Sixth graders, Avery Kalter and Elena Nasar have been fans of Rob Buyea for years. That’s why even when they had a full schedule, they reached out to him and managed to get a short meeting with him. His books helped and inspired them for a while, and connected with them more then any book ever has. Fun fact, they even wrote a movie for his Mr. Terupt books. Full of eagerness and excitement they asked him a series of questions that helped them gain a new understanding of the books and an author’s perspective.

Avery: One of the first questions we have for you is, what inspired you to write this series? Have you experienced any of the things your characters have experienced?

Rob: My books are actually, partially inspired by my students, and all of the memories we had together. I also like to say that my books are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. A lot of kids like to ask me if the snowball scene in book one actually happened to me. No, I didn’t go into a coma from being hit by a snowball, but that scene was inspired by something that happened to me and my students. It was based on a memory where one of my students fell in the snow after being attacked by a group of girls. It was a pretty scary moment at the time, but looking back at it it was a great component to add to my book.

Elena: How do you select the names of the characters?

Rob: To be honest, most of my characters’ names aren’t inspired by students like storylines are. I did get one from my real life which is Gavin from the perfect score. I was hoping that whenever my wife had a son, which never happened, I could use it. Now it is taken by one of my many characters.

Avery: Have you ever thought about what these characters you have developed may look like?

Rob: No, I haven’t. I have been asked this by many fans, but I like to let the readers decide on this one.

Elena: Have you ever thought about making your books into a movie or TV show? Has anyone approached you about that?

Rob: Yes, many times actually. I’ve had many agents and production companies get in touch with me. All I can say is that as of now there is a chance for an adaptation.

Avery: Interesting. What was the hardest character to portray when writing the books?

Rob: To be honest, there wasn’t a character that was hardest for me to write. I definitely had my struggles for each character and had scenes where I couldn’t generate any ideas, but they were all equal. As my readers know, I like to use different styles of writing for Jessica, and that is a bit of a challenge, but I have a lot of fun with it.

Elena: Adding on to that, what was the hardest scene to write?

Rob: The hardest scene for me to write was definitely the end of book 2. I was relatively new to writing and I was having trouble giving the book a good ending because I wasn’t sure if this would be a book I would follow through with.

Avery: Really? I loved the ending of book 2. What character do you relate to the most as a person?

Rob: That’s a hard question. I equally relate to all my characters, but I like to joke sometimes and say I am a Lexi. My wife would also say I was a Peter. Another character I deeply relate to was Daniel, who had type 2 diabetes just like my daughter. It was important for me to somehow add that to my books.

Elena: That’s really amazing. How do you respond to your book reviews, good and bad? Do you take advice from your readers?

Rob: The professional reviews from places like Kirkus or The Guardian don’t mean anything to me. The only reviews I take seriously are the ones from my readers, who are in the age group I actually write the books for. I don’t respond much but I am grateful for the feedback and do use it to help me improve my writing and plotlines.

Avery: What is the main message you try to spread in your books?

Rob: Throughout my books, I have spread many messages. There is obviously a lot of friendship, and the importance of it, but there was also a lot of family and overcoming struggles. My characters went through a lot together, but they always got through it with friendship.

Elena: Did you want “Goodbye, Mr. Terupt” to serve as a true ending to the series or an open end?

Rob: Well, when I wrote the first book I thought that would be it. Then I did the second book and thought I was done. But then I wrote the third one and now the fourth just released and I have another book series out as well. So to be honest, I don’t know where the end of the series is or where it will be.

Elena and Avery: Well, that concludes our questions. Thank-you for all this amazing intel. It will really help us develop our article.

Rob: Thank you! In fact, you guys remind me of Jessicas. Very professional young girls.

Elena and Avery: Hahaha, thanks. Happy holidays, and thank-you for your time!