Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick on Sisters of the Moon and books about friendship

We were completely gripped by Sisters of the Moon by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, an atmospheric and intriguing story that we've shared with our Macaw subscribers this month. We found ourselves fully invested in the young characters and their friendships, which are so vividly portrayed. Sisters of the Moon is a wonderful blend of relatable contemporary drama and mystical intrigue that we think early teens will love. Here Marie-Louise tells us about being inspired by her sixteen-year-old self and which other books about friendship for young people she recommends you read next.

What inspired you to write Sisters of the Moon?

A book came out ten years ago, a series of letters to your sixteen-year-old self written by famous people. I remember thinking that sixteen-year-old me wouldn’t have cared about, much less read, a letter from fifty (at the time) year-old me. I didn’t have much belief in my own worth at sixteen, so my belief that older me had anything of value to say to me would have been less than zero. That led me to wondering who I might have listened to.

Are any of the characters or events based on real people and their experiences?

There’s always at least a pinch of me in the main character, whether it’s a picture book or a novel. Like Suzy Button, I was an extremely self-conscious, self-critical teenager who thought everyone else had life worked out, and I was the only idiot who hadn’t. Clodagh is definitely an amalgam of the girls who led the various in-crowds I encountered. Looking back, I can see how we were all part of the group dynamic – if we treat the beautiful shiny confident girl like she’s special and got to call the shots, then why wouldn’t she step into it, lap it up? We pick our leaders! Sallycove is based on a seaside town called Greystones where I once lived, and the holy well is based on the one at the end of the road I grew up on.

Would you say the book has a happy ending? Why or why not?

Yes! I see it as happy and hopeful. Suzy has come through the black funk she was stuck in, and she has learned to distrust/dismiss her negative inner voice and trust her positive instincts and ideas. She has a lovely circle of friends and some idea of what she wants to do with herself.

We were struck by the various friendships depicted in the book, and the quote ‘friendship is only true when it is equal’. What do you hope young readers will take away from this aspect of the story?

We learn by making our own mistakes but connecting with a character’s journey in a book can chime with us, maybe lay down a marker of sorts. As a child and a teen, right through my twenties, I had a very rigid idea of friendship as something that had to last forever. It’s taken decades to realise that there are friendships which are lifelong, while others may only last a day, a year, a decade. Some friendships belong to a particular time, place, experience, but they’ll always be part of who I am. I value them all.

Can you tell us anything about what the future holds for Suzy and her friends?

Readers will have their own takes, but I am pretty sure Suzy’s friendships with Jazz and Pod are of the ‘forever’ variety! She’ll definitely have a lovely first relationship with Derry. Will it last? No idea. But I think they’ll stay friends if they split up. And Suzy will do photography in college; her future is in the arts. Jazz too, I think, though for her it will be performing. Pod … she’ll do law like her mother. Huh. Didn’t know I knew those things!

Why did you choose to write books for this age group?

I write (and illustrate) picture books, so I create books for all ages from 0-18. Why YA? It’s such an explosive, amazing, terrifying, confusing, formative time in our lives. We refer back to it forever – those friends, those experiences, the music, the movies, the glory days. It’s taken a few decades for me to work up to writing for this age group, I kept telling myself that it would be too difficult, but another part of me knew I’d go there eventually!

Do you have a favourite place to write?

Coffee shops. I’m too easily distracted at home. I like the discipline of sitting at a table and working for a chunk of time without moving, flat white to hand. I like the white noise of strangers chatting and music playing.

Which other books for young people about friendship would you recommend our subscribers read next?

Meg Rosoff’s Friends Like These – a book about a toxic friendship, a painful rite of passage. And one about an intergenerational friendship between two characters in crisis – Sarah Crossan’s Toffee.

Copies of our Sisters of the Moon pack, including a copy of the book and loads of fun activities to go with it, are now available for individual purchase. Grab a copy while stocks last!

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