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Continue reading below the graphic for an interview with author Julie Sternberg about her book “Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie”

by Kellie Geres
Regarding Nannies Development Team

As nannies, leaving a job is something we all have to face at one time or another.  Julie Sternberg has taken that topic and turned it into a delightful book that all nannies, parents and children should read, again and again!

Having been a nanny for 22+ years, I have left many families.  I have been long term with all those families, the longest, my current position for over eight years.  What Ms. Sternberg describes in her book from the child perspective and the new nanny, I’m sure we can all relate.  As I read the book, I could easily see myself in the position of Eleanor whom has just lost her beloved nanny Bibi, and as Natalie – the NEW nanny.

I wish I’d had this book many years ago to read and share with all the families I’ve left, and all the families where I have come to be the new nanny.

I so loved the book, that I was fortunate to be able to ask the author some questions, and share these with you, and I am looking forward to meeting Ms. Sternberg at the upcoming Nannypalooza conference in November.

Enjoy Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and get to know author Julie Sternberg …

What was the idea or inspiration behind writing this book on this subject? I wrote the first draft of this book just after my daughters’ longtime, beloved babysitter moved away.  Each and every member of my family was miserable, missing her.  At one particularly low point I remember having these two thoughts, back-to-back.  First:  We are never going to make it through this.  Second:  Is there a story here?  I think there might be a story here!  One of the nice things about writing is that it gives you an excuse to try to see difficult experiences (from heartbreaking ones to mortifying ones) as not solely awful.

How much of yourself is in Eleanor, Bibi and Natalie? Of all of those characters, I’m most present in Eleanor.  She’s a composite of my two daughters and my own eight-year-old self, at least as I remember her.

Did you have a first babysitter / nanny and what memories do you have? The adult who most shaped my childhood, aside from my parents, was my babysitter, Martha.  I adored her.  I still adore her.  To this day, when I see her, she hugs me tight and lifts me off the ground and swings me around and sets me down again.  And I’m not light!  She spent day after day with me, year after year, teasing me and telling me hard truths and keeping my secrets.  No one knows me quite the way she does.

Who or what inspires you to write? I try to identify moments that are rich with emotion, and write the stories surrounding them.

Who are your favorite authors / what are your favorite books? This is such a hard question!  I can’t list all of my favorites!  But I can certainly name some.  Let’s see.  Willa Cather is sky-high on my list.  I especially love her SONG OF THE LARK.  Then there’s George Eliot’s MIDDLEMARCH.  If, on pain of torture, I had to name just one favorite book, that might be it.  Or maybe TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, which I recently re-read, full of awe for Harper Lee.  Give me THE LORD OF THE RINGS series to read any time, and make me happy.  As for books that aren’t quite as old: MRS. BRIDGE, by Evan Connell, is fantastic.  HOUSEKEEPING, by Marilynne Robinson, is as well.  And REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, by Richard Yates.  I also love OLIVE KITTERIDGE, by Elizabeth Strout.  I have a soft spot for crime fiction, too.  For a while I couldn’t stop reading Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallendar series.

And, of course, some favorite children’s book authors:  Richard Peck (particularly LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO and A YEAR DOWN YONDER); E. L. Konigsburg (FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER and SILENT TO THE BONE); Sharon Creech (WALK TWO MOONS and LOVE THAT DOG); Cynthia Voigt (DICEY’S SONG); Katharine Paterson (JACOB HAVE I LOVED); Amy Hest (REMEMBERING MRS. ROSSI); Ursula K. Le Guin (THE WIZARD OF EARTHSEA); Virginia Euwer Wolff (TRUE BELIEVER); Francisco X. Stork (MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD).  Also, E.B. White’s CHARLOTTE’S WEB is a masterpiece.  Don’t try to tell me any different!

What would your summer reading list include? I rarely read nonfiction, but after a recent trip to London (my first time out of the country in a very, very long time) I’m longing to read a wartime biography of Winston Churchill.  What a moving example he provides of the power of language!  So I think I’ll try the second volume of THE LAST LION, by William Manchester, this summer.  As for fiction, I’ve heard great things about EMILY ALONE, by Stewart O’Nan, and PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM, by Kyung-sook Shin.  They’re on my list as well.  And I plan to take a look at the scripts of favorite plays and movies.  I have a notion that reading them will help me structure my own writing.  That may prove misguided.  Even so, I’ll have read some great scripts!

Anything else you’d like to share with our readers? My summer reading list this year is woefully lacking in books for kids!  If you’re craving children’s book recommendations, you might trywww.books4yourkids.com; http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings; http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production; or the blog that I share with my friend Marirosa Garcia, www.pleasedontreadthisbook.com.  Wishing a happy summer for everyone!

Julie Sternberg, formerly a lawyer for the ACLU, is a graduate of the New School’s MFA               program in writing for children.  This is her first novel. She lives in Brooklyn.

Special thanks to Sarah Shealy at Blue Slip Media.