Date Published: Feb 24, 2026
Publisher: Small Circles Press
“It’s the universe, Ivy Leigh, welcoming in a little change.” Mr. Winters, her neighbor, a wannabe cowboy, tells her one day. But change is so confusing. When a pair of bullies taunt her on the bus and tease her at school, Ivy makes a giant mistake.
With a mix of humor and poignant moments and a quirky cast of neighbors and friends, Ivy finds a way to understand herself and make up for that mistake she’s made. Best of all, Ivy remembers Momma: Feelings are like fireflies caught in a jar, Ivy Leigh. They belong in the open, where a warm breeze can carry them away!
Interview with Gael Lynch
Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?
I immersed myself in the lives of kids ages 10-12 for about twelve years, as a teacher of grades 5 & 6. I’d taught younger kids, but was working with Patricia Reilly Giff, my mentor, and she suggested the tween audience was the sweet spot for me and my writing. Living and working alongside my classroom kids, learning their challenges, their differences and their longings gave me all the fodder I needed for writing this book…along with that 10–12-year-old that still is alive and well inside me!
What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?
Two things, actually! The title—after years with this working title, upon nearing publication, I found Ivy’s Ever After…a fantasy I’d never seen before. Titles are not copywrited, so I knew I was okay. Also, I found Barbara O’Connor’s main character, Idalee! I’d checked names and histories and had a sensitivity reader to be sure I was assigning names that would not offend but be inclusive. My own name’s spelling is unusual (Irish), and it was a bit of a struggle at a younger age, so I wanted to be especially respectful.
What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?
You might consider me a bit of history…writing for littler kids at this point in my life! I am very careful to find and research what kids are most interested in, not ever trying to be trendy, but seriously…my first couple of drafts of my present novel didn’t refer to the internet or cell phones! I have to fact check myself and lean on my critique partners and a good editor to scope out anything that stands out as wrong.
Have any of the people you've known, past or present, left a lasting impression on your writing journey? If so, we'd love to hear about a memorable experience that stands out to you.
My writing, as a career, really began in a little place I call heaven--the back of a bookstore called The Dinosaur’s Paw in Fairfield, CT. Patricia Reilly Giff, a Newbury Award Winning Author held a small writing workshop on Sunday afternoons with about 25 writers…all talented in their own writing, but trained as gifted in the art of critique. Pat would read our work anonymously, and if she was reading your work, your job was to lay low and just take it in! The very first time she read my work, my heart pounded in my chest, and I broke out in a sweat. There’s a lot of silliness in my work, and at the sound of all of those writers responding with laugher to a funny line I’d written, just about made me break out in tears! I did keep my composure, but after class, Pat pulled me aside and told me how much she loved my work, my characters and my humor. It was in that moment, I knew…and she knew too, I was hooked!
Do you write in the same genre all the time?
Mostly. I write for ages 9-12, middle grade realistic fiction. I love those ages, they really are the wonder years, when all the outside influences fluster them and they have to figure things out. They’re awkward and silly, want to be more grown up than they are! I sometimes call my writing multi-generational. I always have a circle of supportive older neighbors and friends that create a counterbalance and let kids know that my main character is safe and cared for. I’ve written younger YA, for 12-14/15 year olds and love writing in that arena too. It is an experience in true world- building, one slip-up and if it doesn’t ring true, you’re done!
If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?
I have a rather unusual story, having had parents that died when I was young. I was raised by my 21-year-old brother and my two sisters 19 and 18. People tell me that is a story I should write. However, that story would fill way too many pages, I think! I’m not sure memoir is my thing.
I read a lot of mystery, and have often thought about dabbling in younger mysteries. Or what it would be like to add a touch of magic or mystical thinking to my stories. So, who knows?
I am hooked on kid lit, always have been. It would probably still be in that age group, for sure.
Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?
I love writing the mean ones! The villains are a fave. In Ivy Leigh, for example, it’s the evil grandmother…she’s kind of Cruella-like. She wants to take Ivy’s dog away! And Viv, the mean teen sister! I had a sister who was amazingly snarky and talented and loved to embarrass me in front of her boyfriends. She’s gone now, unfortunately--I loved her to pieces—she’d hate that I made her so mean, she was always a bit of both—snarky and embarrassing, but super loving and inspirational. She left me with so much material for writing…and for laughing too!
Gael Lynch is a writer and storyteller, a teacher whose love of kids and furry creatures has followed her throughout her life. She now lives in coastal Carolina, a place of sunny beaches and warm breezes with her husband Tom and her rambunctious golden retriever, Wrigley. However, Newtown, Connecticut, with its pastoral beauty and kind-hearted people will always be a place she calls home.
Twitter @gaellynch
Instagram: @lynchgael
