Margaret Hope-Hernandez: Pandemic Journalist to Children’s Book Character

During the COVID pandemic, schools were closed, and kids were isolated at home. Turns out that some kids across the U.S., from Maryland to Oregon to Oklahoma, chronicled quarantine life by creating their own newspapers. Tulsan Margaret Hope-Hernandez, who was age 10 at the time, was one of those young journalists. Her family newspaper, the Hope-Hernandez Household News, was featured in an article about pandemic newspapers in the kids’ section of The Washington Post. That article led to Margaret being contacted by children’s book author Matt Lamothe, who was compiling a picture book to highlight a kid in every state. Margaret was the featured child from Oklahoma. Almost five years later, All About U.S.: A Look at the Lives of 50 Real Kids from Across the United States by Matt Lamothe with Jenny Volvovski, is published (Chronicle Books, 2024).

Margaret, a freshman at Booker T. Washington High School, shared her thoughts about her newspaper and the experience of working with Lamothe, an author/illustrator.

TK: You live with your mom, Heather, your dad, Chris, and your grandmother, Margaret. Tell us about the newspaper project and how it led to being in the children’s book.

Margaret: It was an amazing opportunity. The whole family loves writing, and we were bored during the pandemic, so I started the newspaper, and we all wrote for it. After the article in the Washington Post, we were contacted by a random guy who said he was trying to find a kid in every state to put in a book. We thought it was a scam at first, but we checked him out. He had written another book focusing on kids in seven countries, and the U.S. book is a companion to that. I had just turned 10 at the time, almost five years ago. He explained the process, and we did a few zoom calls and sent him some photos of our house.

TK: How was it working with author Matt Lamothe?

Margaret: It was an amazing experience to work with a published writer. In the first few months, there was a lot of back and forth about the drawing of our house. He asked about hobbies and things to include in the drawing. He also asked about demographic information for the statistics in the back of the book.

TK: What did you think of the artwork depicting your house, you, your mom, dad and grandmother?

Margaret: I loved it! It was amazing to see his process and how he turned the photo into the drawing. He took elements of all the pictures we sent him. It was fun being able to get a glimpse of the process of a professional author because I enjoy drawing and writing.

TK: How did being involved in this project affect you?

Margaret: When I draw, it’s more realistic, so I was influenced by how he took different elements from several photos, then combined them to come up with his drawing. It influenced me to take inspiration from real people and to combine them. It changed the way I think about doing art.

With writing, it made me see that it’s just possible! You can take as much time as you need and still get it done. You can do what you want. In school, we’re taught how to answer questions with writing, but I’m more interested in narrative. It was great to see a professional writing process.

TK: What kind of stories do you like to write?

Margaret: Realistic fiction. I also like to write about representation in media. For example, neurodivergent people have always been present in media and in literature, but they weren’t called that. [It wasn’t until fairly recently] that they were named in that way.

TK: Besides making art and writing, what do you like to do?

Margaret: I do acting for fun. I’m currently in a play at Booker T. called “Ha!” It’s opening in November, and it’s open to the public for $5 at the door! I also like leadership activities. I was involved in Changemakers, and I went to Camp Anytown. I’m on the Tulsa Youth Services advisory board. I’m also doing All Souls’ (Unitarian Church) Coming of Age group, where we do a survey of world religions and then focus on our own spiritual discovery, define our values and morals to come up with a personal creed.

TK: What are some of your favorite places to go in Tulsa?

Margaret: Magic City Books, Purple Glaze, Woodward Park and Shades of Brown coffee shop where I meet up with friends.

TK: What’s a fun fact about you?

Margaret: I have a fascination with brain science that started in the seventh grade. I keep an on-going Google doc of research on the topic. It’s 45 pages.

TK: Now that you’ve seen the finished product of the picture book, how does it feel?

Margaret: It’s so cool to see myself and my family in that way. It’s amazing.