Author Interview: Ally Condie discusses Matched

Today I welcome Ally Condie as part of her blog tour for MATCHED.  I reviewed MATCHED back during Dystopian August, and think it's a great book for discussion.  Let's get straight to my questions, shall we?

So Ally, if Cassia had access to all the poets available to us, which ones do you think she’d gravitate towards?

Great question! I think she’d gravitate towards different poets as the book progresses, since she changes so much. So, at the end of the book, I’ll say she would love Edna St. Vincent Millay, e.e. cummings, Rita Dove, Leslie Norris--and, of course, she’d still love Dylan Thomas.

If you lived within the society in MATCHED, what kind of job would you likely have?
I would definitely not be a data sorter—I have no intuitive feeling for numbers or patterns. I think I would probably be a teacher or instructor, since that’s what I’ve done in my real life and those careers still exist within the Society.

You’ve been promoted to head of the matching committee and your job is to match a character from one book with a character from another book. Who do you match and why?
Oooh, excellent. I would match Atticus Finch with Glory Boughton from Home (by Marilynne Robinson). Both gentle, good people from small towns with the ability to do hard things with grace.

The literature committee has found a treasure trove of children’s picture books and decides to let you choose which 10 will be available to the public. Which ones do you choose?
Assuming the committee wouldn’t find my picks too subversive, I would choose:
-Goodnight Moon By Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
-Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face by Jack Prelutsky and Brandon Dorman
-The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
-Max’s Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells

-Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin
-All the Places to Love by Patricia McLachlan and Michael Wimmer
-Aesop’s Fables, Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
-Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
-A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
-Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham

Do you have big plans for the release date of MATCHED?
As far as the actual release date, I don’t have big plans. My husband has to work late that night so I will be hanging out with my three little boys. Maybe we will get takeout for dinner and go to a bookstore to see if we can find MATCHED on some shelves.

Thanks Ally, hope you have a great time!  MATCHED comes out on November 30th.
 
Until then, check out these links:
 
Website: http://www.matched-book.com/

Matched Facebook app: http://www.matched-book.com/matched.html
Ally’s website: http://www.allysoncondie.com/
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaeNWL8rlBI