Q&A with author Joy Hakim
By Kim Seidel

Joy Hakim

Joy Hakim, author of the bestselling social studies series, A History of US, and a new science series, The Story of Science, answers some questions about her books and her unique writing style:

Q: Why did you decide to write the A History of US textbook series?

HAKIM: "Most commercial textbooks are deadly dull. They're industrial age constructs in the information age. I wrote the books and then got a publisher. Now I realize that was crazy. I was lucky to get published. However, the advantage of that approach is that no one told me what to write."

Q: Why did you decide next to tackle science in your new textbook series, "The Story of Science"? Do you have a background in science, or did you have to educate yourself on the subject?

HAKIM: "Some people write because they are experts, I write to learn. So I decided to do a science series because I wanted to educate myself. It's been fun, exciting and a whole lot harder than I imagined."

Q: What did you learn in the process of writing the history series that you are using to write your new science series?

HAKIM: "I tried to make A History of US a scholarly series written as narrative. I've attempted to do the same thing with The Story of Science [her new series published by Smithsonian Books (and distributed by Harper Collins)]. I've learned that you can get away with all kinds of things when you write for grownups. Children know better. They find out if you haven't done your best."

Q: Do you think your storytelling approach to writing textbooks could be applied to any type of textbook?

HAKIM: "Kieran Eagan is a Canadian child psychologist who has been influential. He's convinced me that all subjects - including math - should be approached as narrative. It's the traditional way cultures pass on their values. Ursula LeGuinn says, 'The story - from Rumplestilskin to War and Peace - is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.'"

Q: Has it been difficult to infuse storytelling into science for your current series?

HAKIM: "Science is a story - a great story - of the quest to understand the universe. It's not hard to write about science with a narrative pen."

Q: How do you describe your book's pedagogical style?

HAKIM: "All learning demands a dual approach: There's the story and then there's the need for the reader to get involved - through his or her own research, writing, or other activities. My books come with good teaching materials. Most are done by the Talent Development team at Johns Hopkins."

Q: What's your overall goal in writing textbooks?

HAKIM: "To change the way we present information to our students. We have a national reading crisis and yet we give our kids books that are almost impossible to read. We all know the standard format: a paragraph or two and then questions, another paragraph or two, and then questions. No continuity there, nothing page turning. It's a turnoff. The word 'textbook' has become a pejorative. Why not have the best books possible as textbooks? The current fixation on tests and answering questions is out of sync with reality. Quantum computing is on the horizon. Information will become ubiquitous. Our school books need to encourage question asking, not rote responses. I've tried to bridge the trade/text gap. I don't think we should have any books in our schools that aren't good enough to sell in a bookstore. "

Q: What process do you go through in writing your new series?

HAKIM: "I write in layers. I do some basic research and begin writing chapters. Then I do more research and rewrite. Then more research and more rewriting. It's not a very efficient way to go, but it seems to work for me."

Q: What chapter do you start with? Do you have the rest of the books planned out, or are they works in progress?

HAKIM: "I start with chapter one. I have an idea of what I want to do with the books to come and I've done that first layer of writing (which means there's still a lot to do.)"

Q: Do you have any advice to share for other writers?

HAKIM: "Because I'm not an expert in the fields that I write about, I use a journalist's approach and go to the experts for help. When you're writing for kids, the best people want to help you. An MIT physicist is reading and commenting on all the chapters in the book. What a difference that has made!"

Click here to read more about Hakim in the TAA Notable Authors section.