Since our school library using a Folett Destiny as our library system, they share with us the interview with an author, Nic Stone. Below are the conversation between Nic Stone and the interviewer.
When New York Times best-selling author Nic Stone saw Black Panther in the cinema, she identified immediately with the character Shuri, the Black Panther’s younger sister. Shortly after, Stone was offered the opportunity to write a middlegrade series starring the breakout character. The result is Shuri: A Black Panther Novel, which tells the story of how Shuri disobeys the commands of her elders and leaves her homeland to try to solve an ecological crisis that could devastate her country, Wakanda.
How did it feel to be asked to develop a series around Shuri?
It was like the moment where I felt, “Mama I made it!” I was in the airport in Amarillo,Texas, when I opened the email (from the publisher) and I literally screamed. It was a really good moment.
How did you develop Shuri’s character?
She is one of the first characters I’ve seen on screen who I’m like, “That’s me!” I’m a huge math and science nerd. I was headed to grad school for neuropsychology when I got my agent. I cannot tell you the number of phone calls I had with cybersecurity professionals and experts who know electromagnetism because Shuri is so whip-smart. In these novels she’s younger than in the film. Because of that, I got this opportunity to create a whole backstory for her. This was my favorite part of the process. I got to give her the friend she was lacking in the film. Building out a friendship for her, I think, not only helped me get a better understanding of her character, but will humanize her in a way that the film didn’t. Because relationships are so important when you are a preteen girl, when you are trying to figure out your place and if you are important, having a person who is going through the same thing with you is so vital to development.
Tell us more about the significance of the world around Wakanda.
My favorite thing about this world is somebody at Marvel had the presence of mind to say “Hey let’s make a movie about this particular place we created, and let’s show this group who has largely been oppressed and shuttled to the margins, and let’s show them in this really powerful way.” And to see it on screen, I can’t tell you what that did to me and the black community as a whole. To see this idealized place where people look like us and all are widely intelligent, technologically advanced, and have more money than God. I’ve never been more honored to do a project.
What else would you like to share?
At their core, these books are about girl empowerment, but they’re not just for girls. They are books I’m writing, yes, for the sake of uplifting girls and showing how powerful they can be. I think they will also be books that boys can enjoy and show them what girls can do. Especially now that there’s so much toxic masculinity and there’s so much swirling regarding gender roles and social construct of gender. What does it look like for boys to support girls and girls to be encouraged to go after what they dream of? I wrote a book that I hope will advance that conversation.
