Erin Dealey

Patricia Newman’s beautiful book GIANT RAYS OF HOPE: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea, released on Oct. 1st from Millbrook Press/Lerner, and we are thrilled to keep the celebration going!

Click here to see the fabulous book trailer featured on

Shelf Awareness!

About the Author: Patricia Newman wants us all to know we are part of nature. As a Robert F. Sibert Honor recipient, she shows us how our actions ripple around the world, empowers us to find our own connections to nature, and encourages us to use our imaginations to act on behalf of our communities. Her nonfiction titles have received multiple starred reviews, Orbis Pictus Recommended Awards (NCTE), Green Earth Book Awards, and several Eureka! Awards. She is based in California, and fun facts: She is my dear, longtime friend and PBJ critique partner, who is a fantastic presenter at schools and conferences.

Time for some questions!

Q 1. We see that you learned about Peruvian biologist, Kerstein Forsberg from an article in TIME magazine. Besides the connection that her organization Planeta Océano has the same name as your book, PLANET OCEAN, what kept you moving forward to learn more about her work saving the manta rays?

Patricia Newman: Kerstin replied to my request to interview her within minutes of sending my query. That kind of interest is hard to ignore! Wonderful doesn’t begin to describe her personality and friendliness. Kerstin is passionate about Planeta Océano and giant manta rays and her enthusiasm is contagious, so I felt encouraged to do what I do best – ask LOTS of questions. One of the most fascinating aspects of Kerstin’s initiative is that she asks for the community’s buy-in by surveying stakeholders, listening to their answers, and incorporating their ideas into the project. Kerstin introduced me to teachers, students, and fishers with whom she’s worked and their dedication to the ocean is impressive! Kerstin calls them the stars of their own conservation story.

Additionally, I had the privilege to speak with Kerstin’s daughter, Narelle. When we talked about her ocean education in school, she said, “I’m quite sure I’ll learn more. Hopefully as much as my mother has taught me.” Out of the mouths of babes, right?

Behind the Scenes

Q 2. Were you involved in the process of including photos in a book like this? How does this part of the project work?

Patricia Newman: Yes, quite extensively. Because many of my books deal with specific scientists or projects, publishers always have trouble finding stock photos that fit the story. Kerstin is the recipient of the Rolex Award for Enterprise and has worked with CNN and Dutch underwater photographer Joost van Uffelen. Rolex and CNN have both filmed and photographed Kerstin at work and generously made many of their photos and video clips available to me and Millbrook Press. Several of Joost’s giant manta rays swim about the pages of the book.

Normally, I collect most of the photos during the interview process and information gathering stage. When I interviewed the kids, teens, and teachers featured in the book, the Zoom chat was filled with photos of their projects. It was crazy! The photo on page 32 of Giant Rays of Hope of the dead manta ray –a turning point for Planeta Océano – appeared all over the Peruvian media. I tracked down the photographer on Facebook and requested permission to use the photo.

After the First Draft

After I write an initial draft of the book, I study the hundreds of photos I’ve gathered and begin sorting the images into folders with the same names as my chapters. I share these folders with my editor, art director, and book designer. When we reach the layout stage of the book-making process, the photos are dropped in. The designer crops the photos or enlarges them to suit the story. Oftentimes the first photo chosen for any given page is replaced by something we like better. The team at Millbrook Press/Lerner is truly a dream team.

Once we’ve made our final photo selections, I start writing captions while Lerner’s photo researcher begins gathering permissions and high-resolution images for the photos we plan to include in the book. If high-res images aren’t available, the art department works some digital magic to improve the quality of the photo for printing.

Q 3. We love your #STEM / #STEAM blog series, LitLinks! Can you share a connection between STEM and language arts using Giant Rays of Hope?

Patricia Newman: Thanks for the LitLinks love! Most educators don’t realize that reading, speaking, writing, and listening – the language arts – make up a large part of any STEM field, creating a natural connection between the disciplines. STEM breakthroughs are rarely discovered in isolation; a team of scientists participate in any given project.

Bycatch

For example, to survey fishers about manta ray bycatch, Kerstin’s team had to agree on and write a specific set of questions. They systematically interviewed each fisher, listened to the responses, and recorded the data. Then Planeta Océano analyzed and discussed the data to determine their next steps. The classroom lessons on LitLinks often mimic this process.

Teachers & Librarians –> BONUS

Free Activity Guide

Check out the free activity guide for Giant Rays of Hope available on my website (download the guide). I worked up a lesson on sustainable eating and another on civic role models. In addition, I worked with three amazing educators who I met at school visits or conferences.

Here are brief descriptions of two of the lessons they designed for my activity guide:

Bycatch Simulation (p. 6)

This is a super fun activity that focuses on science and math, but also has links to literacy. Students explore how bycatch happens and how data collection helps make positive change. The students are the fishers. Common kitchen tools are their fishing nets. And a variety of different-shaped pasta represent the fish – manta rays are represented by bowtie pasta. After collecting their data, students draw conclusions about the best sort of “net” to reduce bycatch.

Plotting Manta Sightings (p. 14)

Just like the fishers in the last chapter of Giant Rays of Hope who enter manta sighting into an app, students will draw their own mantas which are then released to “swim” about the school. Then, students “sail” around school and plot the coordinates of each manta they find on a graph. They analyze their data to make observations about hot spots and possible recommendations for a marine protected area.

Q 4. Can you share some ways that readers can be “ocean protectors” like Kerstein Forsberg?

Patricia Newman: Kerstin and I are both hoping that Giant Rays of Hope will inspire by example. Just like the kids and teens Kerstin worked with, we hope readers will look around their communities for an environmental challenge that needs to be addressed. Plastic waste? Wildlife crossings in busy traffic areas? A polluting factory?  An endangered species? How about working to change the habits within the family or school? Every environmental problem needs just one person to notice and begin taking positive action. One positive action leads to another and another, until the community becomes aware of the problem, begins to care, and acts.

Q 5. Why do you write narrative nonfiction about the environment?

Patricia Newman: Today’s teens and tweens are more aware than ever of the big issues in our world. And they want to help, but often don’t know where or how to begin. Books like Giant Rays of Hope or Planet Ocean or many of my other titles tackle some of the big environmental issues with which youth wrestle.

I recently co-wrote an article about this topic with Jessia Stremer for School Library Journal’s Teen Librarian Toolbox blog. To quote part of the article, “Creators, librarians, and teachers are poised to work together to help today’s youth discover narrative nonfiction resources. Through these books, tweens and teens can expand their knowledge and find civic role models that will support their ability to make change.”

Q. 6. Please tell us about your other projects in the works.

Patricia Newman: In addition to Giant Rays of Hope, I have two upcoming narrative nonfiction picture books:

Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger (Millbrook Press/Lerner), illustrated by Becca Hall, releases in the spring of 2025. Readers will meet world-famous shark conservationist and Women’s Hall of Fame diver Zenato. Zenato has developed a very close relationship with sharks in the Caribbean, which come to her so she can remove fishing hooks from their bodies. Her dramatic story is sure to wow readers.

Beatrice and the Nightingale, illustrated by Isabelle Follath, releases in spring 2026. Beatrice and the Nightingale recounts the first time a bird’s song, accompanied by world-class cellist Beatrice Harrison, was broadcasted live via the British Broadcasting Company and reached over a million listeners. It’s a beautiful story of one blissful moment when music, nature, and technology united.

Oceans of thanks to Patricia Newman

for joining us on the blog today.

To learn more about her books, check out her website & social media:

Website: patriciamnewman.com

Twitter/X: @PatriciaNewman

Instagram: @patricianewmanbooks

Facebook: @PatriciaNewmanBooks

BlueSky: @patricianewman.bsky.social

Pinterest: @newmanbooks

Up next: We chat with the authors of LISTEN, WONDER, ASK (Elly Berke / Tilbury House) and ONE SMALL KOALA ON THE BIG BLUE EARTH (Tory Christie / Amicus) –both illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell.