Three sleeps till nErDcampLI! This “unconference” is always so much fun, and it’s filled with literacy ideas and discussion–and #booklove. The workshops and keynotes start at 8:00, and the author meet and greet runs from 2:00-3:30. Check out all the amazing authors and illustrators who will be there–and stop by and say hi if you’d like a signed copy of When Audrey Met Alice or Summer of Lost and Found!
Time flies when you’re having fun–I can’t believe summer is over, and September almost is, too. It was a busy month:
The new Books of Wonder opened! I love both stores, but it’s so exciting to have a children’s bookstore (and its awesome events) uptown.
Of course I visited Nell and Ambrose when I stopped by to check out the new space.
Meanwhile, at the downtown location, I went to a fabulous panel with Tara Dairman, Jessica Lawson, Alison Cherry, and Tracey Baptiste. Lots of author friends were there–we even had a mini reunion of our 2014 debut author group. Here we are: Jessica Lawson, Tara Dairman, Lauren Magaziner, me, and Michelle Schusterman. We all have new MG releases in either 2017 or 2018!
Speaking of new releases, I got a delightful surprise from the UPS man one morning: ARCs (advance reader copies) of The Last Grand Adventure!
Aren’t they pretty? It’s so exciting to finally see this story in book form.
Now it’s back to work on some new projects, and starting to think of fun ways to share The Last Grand Adventure with readers.
What have you been up to lately?
It’s no secret that I love history and I love the beach (I mean, it’s right there in my bio, along with doughnuts and laughing). Last week my husband and I explored Bermuda, and I got to combine the two in one fun, relaxing, and inspiring vacation. Here’s a little of what we saw:
The town of St. George, which is the oldest continually inhabited English settlement in the Americas. (It’s also a UNESCO world heritage site.) It was founded after ships on their way to rescue the starving colonists at Jamestown (the colony that followed Roanoke) wrecked offshore. The statue of George Somers reminded me of Prospero in The Tempest–turns out Shakespeare may have been inspired by those “current events” while writing the play! The ship is the Deliverance, called the ship that “saved America” by sucessfully resupplying the colonists at Jamestown. Learning about the colonial history and relationship with American colonists reminded me a lot of Roanoke, and made me think about Summer of Lost and Found. If the Roanoke colony had survived, would it have eventually looked like this?
We also checked out the Crystal Cave, which two twelve-year-old boys discovered in 1907. They were playing cricket when their ball disappeared down an unfamiliar hole in the yard. After getting a rope and a lantern, the boys descended to find a beautiful cave with a 55-foot-deep underground lake. While they explored, the lantern went out–and they were lost in the darkness for hours. They found the rope and made it out–the rest is history. (Let this be a lesson in the bravery of middle-graders!) The stalactites and stalagmites were so cool.
And at the Royal Naval Dockyard, we checked out the Victualling Yard, where crews prepared all the food and drink needed to keep sailors well fed on their long voyages. It was kept guarded, to prevent any pilfering. It was a hot day (no surprise), so we stopped in a pub with lots of books.
And, of course, here’s the beach. I spent a lot of hours reading on it, under a peppermint-candy-looking umbrella and with lots of SPF.
What have your adventures been this summer?
I’m so excited to share the cover for my next middle-grade novel that I’m skipping an introduction. Here it is!
Robyn Ng illustrated it, and Laura Lyn DiSiena designed it–the same team that created the beautiful cover for Summer of Lost and Found. And again they perfectly capture the spirit and setting of my book. I love the vintage font (perfect for historical fiction) and the sunset color palette, and the way my characters, Bea and Pidge, are facing out toward the great wide world.
Before I tell you all about The Last Grand Adventure, here’s information on how you can win an ARC and find out (early!) for yourself:
Simply leave a comment on this post to enter–if you’d like an extra entry, you can sign up for my newsletter or tweet about the cover. Full instructions and links below.
About The Last Grand Adventure:
Twelve-year-old Bea finds herself on a unique road-trip with her grandmother as they search for her grandmother’s long-lost sister—the legendary Amelia Earhart—in this charming and poignant novel from the author of When Audrey Met Alice and Summer of Lost and Found.
It’s 1967 and twelve-year-old Bea is in need of some adventure. Her mother is off in San Francisco, while her father has just gotten remarried in Los Angeles. Bea has gained a younger stepsister, and she’s not thrilled about her blended family. So when her ailing grandmother, Pidge, moves to an Orange County retirement community and asks if Bea would spend a few weeks helping her get settled, Bea is happy for any excuse to get away.
But it turns out, her grandmother isn’t interested in settling in. What she really wants is to hop a train back to Atchison, Kansas—where she thinks she’ll be reunited with her long-missing sister: Amelia Earhart. And she wants Bea to be her sidekick on this secret trip.
At first, Bea thinks her grandmother’s plan is a little crazy. But Pidge has thirty years of letters written in “Meelie’s” unmistakable voice, all promising to reunite. This might be the adventure Bea needs . . .
With letters in hand, Bea and Pidge set off on their quest to find Amelia. But getting halfway across the country proves to be more of an adventure than either of them bargained for. And their search for Amelia leads to some surprising truths about their family—and each other.
Early Praise
The Details
Coming from Simon & Schuster/Aladdin on March 20, 2018
Historical fiction for ages 8+
ISBN: 9781481496926
Preorder from:
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound
Amazon
Books-a-Million
or your local bookstore (the ISBN is 9781481496926)
And you can add The Last Grand Adventure to your shelves on Goodreads.
ARC Giveaway Instructions (the long version):
To enter to win an ARC, simply leave a comment on this post. Don’t worry if it doesn’t appear right away–my site requires approval for all comments. If you’d like an extra entry, you can sign up for my newsletter or tweet about this cover reveal. Make sure to let me know in your comment if you did one or both of those! This giveaway is open to readers in the US and Canada, and will end on Wednesday, June 28. I’ll announce the winner, chosen randomly, on Thursday, June 29. Good luck, and thanks for entering!
Update: Congrats to Kaitlin Hundscheid, who won the ARC–I’ll send you an email shortly. And thanks, all, for the cover love!
I wouldn’t be the reader–or the writer–I am today without the influence of many wonderful educators. My childhood teachers and librarians in Madison, WI–at Thoreau Elementary, the Sequoya Library, Cherokee Middle School, and West High–were always putting books in my hands and providing me with a welcoming space to read, learn, and dream.
So to celebrate the paperback release of Summer of Lost and Found on May 23, I’m doing a special giveaway for educators (including teachers, librarians, support staff, and administrators*). Two winners will receive:
The giveaway starts today and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on May 22. I’ll announce the winners on Tuesday, May 23.
Good luck!
Note: If you have trouble entering through the Rafflecopter widget above, feel free to leave a comment on this post, and I will manually input your entry. Thanks!
*Not an educator? Feel free to enter on behalf of a school or classroom!
Happy spring!
I spent most of my winter inside, staring out at the snow (or, more accurately where I live, slush-covered streets) while revising, and revising, and then revising The Last Grand Adventure. (Writing is editing, right?) I did take a break in between rounds to meet up with MG author and friend Lauren Magaziner and try out Dō, a new bakery that specializes in safe-to-eat raw cookie dough. It was delicious–and decadent–and worth the wait in line.
After I put the finishing touches on The Last Grand Adventure, I got to do some adventuring of my own! I headed to the sunny Caribbean and visited the British Virgin Islands–getting the first stamp in my passport in a long time.
And I caught up on my reading. Nothing pairs better than the beach and a good book. Next on my to-read list is Erin Entrada Kelly’s Hello, Universe, which I’ve been eagerly awaiting since I heard Erin talk about it at a panel last fall.
I’m starting some new projects now–always an exciting and kinda scary part of the writing process–but taking lots of breaks to check out the spring flowers popping up around the city.
How are you celebrating spring?
I’m excited to share that I have two stories appearing in Scholastic’s classroom magazines this month! The March/April issue of Storyworks has “Lost and Found,” realistic fiction that was inspired by my time in the Outer Banks doing research for Summer of Lost and Found.
I love the artwork and photographs that appear with the story–along with all the great questions and resources on the Storyworks website!
For Scholastic Scope, I wrote “What We Left Behind,” an original short story about the infamous Black Sunday dust storm in April 1935. This was a storm so massive and powerful that it carried dirt and debris all the way from the Plains to the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. But this is also a story about two sisters who are brave enough to fight against the dust to save their family.
If you’ve read either story in your classroom, I’d love to hear what you think!
Last Thursday, author-friends Tara Dairman (the All Four Stars series), Lauren Magaziner (The Only Thing Worse Than Witches and Pilfer Academy), Michelle Schusterman (the I Heart Band and Kat Sinclair series) and I had a great time meeting readers at The Voracious Reader in Larchmont, NY. The delightful bookstore is only 30 minutes north of Grand Central, in a charming suburb. There’s an ice-cream shop on the same block. Does it get any better than that?
We each did a brief reading from our latest books, and then opened up for questions. The enthusiastic readers and writers had some great ones for us, and it was so much fun to spend the evening with them. This was our second “palooza” at The Voracious Reader–we were all there in 2014 when our first books came out–and we can’t wait to go back.
The ad Michelle and I stumbled on in a neighboring Starbucks, which got us even more excited about the event.
Our beautiful books on display
Authors in their happy place 🙂
The wonderful readers who came out to see us!
Last Thursday, author-friends Tara Dairman (the All Four Stars series) and Jen Swann Downey (The Ninja Librarians series) and I had a great time meeting readers at One More Page in Arlington, VA. I love that bookstore–not only does it have a wonderful selection of books–with lots of notes from the booksellers to help you pick the perfect read–but it also sells delicious chocolate and wine. Basically, it’s my happy place.
Jen had the great idea to do a different spin on a reading: a “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me–Bluff the Listener”-style game. We all read three short passages from our latest books, but only one of the three passages was really in our books. The other two? Carefully crafted fakes. A volunteer from the audience guessed which was the real selection–and won a bag of delicious donuts from Jen’s store (Carpe Donut in Charlottesville).
The enthusiastic readers and writers and educators had great questions for us, and it was so much fun to spend the evening with them.
I had a fabulous time celebrating Summer of Lost and Found at Books of Wonder on Tuesday night. Here are some pictures of the festivities:
It’s always exciting to get to the store and see your cover on the “Event Today!” sign.
Snacks! Real scuppernong juice from Roanoke Island, custom-printed fancy Rice Krispy treats, chocolate artifacts, and more.
With the wonderful Kim Liggett
Books of Wonder has an incredible collection of kidlit art
The crowd while I read one of my favorite passages
Theories attendees submitted about what really happened to the Lost Colonists
Signing time!
With author friend Alison Cherry
Still signing!
Taking a bite out of my main character 🙂
If you missed it–you can still purchase a signed copy from Books of Wonder. And I’ll be in Madison, WI, on June 11 for another launch event at Mystery to Me!
Summer of Lost and Found is on shelves today! Hip hip hooray!
I hope readers will have as much fun discovering the past and present Roanoke Island as I did while writing it. Thanks to everyone who helped get this book into the world, especially: my agent, Suzie Townsend, and her assistant Sara Stricker; and my editor, Alyson Heller, publicist, Faye Bi, and the whole team at Aladdin.
If you’d like a signed copy of Summer and you can’t make one of my events, you can order one from Books of Wonder–or send me an email, and I’ll pop a personalized bookplate for you in the mail.
If you’d like to read a little more about the book and my experiences writing it, here are some interviews, reviews, and guest posts to check out:
A conversation with author Caroline Starr Rose
An interview with author Nikki Loftin
An interview in the InkSplat newsletter
A review from Bookshelf Fantasies
Interview with Pop! Goes the Reader
And last but not least–it’s time to announce the winner of the pre-order giveaway! Annette Burns won the beautiful bag of blurber books and school/library donation. Thanks to all who entered.
Happy Reading!
So you might have seen some news in Publishers Weekly this afternoon:
That’s right–I wrote another MG book! The Last Grand Adventure will be in bookstores sometime between January-April 2018. Like When Audrey Met Alice, I created a character based on a real, fascinating woman (in this case, Amelia Earhart, whom I’ve been obsessed with since childhood) and like Summer of Lost and Found, my MG protagonist unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of a history mystery. But for the first time, the whole book is historical fiction. It’s an adventure-ful road trip, a love letter to sisters, and a celebration of spunky grandmas. I loved writing this story, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
I’m thrilled to keep working with Alyson Heller and the Aladdin/Simon & Schuster team again, too! Many thanks to them for giving my books a home, to Suzie Townsend for being such a great advocate for my writing, to Sara Stricker for all her help and encouragement–and especially to readers, who keep us all going!