Melissa has a scar on her chest, due to heart surgery, and the reader also had a scar, and she was also bisexual, and for her that meant so much. There was this young reader one book signing, and she told me about this side character, Becky’s girlfriend. When the book was published, I got to meet people who could relate to for so many different reasons. It’s the old story: I’m writing this book because I wanted to see the younger version of me in a book. I feel so lucky to have such passionate readers.

What kind of responses have you had from readers? She told me, pick one and turn it into a novel. I knew one intern who today is my main Brazilian editor. Here the Whole Time was my attempt to do a “Beauty and the Beast” retelling: We have this character who thinks he’s ugly and doesn’t deserve love, and we have this other character who’s beautiful, and they are brought together by destiny. Writing a book was always a dream, and I had this idea for short stories based on classic fairy tales. When I left school, I started to illustrate picture books, and it was great to meet authors.

I decided to go to journalism college because I like to write-but writing news was so boring. Martins spoke with me from his home in São Paulo, Brazil the conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

This is a delightful romp as well as an uplifting and affirming read the film rights were recently purchased by the Brazilian production company Conspiração. Meanwhile, Caio’s controlling, homophobic parents make his home life less welcoming. Felipe’s single mother is a warm, unconditionally loving parent, supportive of her lonely, anxious son who is bullied for his weight. Brazilian teenager Felipe spends his winter break hosting Caio, the dishy neighbor he’s secretly in love with. Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins, translated by Larissa Helena (Scholastic, Nov.