“She noticed his hair was greasy and his skin was pockmarked. His shoes were scuffed and the hem of his leather jacket had come down on one side. From where she was standing she could see him pushing the last crumbs of his Danish into his mouth and with one hand while using the other to punch a number into his mobile. He was despicable and he was looking for JJ. If only he knew that he had found her.”

 

Interviewer
Hello Anne Cassidy, I am a reporter from The Times and I would be grateful if you could spare a few moments to answer a few questions. As we know you are the author of Looking for JJ which is one of the nominees for the Carnegie award. Where did the idea of the book originate from?

 

'Anne Cassidy'
Looking for JJ, in my opinion, is quite a gripping novel. It is my first book and I wanted to make sure that it had an effect on my audience. My second partner worked as a detective and studied a very serious case a few years ago in Manchester. The case was about a young girl who had been brutally murdered and her best friend was a key witness. I followed this story and began to merge in other stories that could, together create a powerful story. I exaggerated each piece of evidence that was given and created a murderer who was a ten year-old girl.

 

The book is certainly very powerful; however what made you write in the type of style that the book is presented in? The book is divided into three chapters, and I was curious to know what made you format the book in this way.

 

I first began to start the book writing about a young ordinary girl. I didn’t want to leap right in and reveal the truth immediately. I wanted to slowly progress to the truth. I felt that I should divide the book and explain the past and present individually. During the book I often referred to significant events that happened in the past which I felt would make the story more interesting. I also included a lot of ‘twists’ in the book. I felt that if a person became popular and well trusted in the book, it would be a good way to reveal that they simply weren’t who the reader thought that character was.

 

From previous interviews of schools and the public, it seems that Looking for JJ is a very popular book. How much of a chance do you feel that this book has of winning the Carnegie award?

 

Well I feel this book has a huge potential and I am very pleased that my first novel has had such a positive response. Being part of the Carnegie award is a huge honour for me and my only hope is that my audience will enjoy the book. Thank you, goodbye.

 

Thank you Anne Cassidy, goodbye.