I wanted readers of all backgrounds to laugh, cry, and relate to Lamar as he worked his way through life's challenges. Plus there’s bowling! Can you tell us a little about how and why you created Lamar and what about him has appealed so winningly to so many readers?Ĭrystal: Oh Mylanta! I created Lamar out of a desire to provide a character of color doing something where race did not drive the story. The novel is funny and endearing and Lamar is both sharp-tongued and big-hearted, and as you know I adore this book, its heart and its humor. Joy: I fell in insta-love with your first middle grade novel, HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON HIM A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY.

I am certain you will be as big a fan as we are! Start with LAMAR and move on to LAURA LINE and then to the MYA series, the third installment of which arrives this coming October from Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins. I invite all of you reading this to read everything that Crystal has written. Her characters are equally dynamic and often side-splittingly funny, but her commitment to creating stories with African American characters and their families is serious business, as you will see in our interview below. Crystal teaches her student audience the basics of telling a story and does so with humor and wit and an infectious enthusiasm. Ben and I had the good fortune to accompany her on a day of school events recently. Her books - award-winning (including the Bluebonnet Award) middle grade and young reader fiction- are hugely popular and her school visits are a thing of wonder. I’ve known Houston author Crystal Allen for a while now, and she is not only one of my favorite humans but also incredibly talented, funny, generous, and all-around wonderful.

The laura line by crystal allen