Valerie- Welcome to Bookworthy. Today we're talking with Carolyn Lelioglou about her middle-grade series, The Restorationists, whose second installment, Between Flowers and Bones, is coming out this week. Carolyn is the granddaughter of art collectors and daughter of an art teacher and a homeschooling mom of four wildly creative kids. She is an award-winning author whose poems and short stories have appeared in children's magazines around the world. Carolyn also reviews her favorite children's books on her platform, House Full of Bookworms. Welcome to Bookworthy Carolyn.
Carolyn -Thank you so much, Valerie. It's great to be here.
Valerie -It is a pleasure. Now we start with our random question of the week. So I need to know, are you a dog person or a cat person?
Carolyn -Well, I think I would be more of a cat person. I really do like cats, but I'm allergic to them, which is very sad. I know my kids like to beg for a cat. So we do have a dog, Nugget, who's a lot of fun and a little too hyper sometimes, but yeah.
Valerie -Way fun. I know my kids are very drawn to cats, but they're all allergic to them. And so it's like, we have dogs and we love our dogs, but it's one of those, I don't know what the draw is to cats. We, what is it? I've always been a dog person. But we have a friend who has some cats and asked us to watch the cats while they were away on vacation. And my kids kind of learned quickly why we don't have cats because they're a personality all to themselves.
Carolyn -Well, they're kind of moody like writers can be, so I don't know.
Valerie - Yes, or what is it they say dogs are like toddlers and cats are like teenagers, so I Guess so Okay, well then tell us a little bit about your book series The Restorationists.
Carolyn -Nice. Well, I love teens, so I guess that makes sense then. So the Restorationist takes place in a world where art is powerful, paintings are portals, and one family, the Restorationists, have been tasked with protecting them. So, Beneath This Swirling Sky, which came out last year, is the story of Vincent. He's a kid who has given up on art until he learns his family are the last Restorationists. And then when his little sister, Lily, disappears into Van Gogh's The Starry Night, he and his cousin, Georgia, are the only ones who can protect her. And then book two picks up from Georgia's point of view when Vincent comes to train with them later that summer. She's always wanted to be part of a real restorationist team. She thought she would be the last one. But then Vincent's flashy new gift makes her feel like a sidekick. So, it's a story of learning that all gifts are important and yeah, we're all given what we need in this world and how to use your gift to the best.
Valerie -I love that message. And what was it when me and my 12-year-old read through beneath a swirling sky, we were kind of blown away. It was exciting to be taken into a world of art. Because there are lots of stories of, you know, book worlds of jumping into stories and, you know, different worlds in books, but I had never really seen one where you're jumping into art. What was your inspiration for pulling us into that type of world?
Carolyn - As you mentioned earlier, my grandparents were art collectors and they had an art-stuffed house on their second floor, they had one room that had just kind of stacks of paintings they didn't have room for. So just thinking back about my childhood, their house was kind of the most magical place that I would go to for a lot of different reasons. But I started thinking about that room what kind of adventure could be started in a place like that, and what kind of character would need an adventure that had to do with art. So that's where the story came from.
Valerie -It's really neat. I mean, I am a big fan of impressionist art. So it was kind of neat to go into Vincent van Gogh and to, you know, the corridor that you was set up as how they move from one painting to another. That was unique to kind of think of an artist's whole collection of work. We know certain like the most famous pieces of Vincent van Gogh, but there are others that he did and kind of watching that progression. And you said that your grandparents had a lot of art. Is that the kind of inspiration for Uncle Leo's house too?
Carolyn -Absolutely. Uncle Leo's house is a version of my grandparents' house. I chopped a couple of rooms off, gave them an art studio, and that's exactly the house. Yeah. My grandparents did not have any van Goghs. They mostly had American art and a lot of Western art. But yeah, just thinking about art in general in the house. But yeah. But their art was framed, I will say. They didn't have the little...How Leo has the little three-by-five cards with the artist's name. They didn't do that. He's a little bit more. Yeah, he's a little bit more eclectic than they were. They were very eclectic, but yeah, a little bit more.
Valerie -Even though they're art collectors, it wasn't quiet. Very neat. Kind of growing up in that environment, what really drew you to art?
Carolyn -Hmm. I feel like I always kind of had an art appreciation, maybe because my mom was an art teacher, we were exposed to it more, maybe like knew a little bit more about art, just it was kind of part of the water, I guess. But I think when I started appreciating it more specifically in college, I had a professor who took us to go see a Van Gogh exhibit at, I can't remember which museum it was, I went to Biola University, so it was in Los Angeles. We went to a Van Gogh exhibit, got to see Starry Night, got to see Wheat Filled with Crows, and that one like hit me from across the room. I mean, it just was so powerful. And it's not very big, and neither is Starry Night, which is wild. Like, you know, they're such powerful paintings, right? But they're small. And you don't think about that until you see it in person.
Valerie -Very neat. I love Vincent's journey because I know I'm, I like to draw and to paint. So it's neat to see him kind of go through this, I don't know, catharsis of, you know, he loves art, but then what is it? He doesn't get an award at an award show. And he's like, I'm done forever. It's like, if it's not perfect, I'm not going to do it. And I have kids that have similar mentalities with not just with art, but with building Legos or whatever they're working on. And it's a hard mindset to get out of to be like, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Carolyn -It is. And they say, write what you know. And I've never been a visual artist, but I went through Vincent's same journey with writing. I always wanted to be an author from elementary school. I would write stories. But then around the same time as Vincent, around middle school, I stopped writing. I kept writing poetry through high school and college, but I didn't write any stories because I though it felt hard, I'm not good at it. If I'm not good at it, then I can't do this, right? The school was kind of easier for me. Like I was always a good student, but then writing was more challenging. And so I had that perfectionistic mindset. I had to be good the first time, or if I didn't have an idea right away, then, you know, it wasn't something I could do. So I just, you know, thinking back through that and pouring that into the story and just wanting to share with kids like, hey, you're what you create is important, right? And it matters and keep going.
Valerie - I love that message because it is hard to kind of wrap your mind around the idea that there will always be someone better at something than you, but that doesn't diminish what you are capable of doing or the message that you need to communicate, God wants you to communicate. And so I love that message. It was really neat because my 12-year-old is the one who read it first and he's my perfectionist. And I was like, yes, we need to sit on this book just a little bit longer because he You can just see his eyes just go wide and just really relate to Vincent in a lot of ways. So I'm looking forward to your next installment of this, going through George's perspective and, you know, kind of her similar struggle because she is more of a, what is it? She does pottery instead of painting. And so that's not so much what the restorationists are known for. And so I'm excited about her journey. Tell us a little bit about that.
Carolyn - Yeah, so Georgia is a homeschooled kid. Because of the way she's grown up, she's always been a little bit isolated and hasn't been able to share this world of restorationists with anyone else. And so she's super excited that Vincent is kind of joining the team. But then, like I said before, she feels like she's not good enough. She feels like a sidekick, right? He's just better already. And the things like you said, like pottery that she does aren't as relevant to, you know, and she even feels like, maybe I can't even do this. Maybe, you know, and so she kind of has to learn, you know, my view is that there are no small gifts. We're all given the gift that we're meant to have and it's how we use that gift. So, it's just as an important story and a lesson as Vincent and what I think was interesting about writing book two from a different perspective is I think Georgia is a character that in book one, a lot of people probably admired, but in book two, you get to identify with her. You get to see that she also has struggles and they're different than Vincent's, but they're still struggles. And when we see from inside someone's perspective, instead of just from the outside, we're able to walk a mile in their shoes, right? To see what their life is like and identify with them in a way that we couldn't from the outside. So, yeah.
Valerie - Right. And it's, you know, what is it? Even if you have someone who's like Vincent, they're having the same struggles as Georgia too. We all kind of walk-through seasons of feeling different things of, you know, believing in ourselves or not believing in ourselves and, you know, comparing ourselves to the people around us. And I love how you've done that. Now with these books, they don't kind of jump out as Christian fiction, but you do an amazing job of slipping in some really sweet truths Beneath the Swirling Sky through one of Rembrandt’s paintings. Why was that such an important part of these stories?
Carolyn -It's interesting, when I first started writing the series, I didn't think I was writing for the Christian publishing industry, but I thought that it would probably be too Christian for the regular trade industry as well. So I did end up with a Christian publisher who was looking for just this kind of book that could be read widely but still had Christian themes. And so it was all God's direction and a huge blessing. And the painting you referenced by Rembrandt, that just ended up being part of the research and then ended up fitting exactly in this beautiful way. I don't want to give away the scene to people who haven't read it, but that's probably the pivotal scene of the book and exactly the kind of thing that I wanted to write. I don't know. If you had talked to me as a kid, the kind of stuff I wanted to write, it would be something like that. Something I think it has a Narnia-esque feel in some ways. Not to compare myself with C .S. Lewis for sure, but that's, it's the aim that I had there.
Valerie -Yeah, it was, what is it, not too long ago before, or not too long before I read your book, we had a sermon that highlighted Rembrandt's Stormy Sea. And it was, it was really fun to kind of be like, to take notes from that sermon and then just kind of like, yes, yes. You just see art differently when you learn about it in different aspects. And I love that about the book is it was surprising. Now you're going into Georgia O 'Keeffe's paintings in this next book. What can we expect in this fun adventure?
Carolyn -So definitely more adventure. Georgia O 'Keeffe's paintings are kind of all over the place between realistic and kind of abstract. So there's a little bit of both in there. It's not just Georgia O 'Keeffe. Several other painters are highlighted. If you look at the bottom part of the book, that's like a reference to one of Monet's Water Lily paintings. So, there's a lot of fun, a lot of twists and turns. Yeah, and O 'Keeffe is really interesting. I didn't know all that much about her when I decided to highlight her for book two. I had originally picked Georgia's name. She had to be named after an artist, but I just loved the name Georgia. So I gained a much bigger appreciation for O 'Keeffe as I was researching and I got to go to an exhibit of her paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on a research trip. And that was wonderful. Like her, she was very talented. I appreciate her a lot.
Valerie -There's a beauty and an oddity to her work, but she definitely could sit and stare at them for a long time. fun. Now, when did your writing journey begin?
Carolyn - Well, I would say it began before I could write. I was, my parents wrote down poems that I would make up. I definitely couldn't spell even if I could write back then. So when I was really little, I started trying to write my first novel in fourth grade. It was a Red Wall-inspired fan fiction. And then like I said, I stopped writing anything other than poetry when I got to sixth grade. I kind of lost confidence in my writing or ability to tell stories. But it wasn't a desire that went away. It was just something I didn't talk about anymore. But then when I had kids of my own and started reading a lot of books with them, that's kind of when that desire and pull came back. And reading so many children's books, that's what I'd always wanted to write. I wanted to, when I was in fourth grade, be a kid who wrote for kids, you know? But that reawoken, reawakened in me. So as my kids got a little bit older, I kind of started pursuing writing stories more, and sharing the stories with them, started with picture books, which are an easier form to handle when you have a little bit less time. So, I didn't mean to jump into novels quite yet. I probably would have waited till they were a smidge older, even though they're, you know, I have one who's already graduated now, but my youngest is 11. So, but it's, you know, it was such obvious leading from the Lord. It just kind of fell into my lap at the time it did. So it was a very clear path.
Valerie -Very neat. Kind of what's one of your, I guess what's the most impactful book that's been in your life other than the Bible?
Carolyn -I think the most impactful, you know, I'm going to go back to fourth grade and tell you when I read the Chronicles of Narnia, especially the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, just that scene with Eustace when he's the dragon and Aslan has to help him remove his dragon skin. That just has stuck with me my entire life. I feel like I learned better from fiction than nonfiction. And there's just so, so much goodness in there that is so kind of applicable to our lives, our spirituality. And so even as a fourth grader, that hit home to me and really kind of helped. I'd already accepted Christ at that time, but it sparked a deeper interest in spiritual things, I think, for me. So I'd say probably that was the most impactful.
Valerie -Most definitely. I love C .S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and that it can take us into a different world, a lot like the Restorationists, and teach us simple but profound truths that we all struggle with. And I think that's the power of both C .S. Lewis's books as well as your books too, just take people that are Especially those fun little middle-grade kids that are, you know, eight to 12. And they're just in the mix. As you said, that fourth grade to sixth grade age that was so impactful in your own life is that that's really a pivotal point in our kids' lives to understand who they are, what their gifts are, and that they have value. And, you know, and I think, you know, great middle-grade books like yours are doing pivotal work in helping kids just grab onto those truths that we tell them, you know, from our lips, you know, a parent's lips, but it's not as powerful as coming from an author that, you know, may not know you, but sees you. And so that's fun.
Carolyn -Yeah. Well, I think that's because the story touches your heart, right? It helps you to understand things on an emotional level, which is technically where we make most of our decisions. A lot of us make emotional decisions and then we justify them, you know, rationally. And so it helps us, you know, good fiction like that, like C .S. Lewis has especially, it helps you to feel the things that you are supposed to feel, right? Like the, anyways, that's how I found it to be very helpful in my own life.
Valerie- Very true. And what do I say? A good kid's book is not just for kids. You know, you're never too old for a picture book or a middle-grade book. It's like they always speak to that child inside of us and help us remember who we are. And I think that's sweet. Now, what do you hope to communicate to kiddos through this series, The Restorationists?
Carolyn -Exactly. I think one of the things is just the value of creativity. I really believe that we're all made in the image of God and that part of that is being creative. Dorothy Sayers says that in the mind of the maker we, when we're told that we're made in the image of God, and like Genesis two or three, the only thing we've learned about God so far is that he's creator. So I think that's an innate part of being made in God's image. So, it is expressing God's image when we use our creativity, especially if we're using it in good ways, trying to glorify Him. So I do think that's innately valuable in all people. And I just want to encourage kids, it's valuable. You don't just have to do math. You're not just what you may, you know, a product of the things you can do and the money you can earn. Be creative and cultivate that in your life.
Valerie - Creativity usually gets put in the box of art and, you know, what is it? Pottery and, you know, those types of creativity. But what is it? I've loved to watch my kids. Yeah. They're all so different. I have one who is a very creative, very artsy theater kid. And then I have my engineer and I was like, they get into arguments over it does. It's like, but creativity isn't just art and it is creative thinking. It is being able to work with numbers in a creative way, which is not my talent, but it's one of those things that yes, because we are, you know, made in the image of God and because he is a creator that we can create it. It's what drives us to create, whether it is a story, a piece of art, or an invention of some sort. It's, I hope too. encourage my kids that they are creative no matter what they do because they are made in the image of God. And I think that that's an important thing to communicate to the kids that aren't artsy in the creativity that we, labels we try to, culture tries to put on. And so I think it's amazing to be able to broaden their scope that creativity isn't just art. Well, Carolyn, what can we expect next from you?
Carolyn -So, you know, people watching this, listening to this, book two just came out, which is exciting. There's one final book in the Restorationist trilogy, and I believe that'll come out in the fall of 2025. Yeah, that'll be exciting. I can't tell you too much about it, but if you get book two, there is a sample chapter from book three that you can read and get excited about.
Valerie -I'm curious, is it from Ravi's perspective maybe? no! Who will it be?
Carolyn -I really can't say anything. There's been a lot of debate. Who will it be? Yeah, you 'all are just gonna have to wait and find out. But if you wanna know, you can read book two and look at that chapter in the back. Yeah.
Valerie -I will do that. Well, where can people find out more about you and your books, Carolyn?
Carolyn - So you can find out all about the restorationist at therestorationist.com. There are a lot of links there to the books. There are sample chapters. There is a book study guide if people are interested. And you can also find me at carolynleiloglou.com. I've got a picture study guide restorationist style. That might be a fun way to think about looking at paintings with your kids. And yeah, just I'm everywhere in a house full of bookworms. If you can't spell Leilogluo, just search house full of bookworms or find me on Instagram. And yeah, that's where I am.
Valerie -Well, hopefully, people will suit you out and enjoy these books as much as we have in our home. Thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you for joining Carolyn and me on this episode of the Book Worthy Podcast. Check out the show notes for any books or links that we discussed and let us know in the comments if you're a dog person or a cat person. Be sure to like and subscribe so we can discover great books together.
Happy reading.
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