What kind of shift does writing for different audiences entail? Some stories just feel more right for certain ages. I write both short stories and novels, for example, and ideas present themselves to me for a certain age group, or for a certain format. Yes, the book comes as the book, ready for its audience. So when you get a story idea, you already know which audience you’ll be writing for?

When I was a kid, even if my mother and I weren’t talking, we would be reading the same books at the same time. And I also wanted Nightbird to be a real mother-daughter book – a book mothers and daughters could share. With Nightbird, I wanted to write a book for my 10- or 11-year-old self. I write for different audiences because I’m always writing for myself at different points in my life. I believe that the best books are the ones you write for yourself. I never know why I write something for a certain age group. Why did you decide to write for this audience? You’ve written many novels for adults and teenagers, as well as several picture books, and your latest, Nightbird, is a middle-grade book.

We recently spoke via telephone with the author, snowbound in her Boston home, and she talked about how being an “escapist reader” turned her into an “escapist writer.” Hoffman last spoke with PW in 2006, upon the publication of her YA novel Incantations. (Mar.The prolific, award-winning author has written for a variety of audiences for more than 30 years, for adults as well as for children her latest book, Nightbird, laced with her signature magical realism, is for middle-grade readers and tells the story of 12-year-old Twig, whose family has lived under a witch’s curse for 200 years. The risks Twig takes in reaching out to the Hall sisters bring gratifying rewards and unexpected connections to others in the community. The book’s evocative setting and distinctive characters will immediately hook readers, and the history of Twig’s family, uncovered bit by bit, will keep them engaged. Twig remains friendless until she meets new neighbor Julia Hall and her older sister, who might be able to help reverse the spell plaguing the Fowler family. The two of them rarely venture into town because no one must discover their family secret: that Twig’s older brother (whose very existence they’ve kept secret) has been afflicted with a 200-year-old curse.

Twelve-year-old Twig Fowler leads an isolated existence in an ancient farmhouse with her mother, a skillful baker. Sidwell, Mass., is famous for its apples, “so sweet people come from as far as New York City during the apple festival,” and the mysterious winged monster rumored to reside there. Once again, Hoffman ( Green Angel) works her magic to transport readers to a realm where enchantment intermingles with everyday realities.

Nightbird by alice hoffman