R. A. Stephens shares her love for science and mysteries in her new book tackling forensic science and investigation for a young audience. 

The Counterfeit Bust tackles conversations about currency and forensics. Where did that idea come from?

I wanted to introduce a girl character who is interested in forensics. I know with my high school students, forensics is a growing area of interest, but the concepts of solving crime and mystery are enjoyed by younger children as well.

I like realistic stories with science and maths elements for younger readers so this seemed a great way to include them and ensure the story was also engaging. I’m sure my experience as a science teacher had some influence!

This first book looks at forensics in relation to counterfeit money. The next book in the series focuses on fingerprinting and markings. And there might be a few other forensic ideas around the corner!

Tell us about the titular character, Riz Chester?

Riz notices a lot. She has powerful sensory perception and an eye for detail. Her Holmes-esque powers of observation, paired with her innate sense for patterns, help her to identify “weird stuff” that other people don’t notice. She also records them in a journal for her own enjoyment, not realising they might actually mean something important.

Riz also has some neurodivergent traits without realising it: Sensory responses, noticing people’s facial expressions or reading more into something than expected.

Her interest in maths and science, as well as some of her thought processes, have been based on my own.

Have you ever come across counterfeit money in real life?

Not yet! However, I have travelled through different countries where counterfeiting is more common, and was interested to see that they have scanners at the cash registers, which all notes are put through, so they can quickly identify any counterfeits. I found that quite interesting. Of course, counterfeiting has been a lot less common in Australia since we brought in polymer money in the 1990s, but it does still occur. In the book, the counterfeit notes are printed on paper that feels different to genuine currency. How does your publishing experience impact on your writing process? I am fairly hard on myself when editing my stories, and am just as nervous as any other author about how readers will react to my books—maybe more so!

What was it like to switch roles and be the author working with an illustrator, rather than doing so in your role as publisher?

I had an amazing experience. Em Hammond, the illustrator, is a neurodivergent Speech Pathologist who really understands the character of Riz. She helped bring her to life and also gave me some great suggestions around her character.

This is your first fiction book for young readers, but you’ve written many textbooks in the past, as well as short stories for older readers. What differences did you notice in your approach to writing this story?

The short stories I have worked on—either as author or editor—have all been written to a theme so I have had to tailor the stories accordingly. Similarly, the writing process for textbooks

is very structured and the writing has to be done within the specified constraints.

Writing Riz was like working with a big open slate, which allowed me to come up with an idea that I wanted to explore. I was able to enjoy the journey without the restrictions of education specific writing.

What’s next for the Riz Chester series?

Riz Chester: The Fingerprint Code is coming out in November 2023!

Riz has to solve a mystery of who stole some musical instruments at school with only a couple of fingerprint marks as evidence.

What do you hope young readers will take away from Counterfeit Bust?

I hope they enjoy the mystery and the friendships between the characters! But most of all, I hope that young readers learn that traits they see in themselves as “weird” or strange can actually be skills or talents.

As Riz learns to value her skills and powers of observation over the course of the series, I hope readers will gain a different perspective on themselves.

How would you use The Counterfeit Bust in a classroom setting?

As a science and maths teacher, I have spent a lot of time going through ideas to help Riz offer a great learning experience in schools. Exploring the concepts of forensics and some of the ways in which science is used to solve crimes would be an interesting path. As is the ways that Australia has designed cutting-edge difficult-to-counterfeit notes, and also prints notes for a number of different countries (The Reserve Bank has some interesting information about this on their website). I think a lot of readers just enjoy mysteries and problem-solving as well. While the science is minimal in Book 1, the concepts are there as a jumping off point for talking about science with primary school students.