Gemeinhart among the writers coming for first-ever SpoYo

Dan Gemeinhart uses haiku in his debut novel, “The Honest Truth,” to delve into his character’s thoughts and feelings.

The story opens with 12-year-old Mark running away with his dog Beau. Mark’s cancer is back and he wants to climb Mount Rainier before he dies − even if it kills him.

Gemeinhart’s original plan was to have Mark keep a journal, but in a story that’s already from the first-person perspective, “the journal entries sounded just like the narrative … It wasn’t a clear break.”

Then it came to him: haiku.

“It just kind of hit me, that would be perfect, because it was a distinct break from the narrative that really condensed an emotional moment,” he said.

Gemeinhart will be in Spokane on Saturday, leading a workshop on writing haiku at the inaugural Spokane Youth Book Festival, put on by Eastern Washington University’s Get Lit Programs.

Haiku serve a second purpose in his novel: They show the connection between Mark and his best friend Jessie, who write notes to each other in verse.

“Haiku are great because they can be as profound and time consuming as you want … or you can write a haiku in 60 seconds.”

Gemeinhart lives in Cashmere, Washington, with his wife and three daughters, ages 9, 5 and 2. He’s a teacher-librarian at a K-5 school in Wenatchee. He spent part of his childhood in Spokane and graduated from Gonzaga University in 2001 with history and teaching degrees.

His books − a second, “Some Kind of Courage,” is due in January and more are in the works − are middle-grade literature, the publishing term for stories aimed at 8- to 12-year-olds.

“Those are the kind of stories I like to tell, I love that age group of readers and that age group of literature.”

But just because he’s writing for a younger audience, that doesn’t mean he shies away from tough subjects. “The Honest Truth” covers cancer and the fear of death. Mark starts the story off with a bad choice − running away − and faces many obstacles on his journey, some life threatening even beyond his cancer. And Jessie has to decide whether she should keep a secret from Mark’s parents.

“Some adults like the main characters in kids books to be exemplars: perfect kids making perfect choices as an example for children of how to behave,” Gemeinhart said.

“That’s just not really the model anymore in middle grade literature, where we see kids make mistakes and do the wrong thing and from watching them make those mistakes and do those wrong things, we see them learn the lesson and then we as readers can learn the lesson as well.”

Gemeinhart has no plans to give up teaching, though he did move to half time this year. It’s the perfect job for a writer, he said.

“I really love my job, I love teaching, and I love teaching in the library, I love working with kids and I love working with books. It’s a really fun, interesting and challenging job.”

His advice to young writers, like the ones he’ll be working with this weekend, is the same as they’ll hear from any writer, he said. “Write a lot and read a lot. You really only get better at writing by doing those two things.”