James Patterson Talks Creating Readers and Future Scientists With His Latest, Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment

By sonacharaipotra / October 12, 2018 at 10:44 am

Over a 40-year career, the super-prolific James Patterson has written and collaborated on more than 100 (and counting!) books for kids, teens and adults. And this week, with his middle grade romp Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment, he says he’s created the most important project of his long and storied career. No small feat.

The book centers on 12-year-old orphan genius Max Einstein, a girl who goes on the run until she’s recruited by the CMI–Change Makers Institute–to lead a misfit crew of kid geniuses on missions that will impact the world.

But the genius squad’s efforts might just be thwarted by the mysterious Mr. Zimm and the evil Corp, out to foil their plans to save the planet, one mission at a time.

Barnes & Noble Kids caught up with Patterson to talk about science, why he thinks teachers, libraries and bookstores are more important than ever, and how he manages to write so many books all at once.

The Genius Experiment (Max Einstein Series #1)

Hardcover $13.49 ~~$14.99~~

The Genius Experiment (Max Einstein Series #1)

By James Patterson , Chris Grabenstein
Illustrator Beverly Johnson

In Stock Online

Hardcover $13.49 ~~$14.99~~

Max Einstein was borne of your collaboration with the Albert Einstein Archives. Tell me how that came about.

They came to three publishers. And they gave the name Max Einstein, and said tell us how you would publish a book with that character and what you think about the story. And when we went to see them, I said, “I would like Max Einstein to be a girl. Because I think right now, there are a lot of girls who need this.” Their mission was to show kids who Einstein was and how his theories have impacted the world – we wouldn’t have telephones or satellites or a lot of things if not for Einstein. But I thought it would be useful for Max to be a girl because we’re still at a point where a lot of girls and women don’t think they can be scientists and mathematicians. And fortunately, they loved that. And then I started to tell them the story, and they wanted it to be entertaining. The challenge was to do a book about Einstein’s theories for kids – and make it fun. That’s kind of challenging. But I took it very seriously and so did my co-author Chris Grabenstein, and I think we made it fun. My notion is that on some level what Harry Potter did for magic, Max Einstein will do for science and the imagination.

That’s a big statement!

I’ve said this before: I think it’s the most important book I’ve ever done, because of the effect it might have on people. A lot scientists say what got them started was that they used to read science fiction. A lot of kids are going to read it and go, okay, now I know more about Albert Einstein than my parents. And that will be true. But there are a few who will read it and find they’re really interested in these theories, want to learn more, and become scientists, technicians, doctors. It’s an honor to me to be able to help create that in the world. And it’s fun. We keep it interesting, and keep the science going. I mean, we start with turning horse poop into fuel right in chapter one. If you have a kid between 7 and 13, they’re going to remember this book. Because it’s good. And it’s fun. But some of those kids, they’re really going to connect to the science.

My favorite thing was how casually the science is dropped in. Like when she’s peeling potatoes and makes slime–in a way that any kid can go into their kitchen and do pretty much the same thing.

It shouldn’t be intimidating, and certainly that’s the way Einstein saw science. He would have these anecdotal stories about how he came to these profound insights. He wasn’t a spectacular mathematician. He just observes things. He’s a daydreamer. Like Max is. And there are so many mysteries about Max. We will learn things as we go along, and so will she.

You’ve written for kids, teens and adults. Is your approach different depending on the category?

Not really. I think the key to writing for kids is not to condescend to them. Kids are smarter than they get credit for. And with kids, there was quite a period when animated movies weren’t popular. But right around the time The Lion King came out, there was a shift where they decided with these animated films to put a lot in for the parents, too. And some of it goes over the heads of the kids. But they don’t care. They go through that in life and they’re used to it. If they’re curious, they’ll ask questions. Which is terrific. So there’s no reason to write down to them.

But the science in this is quite accessible–for kids or for adults.

And that’s purposeful. You want the average kid to understand and absorb it. But there’s enough there for the ones who will want to take the science farther, to learn more. We have to stop worrying so much about the kids who are going to go to Ivy League schools and start worrying more about the kids who are just trying to get through school. This is certainly not dumbed down. But it makes it fun. We’re trying to reach everybody.

The Genius Experiment is quite international in scope.

Yeah, she starts in New York and goes to Jerusalem and then the Congo. In book two, we’re going to India. We’ll be dealing with water in book two–it’s the big problem we’re going to be facing in the world in the next 20 to 30 years. In this one, it’s the mining of cobalt and child labor, which came along when we were researching about Africa. We started with electricity. You get a sense of an African village in the middle of nowhere, and what they don’t have and what they do have. And then as we researched, that came up. I’ve never been interested in preaching. It’s about telling a story, and if it resonates, the kids will take something away with this book.

You’re very committed to keeping the spotlight on libraries and bookstores.

Adults need to understand: it’s not the school’s job to get the kid reading. It’s about creating an example, and creating a habit. X number of adults are reading on tablets and devices, so it’s really important to put the books in hands, because most kids aren’t reading on devices. When my son Jack was about 7 or 8, he was not a good reader. And that summer, Sue and I, we made him read every day. We went to the library, we went to the local bookstore, and by the end of the summer he’d read a dozen books. His reading abilities improved a lot. Not every kid is going to go exactly that way. But directionally, they will. Just by the simple act of reading. I’ve had 100,000 people come up to me and say, “You’ve got my kids reading.” And that’s such a huge thing. All people have to do is to keep putting books in front of them. Our mission with the Jimmy imprint is that when a kid finishes a Jimmy book, they say please give me another book. That’s a very simple mission, but I think it’s kind of profound in a way. We really do believe that kids that they think are good. And we want to give them something to bite into.

A lot of your philanthropy centers on bookstores, libraries and teachers. It’s obviously very close to your heart.

As a human being, you want to focus on where you can do the most good. As a writer, I don’t think I can do that much about global warming. I can touch on it in books. But I thought that in terms of education and getting kids reading, I could actually affect some change. We have 450 scholarships for teachers in 30-some colleges and universities. We have a program with Scholastic that sends some $3 million to classroom libraries. We do a bookseller holiday presents program. And that’s actually the program that gives me the most gratification because they always send a note, and it’s so heartfelt. In fact, a bookseller I met the other day who got the award two years ago. And she said it was so perfect because she needed to go to the dentist. And she went to the dentist with that money. People don’t understand how much the booksellers need that little boost. And the whole Jimmy books thing is just to really get kids reading. With Max Einstein, it’s a really good thing to do with my life.

How are you so prolific? It’s astounding.

I’m sitting here, and it’s just a mess. I have shelves all the way around the room, and they’re all just covered with novels in progress. Some are co-written, and some are not. I do outlines for everything, and I think I counted two years ago and it had been 2,700 pages of outlines that year. Two or three drafts per outline. Drawers full of outlines and books and projects.

Last week, I did the Wisconsin book festival, and these two women came up to me and asked me, “James, are you ADD?” And I had never heard that before, but it’s possible. I can be scattered, but I’m also hyper-focused.

I also thought you were leaning into an undiagnosed ADD with Max, a little bit, on the page.

She may. Whatever it is, it’s good for her. And it’s good for me. I probably have about 10 projects going right now. It is what it is, and I write seven days a week. Someone once told me to find what I love to do, and if someone will pay you for it, it’s a miracle. I love doing it. I love telling stories.