Philomel’s Jill Santopolo on the Creation of Chelsea Clinton’s IT’S YOUR WORLD
April 20, 2017
In this new installment of our Climate Change series, Jill Santopolo, Editorial Director, Philomel Books, tells us about her key role in the creation of Chelsea Clinton’s IT’S YOUR WORLD: Get Informed, Get Inspired and Get Going. Climate Change is one of the big issues covered in the book, including a detailed “Weather Report” section. Young readers are
![Jill Santopolo](https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Jill-Santopolo-photo-copy-300x199.jpg)
Jill Santopolo[/caption] IT’S YOUR WORLD actually came to be because of television. Chelsea had appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about global health, and I happened to be sitting on my couch watching TV that night. I was so impressed with the way in which Chelsea was able to explain complicated subjects in ways that were easy to understand that I reached out and asked her if she might be interested in writing a book for young readers that talked to them about the biggest issues facing our world today. It turned out that Chelsea had already been thinking about doing just that. And, of course, when you’re talking about big issues facing our world, climate change is one of them. We decided that the book would be divided into four sections focusing on the economy, rights, health, and the environment. Within those sections, there are smaller chapters in which Chelsea included explanations, features on kids (and some adults) who are working to make a difference in those areas, and then Get Going! lists of actions readers can take to make a difference themselves. That same structure is in the Weather Report section. How would you describe the experience of working with Ms. Clinton as her editor on this project and what was involved in establishing a narrative voice that would grab and hold the interest of young readers? It’s was truly a pleasure to work with Chelsea on IT’S YOUR WORLD. She’s such a thoughtful, intelligent person, and I think those qualities are reflected in her writing. As far as tweaking her narrative voice for young readers, we talked about the idea of writing as if she were having a conversation with one of her nieces or nephews, which is why I think her voice in the book sounds so natural and so much like her.
![its your world](https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/its-your-world-199x300.jpg)
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