Growing Up Is Hard to Do: Part 2 follows Grumpy the Iguana and his friends who meet a baby manatee and discover the joys of friendship, courage, and protecting marine life. What was the inspiration for your story?

I was very curious about manatees when I moved to Florida in 2013. They are not brash or loud or scary. They are gentle, quiet, and peaceful. Since the ocean and gulf waters are so clear, you will notice these huge creatures hanging around the marinas and the calmer waters of an inlet.

My inspiration for this story was when I stopped to watch a baby manatee swimming in the water close to the marina in Miami Beach. She or he was having so much fun and had attracted quite a crowd of onlookers. I was curious about what life is really like for these gentle giants of the sea. Even at a very young age, manatees must face many obstacles such as the cold ocean water of the winters in Florida and the danger of being hit by the many boats that travel the waterways. Young manatees are left to survive on their own after the age of two, and so I thought it would be fun for our little Baby the Manatee to look for her “soul tribe” (friends that make your heart sing). Everything is better when you are doing things together with your friends.

What interested you about showing that different characters can respond to unfamiliar experiences with different levels of confidence?

Growing Up Is Hard To Do Part 1 & 2 are books 10 and 11 in my Grumpy the Iguana and Green Parrot Adventure series. As we begin to read Growing Up Is Hard To Do, we are already familiar with the personalities of each character and how they react to situations individually from the books that came before this one.

How do the themes of friendship, courage, and empathy connect with the broader message of growing up throughout the series?

Baby the Manatee hears the voices of Grumpy the Iguana, Green Parrot, Mr. Squirrel, and Little Mouse and is instinctively drawn to them. She already knows that this is a group that could possibly be her soul tribe (friends for life). When Little Mouse sees Baby in the water, he is frightened by her size. He runs back to his friends and announces that he has just seen a whale. They are all curious and want to see for themselves.

Making friends is not easy, but as soon as Baby puts the animal friends’ minds at ease that she has no intention of eating them, things start to calm down. Baby invites all of the friends to tour the marina with her. This means that they must trust Baby. Little Mouse, being the youngest, has no fear and jumps from the dock onto Baby’s back. He encourages his friends to do the same. They all have a wonderful time together. The friends do worry about their new manatee friend when they notice a sign urging boats to use caution when entering and leaving the marina. So many manatees are injured or die from boating accidents each year in Florida.

I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?

The Grumpy the Iguana and Green Parrot Adventure series is now 18 books long. Every story in the series tackles different issues, but first, Grumpy and Green Parrot relocate from Miami Beach to Naples, Florida. There are many adventures to take and new friends to make.

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