The Character Book Club with Breeze Brannigan and Just Breeze

Hi, my name is Terra. I’m the main character in the middle grade fantasy Beware of the White. I have to be honest, I’m a bit nervous about today. My author volunteered me to conduct this interview and I have no idea what to ask. I’m interviewing Breeze Brannigan from Beverly Stowe McClure’s novel Just Breeze. Have you seen Breeze? She’s totally amazing. She also happens to be one of my author’s favorite of Mrs. McClure’s characters. No pressure there.

Oh, here she comes! That has to be her. Tall, confidant, and that beautiful hair! I bet none of her classmates accuse her of being ‘weird’.  Well boys and girls, time for you to get to know more about Breeze Brannigan.

Hi Breeze. It’s nice to meet you. Have a seat. I took the liberty to order you a soda. I hope you like root beer. You seemed to me like the root beer type.

Breeze: Hey, Terra. Thanks. Root beer is my favorite.  How’d you know? My writer told me you wanted to talk to me today. Nice to meet ’cha.

Terra: Can you tell us about yourself? Like where you’re from. How old you are. Stuff like that.

Breeze: Well, I don’t know why you want to know about me. I’m pretty boring, but here goes. I’m thirteen, in the eighth grade, and live in a small town in Texas called Whispering Springs. My hair has curls on top of curls and it’s such a bright red you need sunshades to keep from going blind when I’m around. Oh, and I wear canoes instead of shoes because my feet are trying to set a record for gianthood and doing a good job of it. If that’s not enough to make me a freak, I’m the tallest kid, boy or girl, in school. You get the picture?

Terra: Oh! I do get the picture. Well, not the being tall with wild hair thing, I kinda blend in. Though to be honest, I work pretty hard to blend in because when I don’t I’m being teased. But I never guessed we’d have anything sort of in common. What about friends? Who is your best friend? What makes her your best friend? Is she exactly like you or exactly opposite of you?

Breeze: Aw, yes, I have a super best friend. Her name’s Amy Mallory, and she’s the total opposite of me. She’s short, has long, STRAIGHT brown hair that’s perfect. When she walks she floats like a cloud because she has normal-sized feet. I guess that’s why we’re best friends, you know. The opposites attract thing.

Terra: You’re lucky to have Amy. I understand there is a new guy at your school this year. What’s he like?

Breeze: Yeah, Cam’s his name. Cam Smith. He’s not drool-worthy cute, more just average looking. His hair is dark and spiked. His eyes strike me at nose level, like everyone else’s do. His eyes though are gorgeous. Brown with flecks of gold.

Shh. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, but I suspect he’s from Mars or Jupiter. You want to know why? I’ll tell you. When Tony, Amy’s boyfriend, introduced us, Cam shook my hand and called me Miss Breeze. None of the Earthling guys I know are that polite. Most guys thump me on the shoulder and say “Yo, Bud!” He also has an accent of some sort.

Terra: You seem a bit smitten. Or maybe I’m weird to use that old fashioned word. It seems like you might have a bit of a crush on him. What are you doing to get his attention? You are trying to get his attention, right?

Breeze: Smitten? Heh, heh. Well, now that you mention it, he does hold a certain appeal. Maybe it’s his politeness that I like. Or else the fact that every girl in school is ga-ga eyed over him. I think I’m a little jealous. Who am I kidding? It’s the eyes. Sigh. If the old saying “Eyes are the window to the soul” he’s looking into my very soul. Sigh.

Terra: Yeah, I get that. (sighs too) But not everything is on the up and up, is it?

Breeze: Oh, I can’t say anything. I promised to keep his secret. I will mention that his situation is very serious and could mean life or death for Cam and his mother. The book goes into detail and I think everyone will be as surprised to learn the truth as I was. Zipping my lip on any more.

Terra: Breeze, if you could live one perfect moment from your book, which moment would that be?

Breeze: The most perfect moment in my book was the night Cam confessed his real identity to me. We had gone to the high school homecoming football game together and were waiting at Dad’s van for my parents to show up to take us home when he started talking. He said I once asked him who he really was. Yep, I did. Then I told him the reason I asked was because I imagined he was an alien from the planet Hunky Guys. One thing led to another and I soon knew his whole story. And let me tell you, being from another planet wasn’t as wild as the truth was. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I’m not dreaming.

Terra: Do you have any plans for the future?

Breeze: Nothing special. Now that school is out for the summer, I hope to have fun with my friends: swim, movies, whatever else pops up. I’ll think about Cam a lot and hope things work out for him. I really, really miss him, but guess I’ll never see him again.

Terra: We have more in common than I thought, Breeze. Wow, this interviewing thing wasn’t as bad as I expected. Thank you for being so easy to get along with.

Breeze: Hey! You’re cool. Let’s get together again sometimes. Okay?

Terra: Love to!