebra," which was performed for young audiences. How did they respond?    
  
Cherie Bennett: The play was a huge success, very well reviewed, and kids loved it. Some came back to see it again and again. The play is now licensed by Dramatic Publishing Company (Woodstock, IL, 815-338-7170 for info), and is being performed all over the world by schools, theaters, etc. It's really fun to see kids performing this play. Readers, your school can do this play! There's also the ZINK THE ZEBRA FOUNDATION in Milwaukee which has a whole ZINK curriculum that is very, very cool.
  
Bookworm: Why did you decide to turn the play into a novel?
  
Cherie Bennett: It's such a big story, and there's so much that you can do in a novel that you can't do on stage. Plus the main theme --- the nature of true courage on a personal level, the nature of true courage within a group --- is something that I care deeply about. There was just so much more of this story that I wanted to tell even after the play was over. A novel was the perfect way to do it. I've done the same thing before with other stories for kids and teens: my SEARCHING FOR DAVID'S HEART (Scholastic, 1998) is also a play, and GOOD-BYE, BEST FRIEND (HarperPaperbacks, 1993) became my play JOHN LENNON & ME (Dramatic Publishing Company, 1996). And my play ANNE FRANK & ME (Dramatic, 1997) will be a 2001 novel for Putnam.
  
Bookworm: Becky is a ten-year-old girl who gets diagnosed with cancer. How closely is Becky, your main character, based on Kelly?  
  
Cherie Bennett: Becky Zaslow came to me as I was writing the play and then writing the novel. She was not based on Kelly. But it is amazing how close she came to Kelly, as I learned later.
  
Bookworm: One day in the hospital Becky wakes up to find three miniature zebras talking to her --- they call themselves the Z'bras and they love to sing, just like Becky. Just like zebras run from the lions, Becky tries to run from cancer --- but she can't. Are her African journeys an escape from her reality? Did you speak with children on cancer medication who had similar experiences?
  
Cherie Bennett: I talked to a lot of kids with cancer as I was preparing this novel. Almost all of them told me about their fantasies and their dreams. Look, chemotherapy is as far from fun as you can get. Fantasies help kids get through it. The more you know about chemo and bone marrow transplants and the stress that they put on a patient, the more you think, "I really want kids going through this to have fantasies and escape from reality!" Becky had her zebras. One real kid I interviewed told me about his manatees, another dreamed of floating on clouds.  Now, the fantasies don't make kids getting chemo throw up less, but it sure helps in other ways. The big thing to remember is this: in ZINK, those zebras are more than an ordinary fantasy. Those zebras are all part of Becky. Like the book says, we are more than our bodies. We are our feelings, our imagination, our spirit.
  
Bookworm: In Becky's school, right before she gets sick, her teacher Mrs. Hudson is teaching a special lesson about Africa, complete with making African food, dressing in African clothing, all the while learning facts about the country and its culture. Have you found many schools that teach kids about other cultures this way --- having them wear the clothes, eat the food, and learn some of the language? How important is this for kids?
  
Cherie Bennett: Anything that gets us out of the little boxes of our lives and into the big world out there is a really, good thing. Because inside a little box, you can run out of air really fast.  
  
Bookworm: Since the book is set in Africa as well as in America, there is a lot of information about the Serengeti and the animals who inhabit it --- namely the zebras and the lions who hunt them. How did you research all of this?
  
Cherie Bennett: This part was really fun. I read tons of books, watched lots of videos and documentaries about Tanzania and the Serengeti animal kingdom. We (my husband Jeff ran the research) talked with the zebra curator at the Bronx zoo. Over the Internet, we became friends with the most famous translator into English of the Swahili poetry of Shabaan Robert, and have read a lot of Shabaan Robert's incredible poetry (both in Swahili, which we learned to pronounce, and in English, as translated by Prof. Clement Ndulute). We got to be friends over the Internet also with two Tanzanians who helped us with the Swahili. It was a lot of work, but we learned A LOT.  
  
Bookworm: ZINK is also about finding out who you really are. Shlep is a monkey who thinks he's a zebra. Why do you think Shlep wants so much to be something he is not? When does he finally come to terms with who he is?
     
Cherie Bennett: Remember, Shlep IS Becky…or at least a part of her. He's the part of her that wishes more than anything in the world that she did not have cancer. Because a kid with cancer is different, whether she wants to be or not. In the same way, Shlep is a monkey and not a zebra, whether he wants to be or not. And you know, I think all of us at one time or another want to be something that we aren't, while we are what we are, whether we want that or not. When does Shlep come to terms with who he is? When he realizes that, BECAUSE he is a monkey, he can do wonderful and unique things that even the zebras can't. For example, he is able to save the zebra herd's life. And who is more of a hero than someone who saves other creatures' lives?
  
Bookworm: Honesty is important in ZINK, especially concerning Becky's cancer. When her mother says her hair could fall out, she is not telling Becky the whole truth, which is, her hair most likely will fall out. When she does lose it, she feels scared and angry. How important is it to be completely honest with children when they get sick?  
  
Cherie Bennett: I can only tell you what I have learned from working on this book, and from literally thousands of letters from my young readers over the years. Kids are going to learn the cold truth one way or the other. If it's not mom and dad, it's going to be from another girl in the hospital, or at school, or wherever. So it might as well be from Mom or Dad, right?
  
Bookworm: During the talent contest when Becky is rather weak, she thinks everyone claps for her out of pity. What have you found about how children with cancer want to be treated? Do they want to be treated differently or the same?
  
Cherie Bennett: Ask my dear bud and hero of my life Alicia O'Brien, age 14, with inoperable brain cancer: "Lish" will tell you that there's NOTHING that makes a sick kid more sick in their heart than to be pitied. Nothing. Lish says that kids with cancer want to be treated...like kids with cancer. What does that mean? It means that while she might not be able to play on the soccer team while she's getting chemo, a lot of kids can't play on the soccer team. It doesn't mean that she should be pitied for getting chemo. And it means that if she's not the best person at the talent show, don't give her first prize! And it means not to think that she's stupid just because she has cancer. Big duh, right? But you'd be surprised how many people hear the word "cancer" and all their judgment goes away.
  
Bookworm: Becky's three zebra friends sing that Lion King song, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," you can almost hear them singing in perfect harmony. Why did you choose that song?
  
Cherie Bennett: I heard it in my head. I was staring out the window of our car, on a road trip before I sat down to write to the play. And in an instant, I knew that the song had to be in the play and the novel. By the way, as we pulled off the Interstate to stop for lunch in a remote town in Virginia on that same trip, we passed ZINK STREET. But that's another story.
  
Bookworm: During her hospital stay, Becky meets Darlene, a girl who has had cancer for a while. She is angry and bitter, and doesn't make Becky feel very welcome or at ease. Is Darlene just scared to get close to anyone? Do you think it's hard for children with diseases like cancer to trust anyone, especially when they've seen so many others get sick?
     
Cherie Bennett: It is really hard for kids with life-threatening diseases to trust anyone, especially because they know the truth of the world. They know that nice girls like Becky really can die, and that nasty girls like Darlene can get well and go home. They know that nice kids get cancer and that nasty kids can live to be 100 years old. They've looked death in the face in the way that a lot of adults haven't, which is pretty amazing. They know that life isn't fair. Which it isn't. However, I love the character of Darlene, and think she's really important to ZINK. She tells it like it is to Becky, when sometimes adults can't. And listen --- when you're in remission from cancer like Darlene, how can you pretend to be a normal eleven-year-old and get all excited about going to the mall?
  
Bookworm: Sara was Becky's friend in elementary school, but chooses to spend all her time with the mean spirited Ashley in junior high --- before and after Becky is diagnosed. Why do you think this happens, especially when kids enter junior high?
  
Cherie Bennett: Because middle school is a jungle. Because in every group, whether it is zebras, adults, kids, whomever --- there is an order where some have more power, some have less. Sara decides early in the novel to hang with Ashley, the girl with a lot of power. What is really great is that during the novel, as a result of what she learns from Becky, she changes in a big way for the better.
  
Bookworm: I like how you compare junior high to the zebras and the lions --- the stronger feed on the weak in the wild and in school. But in the end, Becky comes out a better person for her strength and individuality. What advice would you give to kids dealing with nasty people like Ashley?
  
Cherie Bennett: It's simple, in some ways. But you can't do it alone. Someone can't take your power away from you unless you give it to them. Ashley gets her power by being really mean. Kids are intimidated because they're afraid that "Ashley" will turn on them. But when you stop being afraid of a girl like Ashley, her power is gone. Sure, the Ashleys of the world can and will make fun of you. But when you and your buds stand up to Ashley, Ashley ends up totally ruined. It's like the talent show scene in ZINK, which I think is maybe the most important scene in the book.  
  
Bookworm: Becky's little brother Lee doesn't really understand what is happening to his older sister, he even thinks at one point he can catch her cancer. How can you explain diseases like cancer to little kids like Lee? Do you think your play and your book will help people understand diseases like this? Is there an age that is too young to learn about cancer?
  
Cherie Bennett: You have to explain it to a little kid in terms they understand. I know that ZINK has had a huge impact on people not only understanding the WHAT of a disease like cancer, but especially the FEELINGS of that disease. Is there an age that is too young to learn about cancer? No, so long as the way it's being taught makes sense for that age.
  
Bookworm: Becky keeps a diary in the book, do you think it's important for all kids to keep diaries?  
  
Cherie Bennett: No. Not all kids. But I don't know a single kid or adult who does it who regrets it. One thing about a diary is that it carries on when you're gone. If Becky had not kept a journal, her brother Lee would not have discovered how much he could love to read.  
  
Bookworm: Fear is a big topic in this book. Becky is afraid of her cancer. Her strong zebra friend Ice Z says he is always afraid of predators. Being brave is admitting you are afraid and then fighting anyway, the zebras teach Becky. What else do the zebras teach her?
  
Cherie Bennett: So much. How NOT to be, like how they're always arguing even though the lions are ready to eat them. Different ways that different creatures deal with stress. The important thing to remember is that everything the zebras and Shlep teach her --- she is actually teaching herself. Because these animals (good and bad and in-between) are all really part of Becky's feelings, imagination, and spirit. And, most of all, her zebra experience teaches her this big life lesson. None of us knows for sure what is going to happen in the future to us. Like Papa Zeke asks her, does she know which zebra the lions will eat next? And Becky answers, no, no one knows exactly what is going to happen in the future. We have a choice about what we can do with that future. We can live lives of meaning, or we can fill our lives up with stupid bickering and petty stuff and quests for things that we think are giving our lives meaning but actually are just wasting time and distracting us from the biggest fear of all: what happens to us when we die, and the fact that we are going to die. We can concentrate on important things like trying to cure cancer…if we don't distract ourselves with stupid things like fighting with each other. If there is one thing I want readers to take away from reading ZINK, that's it.
  
Bookworm: What do you think is the most important thing for children to know about cancer?
  
Cherie Bennett: First, it's really rare for kids to get it. Second, if they do get it, there have been huge advances in medical science. Now, it's likely that a kid with cancer will be cured.  Not the same likelihood for all kinds, of course, but likely. Third, cancer IS one of the things that we as human beings can beat. We just have to stop fighting amongst ourselves long enough to devote ourselves to beating this predator. Sounds like one of the messages of ZINK? It is.
  
Bookworm: Was it hard for you to write this book since it's such a sad topic?
  
Cherie Bennett: So hard. I cried at the computer writing it. Becky was that much inside me.  
  
Bookworm: What was the best part of writing this book?
  
Cherie Bennett: The best part of writing any book is having a story in your heart and getting the chance to tell it. The very best part of writing ZINK was having the feeling of Kelly looking over my shoulder as I wrote it. It was magical.
  
Bookworm: In the back of the book there are pictures of real kids who are fighting cancer, did you get to meet any of them. Can you tell us about all the artwork in Zink?
  
Cherie Bennett: Yes, yes, yes! I don't know where I got the idea of having kids do the artwork, it's just one of those things that came to me. I mean, for a novel about the nature of true courage, what better way to demonstrate it than to have kids who are battling cancer do the illustrations for the book? That these kids, who know it's possible (but not likely!) that they will die of cancer, would want to and then actually illustrate the book should shine as examples of true courage. We got the help of a number of fabulous organizations in this project, who steered us to many of the kids. One of them, Alicia O'Brien, didn't come to us through any organization. She wrote a fan letter to me a few years ago, I wrote back to her, as I write back to everyone who writes to me (authorchik@aol.com, by the way!), we wrote more, we spoke by phone, and a friendship was born. Alicia shared with me very personal details of her battle with brain cancer, and a lot of those details you'll see in ZINK. Lish, girlfriend, you rock!

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