Michele Hollow and I met many years ago when we were both new members of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. We’ve been following each other around the internet ever since, cheering each other on.

Michele is an award-winning writer and editor. She writes about health, mental health, autism, aging, animals, and climate. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Next Avenue, The Guardian, Parents, AARP, and The Costco Connection. She has also done nonprofit writing for IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), Family Promise (a nonprofit that helps homeless families), and the Simons Foundation (an autism research nonprofit).

She is the author of The Everything Guide to Working with Animals (Adams Media), which came out in March 2009, and a middle grade biography on the Grateful Dead, which was updated and reissued in 2019.

Her first historical novel for middle grade readers came out on September 10, 2024. It’s called Jurassic Girl and is about Mary Anning’s first major fossil discovery at age 12. This was back in 1811. The men in the London Geological Society called her a fraud; they didn’t believe a girl could make such an amazing find. Mary triumphed and today she’s known as the “Mother of Paleontology.”

Michele lives in NJ with her husband, Steven, and their rescue cat Chai. She has two sons.

Take it away, Michele:

What path led you to Mary Anning? And why do you think it is important to tell her story for younger readers today?

As a journalist, I enjoy writing about people who make a difference. I write about animal welfare and health. Interviewing everyone from a professional violinist who serenades formerly abused dogs at the ASPCA on his day off  to professional clowns and vaudevillians who bring joy and laughter to Alzheimer patients at hospitals uplifts my spirit. I like getting to know people who help others.

A couple of my readers told me about Mary Anning. I had not heard of her. I did a bit of digging online. A handful of sites popped up. I learned she was a fossil hunter who discovered an ichthyosaurus, which translates to fish lizard. I later found out the ichthyosaurus is neither a fish nor a lizard. It’s in the reptile family.

What struck me about this discovery was that at the time, no one was certain what she found. Many people in her hometown of Lyme Regis, UK, thought it was a crocodile. This was in 1811 when Mary was 12 years old. Imagine being 12 and unearthing a creature no one has seen before. This was at a time when most people didn’t believe in extinction. They didn’t believe an entire species would die out.

In addition to making such a major discovery at age 12, Mary was poor and self-educated. Back then most people paid to attend school. Mary’s family didn’t have money to send her or her brother Joseph to school.

Many of the men at London’s Geological Society thought Mary was a fraud. Females did not get credit in scientific journals back then. The London Geological Society credited the man who purchased the fossil from Mary as the discoverer.

I wrote Jurassic Girl for middle grade students because Mary was a remarkable 12-year-old. I believe children would find her story relatable. Often young children don’t get the credit they deserve from adults. Reading about Mary’s perseverance and triumphs encourage readers of all ages.

How do you walk the line between historical fact and fiction in an historical novel?

This was the tricky part. I work as a journalist. One of the first internships I had while in college was working in the research department of the Time Life building in New York City. When I write articles, I interview experts and people experiencing issues that we can learn from.

I don’t own a time machine so I couldn’t go back in time and interview Mary or any of her family. I looked up books about Mary and found The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling. It’s a biography about Mary Anning.

While reading the book, I learned about the Lyme Regis Museum. About a year ago, the museum opened a Mary Anning wing. Lyme Regis is part of the Jurassic Coast. Today, tourists fossil hunt at the same seaside that Mary did more than 200 years ago.

 

The Fossil Hunter mentioned the research team at the Lyme Regis Museum. I contacted them, told them I was writing a book about Mary, and asked if I could send them questions. I sent lots of questions, and the researchers at the museum were kind enough to answer them.

In my book’s introduction, I told my readers that facts are important when writing about history and historical figures. I stated I couldn’t interview Mary or anyone else from that period so made up the dialogue. That’s where the “fiction” part comes in.

When you talk to children about Mary Anning, what surprises them most about her story?

Most here in the U.S. are not aware of her. In the UK, Jurassic Girl is doing well because many people there know about her. Last year the UK introduced a Mary Anning postage stamp.

What stood out to me was a recent interaction I had with other science writers. A few female writers complained that women scientists don’t always get credit for their work in scientific journals. Women in science even today have to fight for recognition.

When I addressed four fourth grade classes at an elementary school, many of the girls came up to me at the end of my talk, raised a fist, and said “Girl Power!” I believe girls understand that doors aren’t always open.

 

The girls and the boys I talk to at schools love learning about Mary Anning. Many have read and enjoyed Jurassic Girl. They love everything having to do with dinosaurs. They understand that dinosaurs evolved into birds. I tell them if they want to see a live dinosaur to go outside and watch the pigeons and other birds in their neighborhoods.

My readers are smart.

A question from Michele: I’m curious if you have discussed The Dragon from Chicago with children. I know it’s for adults. I believe young adults and mature children would find the book fascinating. So, if you are so inclined, how would you talk to children about Sigrid Schultz?

I think the odds that anyone would ask me to talk to elementary school students about Sigrid Schultz are small, particularly in today’s world when there is an impulse to protect children from learning about the bad stuff.  That said, if I were given the opportunity I would focus on three big-picture issues: what the newspaper business was like for women in the early to mid twentieth century, Sigrid’s courage in reporting on the Nazis, and the importance of reporters in keeping readers informed about what is happening in the world.

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Interested in learning more about Michele C Hollow and her work?

Check out some of her articles here

Check out her web page about Jurassic Girl here:

Buy Jurassic Girl here

Follow her on Bluesksy: @michelechollow.bsky.social

Follow her on Facebook: Michele C Hollow

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Come back tomorrow for three questions and an answer with best-selling science writer Dava Sobel, whose most recent book deals with Marie Curie and the forgotten women scientists who worked with her.