A blast from the past a la Back to the Future style gives a boy the opportunity to get to know his father and grandfather in a new light in Ernesto Cisneros’s third middle grade novel, Queso, Just in Time. Twelve-year-old Queso is still grieving the death of his father when a wish to see him again is granted via a time-travel adventure to 1985, where he befriends his father as a tween. Longtime teacher and author Cisneros spoke with PW about how watching his own parents age inspired this story, how his 30-year career as a teacher has influenced his writing, and how he offers advice for navigating grief throughout the novel.

What was the starting point for this book?

I think the idea came because, as my parents began to get a little older, they started to share more stories about their youth. And my dad has so many amazing stories. When he was about 12, he would run away from his tiny pueblo de Michoacán, Mexico, and he would go visit Mexico City. He went there because he wanted to do a little bit more. He didn’t want to be a farmer. His dream was to wear a suit and a tie someday. He didn’t know what profession he wanted [to pursue]; he just wanted to do those things. When I found out about these stories, I was like, how did you not share these stories with us? All these missing adventures and parts of our history. That’s when the idea struck of wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to see my dad when he was that age—to see him not as my dad, but as a regular human being, somebody trying to figure out life? And that’s how the story was born.

Why was time traveling the vehicle you wanted to utilize for a story about grief?

First of all, I was a big fan of Back to the Future. And there is a Star Wars series that has a “what if?” segment to it. I’ve always been a daydreamer since I was a little kid, and I just can’t help but think, “what if?” There’s a comfort in it, where I’m able to reimagine anything that I want. And as for the time travel aspect of it: I think if I had any wish, I’d want to go back in time just to see my family and where we came from and our history. The magical thing about time travel is it’s always been that one elusive concept that we’ve all wondered, “Is that possible? Will it someday be possible?” And the answer is, we just don’t know. So for now, it’s best suited for literature.

Has your time as a teacher impacted the way you approach storytelling?

When I came back from the pandemic, it was obvious that times were different, and my students were not the same. And one thing I felt was that my school community was impacted a little bit worse than others. During the pandemic, I had kids who were struggling to come to class. I had kids who were living in one-room apartments. Some were renting a room; they had nowhere to go. I saw the difficulties they were experiencing. I heard about all the loss that they were experiencing.

These are things that kids have to deal with. As an adult, if that happens to me, I can take some time off and take care of what I need to do. I don’t know why we don’t seem to ask children if they’re going through things, because they are. Just about everybody lost somebody during the pandemic, and there aren’t too many resources for young people. I really wanted to write something that would guide them, to help them feel a little bit better [and know] that they’re not alone. I also [wanted] to teach them coping strategies to deal with that. And hopefully that helps them in their real lives.

What did your research for modeling coping mechanisms look like?

I consulted with a lot of professionals. I have friends who are counselors and I spoke with the counselors at my school. I’m 52 and I’ve been teaching for 30 years now, so I have a lot of experience working with children who are dealing with these things. I have this belief that children’s books are like instruction manuals. When you buy any kind of new technology, it always comes with instructions, whether you choose to read them or not. When we’re born, we don’t have the same instruction manuals. And I really believe that books are the closest thing that we have. I get to know my students pretty well, and it’s almost like I can fill a prescription for them. Like, I know that this kid is going through their parents’ divorce, and I can say, “You know what, I think I have the perfect book for you.”

Queso, Just in Time by Ernesto Cisneros. Quill Tree, Mar. 10 ISBN 978-0-06-309224-2.