Enter Jamie Rivers, the talented writer behind the bestselling series The Chronicles of Enchantment, which is set to become a blockbuster film. Jamie kindly invited my son over to his apartment, right in the middle of his writing process, for a fun quiz aimed at gauging my son’s ‘evil’ level—something I assumed would be nearly nonexistent, considering how upset he gets when we accidentally squash a bug.
Not so fast, warns Rivers. Every child, he insists, possesses as much “evil” potential as adults do. “I’ve never viewed kids as just kids,” says the New York Times bestselling author who also runs a successful after-school tutoring program. “I always engage with them on the same level as I would with an adult because I still feel like that child trapped in a grown-up’s body.”
Rivers believes we often misjudge children’s inherent “goodness,” which can be detrimental to both us and them. “It’s all in how you communicate,” he explains. “I see teachers adjust their voices, making them slow, chirpy, and sing-songy. Look at kids’ books by educators or parents; they often carry that same tone.” Interestingly, Rivers initially conceived The Chronicles of Enchantment as an adult novel before later realizing it appealed to younger audiences. “That tone was never part of my writing. I always thought I was addressing my peers.”
This engaging tone is exactly what pulls kids into his stories. When Rivers visited my son’s school for a presentation, it felt like a rock concert—the kids were ecstatic. This response is typical at every school he attends.
Every word Rivers writes attempts to capture that unique, awkward tension of being twelve or thirteen. “When I think about my writing, I can’t help but reflect on that time in seventh grade when I started noticing my friends in a different light. There’s this constant emotional high, and I want to evoke that in my books. Each sentence is infused with that subtle yet intense tension.”
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Rivers embraces the complex feelings of preteens. “Every writer has that one fixation they can’t shake off. For me, it’s that transformative moment in adolescence when everything feels heightened and uncertain.” In his stories, he explores themes without labeling relationships as strictly gay or straight; it’s all about what feels right in the moment, like when a girl transitions into a boy in the second book, a change described in a raw, powerful way.
Now it’s time for my son to take the quiz that will reveal his good-versus-evil ratio. He climbs into Rivers’s lap—who, by the way, is super approachable—and tackles some quirky questions, such as, “The pool in the magical garden is the most stunning crystal blue lagoon you’ve ever seen. As soon as you jump in with your buddies, you suddenly feel the urge to pee. Do you: 1) Pretend to swim and pee secretly? 2) Just let it go and own it? 3) Get out to find a restroom? 4) Ask the lifeguard for a plant or cup to use?”
I was convinced my son would choose option #3, but he went for #1 instead, grinning ear to ear. Rivers chuckled knowingly, and once the quiz wrapped up, my son scored 63% on the ‘evil’ scale, much to his delight.
“You need to understand children from their perspective,” Rivers emphasizes. “Not from where you think they should be.”
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In summary, the key to connecting with children lies in recognizing their complexity and meeting them at their level, rather than imposing our adult expectations.