Today, author Vivi Barnes chatted with Olivia about her recent Dickensian YA, OLIVIA TWISTED!
Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school.
Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elite—break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents.
As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv…
Olivia with YA-Mag: Vivi, welcome to the Young Adult Magazine!
YA: OLIVIA TWISTED is a new take on Charles Dickens’ OLIVER TWIST—a tale I just adored growing up. So how did you first meet your Olivia and decide to try out a young gal in the orphan boy’s role?
Vivi Barnes: Holy mother of hard luck—the story of OLIVER TWIST is all about the angst! But there is hope and love in it as well, which is what drew me in more than the societal issues. I started wondering how a story like that would fare in today’s times, especially if the roles were reversed and the kids were teens instead of young children. I decided to let Olivia meet a teen version of the Artful Dodger, Z, who tries to persuade her to join his gang of hackers/thieves. They both end up having difficult choices to make about the kind of life they want to lead.
YA: Aside from the twist on Dickens, what sets Olivia’s story apart from other YA retellings, like THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER by Megan Shepherd or THE HEIGHTS by Brian James? What will readers find with TWISTED they can’t anywhere else in YA books?
VB: OLIVIA TWISTED is a retelling of the actual story OLIVER TWIST—following the major plot points and keeping the general themes of the original. Considering they are both contemporary tales (well, the original was contemporary for the 1800s), I think it’s interesting to compare and contrast life in 1830 to today’s times. And, of course, I decided to work in the ultimate “twist”—creating a gang of hackers instead of pickpockets as in the original classic. I learned a lot by researching for this book—including how ridiculously easy it is to hack accounts. Protect your passwords, people!
YA: What non-book influences (films, television shows, music, plays, etc) helped spark this story or your writing career in general?
VB: The movie OLIVER! was important to me during a time of my life where I was going through a rough patch. I remember thinking, “Wow, that kid really has problems.” It’s how I first fell in love with the story—which is one reason why I love movie adaptations of books (even the not-so-great ones); it draws people, especially kids, to books they might never have touched otherwise. OLIVER TWIST is a difficult read—I might have passed it up if not for the movie.
YA: When you were a teen, what was your favorite book (YA or otherwise)? Now that you’re an author for teens, what is your favorite contemporary YA?
VB: Oh, one of my favorite questions! When I was a teen, I read a lot of fantasy—J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Adams and David Eddings were my favorite authors. I loved the fantastic world-building and beautiful prose. I loved Judy Blume, also—I related with a lot of her stories, especially Deenie (I had to wear a brace due to Scoliosis so I think it was the first time I realized how important it is to write characters that people can relate to).
As an adult, I read more YA than anything. For contemporary, John Green, Gayle Forman and Tara Kelly have rich, beautiful stories with relatable characters. I also love dystopian novels and have probably read most of them!
YA: What is the story behind the title OLIVIA TWISTED?
VB: As soon as I started thinking about retelling OLIVER TWIST, I thought it’d be perfect to have a teen girl and call it OLIVIA TWISTED. So it really all started with the title. I actually have to have a good title for a book before I can start writing it. I guess it’s my own little quirk. Writing under “untitled” sends my stories nowhere.
YA: What’s up next for you? Any possible sequels for Liv?
VB: I’m writing away on other contemporary YA projects, all TBD. As for a sequel…who knows? I think a lot of people want to know what happened with some of the other characters. And it’s all in my head…
YA: If you could cast the Dream Film of OLIVIA TWISTED, who would you cast?
VB: Demi Lovato would make a great Olivia—she could pull off the sweet innocent girl who’s hardened under the surface.
Z—I don’t think this guy’s been invented yet. Right now I’d have to say a cross between Benjamin Stone and Alex Pettyfer (and definitely Pettyfer for the ‘tude).
I could see Olivia’s foster parents—the Carters—played by Elisabeth Moss and Bradley Cooper.
Sam—the fun-loving cute sidekick of Z who’s motives aren’t always the most honest—could easily be played by the adorable AnnaSophia Robb.
With his ice-blue eyes and intensity, I bet Rob Lowe could pull off a mean villain in Bill Sykes.
And Nancy—the mother of the Monroe Street gang—who better than the lovely Julianne Moore?
YA: Do you have any pet projects you’d like to try out sometime soon?
VB: I’d like to try taking a nap. With three kids, that’s not likely to happen. As far as writing goes, I’d like to take a stab at another retelling someday—probably Dickens, as his view on society is fascinating. I could see reimagining a story like Bleak House, though it’s not as widely known as OLIVER TWIST.
YA: We’ve come to the end! Just one more to go! With winter in full swing, if you could spend the holidays with Liv and Z’s crew, what traditions would you all keep?
VB: Monroe Street would be festive at Christmastime—with Secret Santa exchanges, food, and lots of laughter. Liv would love every moment of the holiday—she treasures the time when humanity is the kindest. Being tossed around from one house to another almost her whole life, she would sit back and watch everyone open presents and laugh, grateful to be in a place where there’s so much love.
Z on the other hand would be out the door as soon as the merriment commenced. He hates holidays, due to a tragedy that occurred Christmas night when he was a child. (Although Liv could be the one to change that for him.) I’d want to spend time with Z more than anyone, trying to get him to let go of his bitterness, resentment and anger and appreciate the wonderful people in his life now. He wouldn’t listen to me, though. 😉
YA: Thank you very much, Vivi! And again, from YA Mag, congratulations on OLIVIA TWISTED! We look forward to hearing a lot more from you in years to come!
VB: Thank you! Here’s a snippet from the beginning of OLIVIA TWISTED (as seen through the eyes of Olivia):
I should be used to this by now—the emptiness that fills me when I become homeless for the stretch of a car ride. I’ve done this more times than I can count, but the truth is that it sucks. Every. Time.
Occasionally, my case manager, Julia, glances at me in the rearview mirror. She knows better than to attempt conversation in a useless effort to comfort me.
Or maybe not.
“Bernadette looked so sad about saying good-bye to you, Olivia,” Julia offers in a whine that’s supposed to come off as sympathetic. “It’s nice that they loved you so…” She falters when I turn my withering glare on her reflection.
Nice? Yeah, Bernadette and Marc loved me so much that they wouldn’t take me with them when they moved to Hawaii. I seriously thought the last home would be the last. I swallow hard—I refuse to cry—and turn my gaze back to the blur of trees as we breeze by on the highway. Julia makes another half-assed attempt at conversation, but I tune her out.
The drive to my new home from Bernadette’s is only about twenty minutes once you cross the James River. Julia’s GPS announces various rights and lefts, sending us through a maze of streets dotted with small, scrawny trees. The pastel-colored houses are pretty much clones of one another. Über middle class.
Julia parks in front of one of the clones—a white house with a bright-green lawn and orange and pink flowers lining the front picture window.
I’ve stayed in uglier places.
~*~
Readers, be sure to check out Vivi Barnes at her website www.ViviBarnes.com. Or follow her on Twitter @ViviBarnes.
OLIVIA TWISTED, published by Entangled Teen, is now available at your favorite retailers and local independent bookstores!
Olivia Hennis is a transplanted New England girl dropped by a tornado into the magical Land of Jersey. For more info, follow her on Twitter.