Q&A with Ibi Zoboi: My Life As An Ice Cream Sandwich

I’m so excited to have the opportunity to interview someone I greatly admire like Ibi Zoboi, especially on her newest middle grade novel, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich. This book is absolutely stunning and the synopsis had me hooked from the first time I read it. The book is set to release on Tuesday, August 27th (one week from today). Let’s dive in to the questions, shall we?

What was your inspiration behind “My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich”?

I had several inspirations, but SANDWICH started with a character first. I wanted to write about a Black girl I don’t often see in stories–a quirky, nerdy, awkward, highly imaginative child who has a hard time fitting in with her peers. I wanted this girl to be so immersed in her imagination, that readers will find it hard to separate her reality from her creativity. 

The title immediately grabbed my attention. What’s the meaning behind it?

Ebony-Grace is obsessed with space travel and science-fiction. At the time, these were things and ideas that were relegated to white boys. Little Black girls are not supposed to pretend to be Luke Skywalker or Captain Kirk. In 1984, Mae Jamison had not become an astronaut yet and Sally Ride had just joined NASA only a couple of years before. Ebony-Grace’s only example of someone who looks like her in outer space is Uhura in Star Trek. Her Grandaddy wanted her to hold on to that example when she makes up her space adventure stories, which is why their spaceship is called the Uhura. Ultimately, the girls in Harlem think she acts white. So they call her an ice cream sandwich. Brown on the outside, white on the inside. Also, I think Oreo is trademarked. So the idea comes from the derogatory term “oreo.” 

The cover art is simply stunning. Probably my favorite cover of 2019! How did you come up with the concept?  Who is the artist behind it?

I didn’t come up with the concept. I leave that up to the designers and artists. But yes, I absolutely love the cover. It’s illustrated by the brilliant Frank Morrison who is known for capturing Black children in urban spaces so wonderfully. If you have a hardcopy, in the back, Ebony-Grace is in a space helmet very much like the ones in sci-fi movie posters. Except, they are usually white men in space helmets. At the bottom of that image is a tiny illustration of Ebony-Grace in a makeshift spaceship. Frank Morrison nailed it.

I love the use of comic strips inserted throughout the story. Is there a memory tied to comic strips/books when you were growing up?

I didn’t read comic books as a child, but Ebony-Grace does. The comic panels represent her imagination. Like Ebony-Grace, I was a highly imaginative child and was constantly making up stories in my head. If I had access to comic books, I would’ve devoured them. 

What’s the one thing you hope that young readers take away from this book?

I want young readers to understand what it feels like, looks like, and sounds like to not only be different, but to have different thoughts. I want them to know that there are very different ways of seeing the world and that imagination is one of the best things to possess for yourself. Everyone’s imagination is not the same. We don’t all want the same adventures, and that’s okay. Ebony-Grace thinks she’s the only one who loves science-fiction and that her “imagination location” is special, but she realizes that as long as we call can tap into our imaginary worlds, magic will happen. 

I wrote about a time and place where children and adults alike relied on their imaginations to make a way out of no way. The whole book is about my idea of genre blending. I took a huge creative risk. In the early 1980s, everyone was taking creative and scientific risks. From sci-fi movies to space missions. From breakdancing and graffiti to fashion and language. Ebony-Grace was not a special snowflake after all. Everyone was tapping into their imagination locations. 

What are some upcoming projects that you are working on?

Another inspiration for the character of Ebony-Grace was pioneering science-fiction author Octavia Butler. I’m working on her biography-in-verse for young readers.