How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?Learn more about the book and author at Deborah Batterman's website.
When I read a novel with an intriguing title — and I think that can be said about Just Like February — I always look to that aha! moment when its meaning is revealed. Jake is a Leap Year baby, which gives him a unique perspective in terms of the passage of time, not to mention what becomes the central metaphor of the novel, revealed maybe halfway into it. There’s a fascinating history to how the calendar evolved. Politics and religion played their part in determining the length of months and marking important days in a way that might still be in sync with astronomy. All of which got me thinking that for all the scientific accuracy we have, randomness plays its part in our lives. Just like February.
What's in a name?
More often than not the names of characters...[read on]
The Page 69 Test: Just Like February.
Q&A with Deborah Batterman.
--Marshal Zeringue