NW Book Talk – Sarah Callender – 11-11-2026

Sarah Callender – Lucy in Between and Finding Your Own Voice

Author and middle school teacher Sarah Callender joins Patty
Grasher on Northwest Book Talk to discuss Lucy in Between, a novel about
a thirteen-year-old girl discovering her own talents after years spent
applauding her older brother, a gifted violinist. When her brother dies by
suicide, Lucy faces grief, guilt, and difficult questions. A journey to Peru
and an unexpected friendship with a bookstore owner become part of her story of
loss and discovery.

With warmth and candor, Callender shares how Lucy’s
distinctive voice first came to her and why humor, friendship, and everyday
teenage experiences belong alongside the novel’s harder moments. Drawing on her
experience as a teacher and parent, she reflects on the conversations books can
open between young readers and the adults who care about them.

Topics include:

• Lucy’s
  love of mime and her search for recognition.
• The
  complicated bond between siblings.
• Writing
  honestly about depression, suicide, and grief.
• Friendship
  across generations and the novel’s Peruvian setting.
• Responses
  from young readers, parents, and educators.
• The
  persistence and revision behind Callender’s path to publication.

This conversation includes discussion of suicide and mental
health.