A Conversation with Author Rajani LaRocca
Inspired by a book as a child, LaRocca now writes to encourage the next generation.
Our featured book this month is Your One and Only Heart written by physician and award-winning author Rajani LaRocca. We had the opportunity to speak with LaRocca about her take on censorship, what inspires her to write for children, and her upcoming picture book Some of Us.
Since publishing her first book in 2019, LaRocca has released 20 additional titles - all for young readers. Her books range from middle grade novels like Red, White, and Whole, which was named a Newbery Honor Book in 2022, to nonfiction children’s picture books like Your One and Only Heart. LaRocca enjoys writing for kids because “you can talk about really important topics but you do it in a way that’s not too heavy. You have to make it entertaining and interesting. They can be full of so much heart and so much emotion - and I just love that.”
When I was a kid, it was a book that made me interested in becoming a doctor.
She credits a children’s book for inspiring her to become a physician. “When I was a kid, it was a book that made me interested in becoming a doctor. I read a nonfiction book called Ouch! All About Cuts and Other Hurts and it talked about everything that happens when you get a cut or scrape. I was so fascinated by it that I was like ‘ooh, I want to learn more about this!’ ”
Hear the full story of how a book inspired LaRocca to become a doctor and why she believes access to nonfiction is important for young readers.
Your One and Only Heart is one of many books that was unnecessarily moved to the adult section of the Huntington Beach library after a controversial decision by the City Council. It was restricted because an illustration of a child receiving an EKG violated the library’s rule that books could not contain images of body parts that would be covered by a swimsuit. As LaRocca pointed out, “if you’re a boy, usually that would not be covered by your swimsuit. It’s your chest.”
As both a doctor and an author, she expressed concern over the restriction of nonfiction content. “It’s upsetting to think about restricting real, nonfiction work about their own bodies. Why? We’re all people, we all deserve to understand how our own bodies work. I think that they deserve to be able to have quality content so that they really understand what’s going on.”
Your One and Only Heart was moved back to the children’s section after public outcry but a handful of preteen health books remain restricted. As LaRocca explains, nonfiction books are a high-quality source of information. “In order for a book to be published, it has to go through a lot of steps. There are many many people checking on the content to make sure it’s accurate and that it’s at the right level for a child. Why wouldn’t you want that to be the source that your child looks at rather than something random on the internet?”
LaRocca spent years revising Your One and Only Heart until the right idea came along. “I couldn’t figure out how to write it in a way that was interesting. I didn’t want to dump a bunch of facts on kids and expect them to be interested in it. Then I woke up one day and I said, ‘I know how to write this book. It’s in poetry!’ I’m going to write poems that are paired that seem to be opposites of one another but they’re all true about the heart.”
In addition to writing about the human heart, LaRocca has written nonfiction books to make advanced concepts like DNA and vaccines more approachable for children. Bringing her admiration for books and their influence on her as a child full circle, she hopes these books will inspire young people to pursue science. “I hope that they get every reader, young and old, interested in science and in particular how their bodies work. I hope it demystifies some things but I hope it also makes readers ask some questions. I hope that they ask more questions than are explained in the book and that it makes them reach for the next book and the next book.”
Speaking of the next book, LaRocca’s latest book Some of Us comes out on May 27th. It’s a children’s picture book about becoming a naturalized citizen and was inspired by her own experience. It starts with “Some of us are born American. Some of us choose.” LaRocca became a US citizen at the age of 15. “My dad became a citizen when I was six and he could have had me become a citizen then, but he wanted me to make the choice for myself. I have to tell you, it was so powerful. The act of choosing was way more powerful than I, as a 15-year-old, had ever anticipated. I’m so proud of the book and can’t wait for it to be out there in the world.”
Pick up your copies of Your One and Only Heart and Some of Us at Bookshop.org, your local bookstore, or your local library. (Once Upon a Ban earns a commission from affiliate sales through Bookshop.org.)
I love that the author wants to inspire kids to embrace studying science! Sounds like a wonderful book for the very young to learn about how their body works!