I’m excited to share that the Children’s Book Award Committee of the Wisconsin Library Association’s Youth Services Section selected ten outstanding children’s and young adult books for 2021, and Alone in the Woods was one!
You can read more about the awards and the other wonderful books being honored here.
The Disaster Days releases in trade paperback today!
Now all five of my books are available in that format–my personal favorite to read, because it’s perfect to stash in a beach/pool bag, a backpack, or hold onto while you’re standing on the subway. (I’ll never forget the time I tried to read Anna Karenina in hardcover on my commute . . .) read more…
I’m really excited to share that The Disaster Days was selected by Bank Street College of Education as one of its “best books” of 2020. From Bank Street’s website:
[The 2020] edition includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2019. In choosing books for the annual list, reviewers consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes. Each book accepted for the list is read and reviewed by at least two committee members and then discussed by the committee as a whole.
Awesome! You can view the whole list here and grow your reading list 🙂
Author friend Michelle Schusterman and I had a fantastic time visiting schools and bookstores in the Dallas area this November: Lamar Middle School in Flower Mound; Bowie, Crockett, Lady Bird Johnson, and Lamar Middle Schools in Irving; Barnes & Noble Southlake; and Interabang Books!
We were so impressed by the engaged readers and talented writers we met along the way. Here are a few photos from our tour:
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”7″ display=”basic_slideshow”](Interested in having me, or us, visit your school? Check out my Visits page for more info!)
Last week, I visited four great schools in New Jersey (Bloomfield Middle School, Roosevelt Middle School, Byram Township Intermediate School, and Fredon Township School) to talk to young readers and writers about The Disaster Days and how I research the real (and really fascinating) facts in all my books. One of the best parts of being an author is connecting with kids, sharing about the publishing process with them, and hearing their great questions!
TR in the library at Roosevelt Middle School!
A warm welcome from Bloomfield Middle School
The wonderful audience at Byram Township Intermediate School
Roosevelt Middle School’s cozy LMC. Their amazing librarian was setting up an escape room!
Talking about research trips at Roosevelt Middle School
Sharing a bit about all my books at Fredon Township School
Big thanks to Watchung Booksellers, Sparta Books, and Sourcebooks Kids for making these visits possible!
The Disaster Days is a Junior Library Guild selection for fall 2019!
I’m thrilled that it will be on even more library shelves thanks to JLG’s fantastic subscription services and recommendations lists.
Time flies when you’re having fun . . . or you’re revising. I was doing both this fall. In November I turned in the final manuscript for my next MG novel, which will be out in October 2019. The new title (and cover, and a bunch of other info) I’ll share in the new year!
In terms of fun, I had great trips to Wisconsin (where the fall color is always divine), California (where the Disneyland is always magical), and Sleepy Hollow (where the Halloween is pumpkininny). In terms of bookish fun, on October 28 I visited the lovely New Canaan Library for a middle-grade author extravaganza. We had a lively panel followed by a signing, and it was delightful.
The extravagant authors (and friends)
Our books on display at Elm Street Books 🙂
The lovely library
The next Saturday was one of my favorite days of the year: nErDcampLI! I was too busy learning, sharing, connecting, laughing to take many pictures, but here are two:
Our panel on school visits went great–lots of ideas to incorporate for next year!
Book love in cookie form
Now I’m ready to hibernate with a new project I’m writing. Hope your fall was fantastic!
Last Saturday, I spent the day in charming Warwick, NY, at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival. I got to meet with eager readers, signed lots of books and shared 1960’s candy (just like Bea and Pidge would’ve eaten on their cross-country trip), and enjoyed local delicacies: NY apples and apple cider doughnuts. After a long week, it was wonderful to get out of the city and connect with book people.
If you have a chance to go next year, I highly recommend it!
Meeting with a reader
I’m still wondering what’s in a Zagnut bar . . .
Cider doughnut!
Time flies when you’re having fun, and when you’re launching a new book. I can’t believe The Last Grand Adventure has already been out for three weeks! It’s been a lot of fun traveling around and talking about Bea and Pidge and Amelia’s adventures. Here’s where I’ve been so far:
I got to share The Last Grand Adventure a little early with readers at Barnes & Noble Neshaminy in Bensalem, PA. Lauren Magaziner, Tae Keller, Jessica Lawson, and I had a lot of fun answering questions and tackling truth-or-dares.
On Saturday, March 24, I officially launched The Last Grand Adventure with the help of the fantastic Claire Legrand, at Books of Wonder’s new Uptown store. We had a great talk about writing quietly adventurous MG characters and our own travel experiences. And I turned my book into Rice Krispie treats, because of course.
Airplane dress!
I wonder why we were laughing so hard?
Next I hopped a plane home to Madison, WI, where I met some fantastic young readers at EAGLE School and Thoreau Elementary, my alma mater.
Then celebrated the book’s release with a reading at my hometown indie, Mystery to Me. I forgot to take any pictures at this event other than this “After” one of my book cake. It was the most delicious map I have ever eaten.
You can check out my Instagram for some photos and reposts of Bea and Pidge in the wild. And if you’d still like a chance to have a book signed or meet me in person, I’ll be at The Voracious Reader in Larchmont as well as One More Page in Arlington, VA, this weekend. Check out my Events page for all the details!
Last week I traveled back to Wisconsin for a couple of book events, and it was perfect timing for fall color:
The view from Ski Hi, my favorite orchard. The pies are amazing!
Hiking at Devil’s Lake
Madison has great coffee 🙂
The famous farmer’s market is at its very best in fall.
Green and gold
The view from my Sunday morning coffeeshop
What’s missing? Photos from my talk at the Reedsburg Public Library and my school visit at EAGLE School. I was so excited to meet with readers and writers that I never quite got around to taking pictures . . . oops! But I had a great time talking about reading, researching, and writing.
Now I’m back in NY, working on short fiction and researching a project, and getting ready for nErDcampLI!
How does fall look where you are?
Last Sunday, I had a great conversation with author-friends Melanie Conklin and Sarah Darer Littman at Bank Street Bookstore. We spoke about writing three very different books all set (or, in my book’s case–partly set) in the big city. It was a great discussion–thanks, Bank Street!
(I loved sharing a shelf with the HRC books)
This week, I’m off to Wisconsin for a great event at the Reedsburg Public Library and a chance to visit some schools. Hoping to get in a trip to the apple orchard and my favorite state park while I’m back, too–there’s nothing quite like autumn in Wisconsin. 🙂
Last Friday I battled NYC traffic to travel to New Jersery (seriously–it took over an hour to drive three blocks to get into the Holland Tunnel) for a wonderful weekend of authoring. Saturday was the annual Princeton Public Library Children’s Book Festival, and it was amazing! Here’s a before picture of me with my books:
There is no after picture, because I sold them all! The five hours of the festival flew by–I had a fantastic time meeting so many wonderful readers and writers. If you want to check out what the day was like, the Princeton Public Library has some video posts on their Facebook.
The next day, I headed down to Neshaminy Falls for a Barnes and Noble event with Lauren Magaziner and Erin Entrada Kelly. We had a great discussion about writing MG, thanks to an enthusiastic crowd and bookseller extraordinaire Mandy Webb.
While I was signing books, I had a fun author moment–I found a copy of Summer‘s second printing. Fun to see that “1” drop off the copyright page!
Thanks to B&N Neshaminy Falls, the Princeton Public Library, and JaZams for helping me have a great weekend connecting with readers and writers.