Check out our interview with Jeff Zentner, the author of "Love, Like Apples."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
It was a visit to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta a few years ago. They were having a Henson exhibit and it was so deeply moving to me to be among the puppets that had defined my youth. It felt like meeting old friends for the first time. I began imagining the sort of gentle, quirky people who go into this artform and wanted to inhabit their lives, which is what writing fiction allows me to do. When I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to write a 1970s-set NYC book, which is something I’ve always dreamed of, it was perfect.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
To me, it means reading authentic experiences. It means reading books that treat a diversity of human experience with dignity and honoring their humanity. It means reading books that affirm values of empathy and courage.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
I write realistic fiction and to do otherwise would be unrealistic. Our world is a mosaic of personalities, experiences, orientations, beliefs, and values. If you don’t reflect that in your work, you’re writing a much grayer world than the one we inhabit.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
Love, Like Apples is the story of Tiller Loomis, who grows up on an apple orchard in 1960s East Tennessee with his alcoholic father and loving older brother, Smith. Their life is hard, but Tiller’s older brother Smith teaches him to find beauty in a tough world and choose goodness and kindness. After a tragic event and grieving, Tiller finds his way into puppetry and discovers a true passion. This passion leads him to a job on a PBS puppet show for teens called “Imagine Nation,” which is produced in 1977 New York City. So we follow Tiller there, where he finds the family he never had among the misfit puppeteers and the great love of his life.
I wrote this book because I thought it would be interesting to write the uncool artists of a very cool time and place.
What can fans expect from your book?
I love language and words, so you can see that reflected. I love stories of love and goodness and hope, so you will see that reflected. I cried while writing it, so you might too. I laughed while writing it, so you might too.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
I’m working on a new book now that will likely release in 2028. Another story of artists falling in love and how art, love, and friendship evolve and interact as years pass.
