Author of award-winning, adventurous realistic and historical fiction

What I'm Reading Right Now

The Disaster Days Virtual Book Club

Mar 26, 2020 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The scariest thing about writing The Disaster Days was realizing how the heightened scenario I put my characters in–which really felt like capital-F Fiction when I started working on the book, despite all that research–was, actually, pretty realistic. Natural disasters do happen, and when they do, they turn our worlds upside down.

As we all understand now, pandemics also happen, and they are just as unsettling and devastating.

Readers have reached out to me over the past couple of weeks to share how The Disaster Days has some new layers of resonance and relatedness now that most of us are hunkered down at home. And I started to think that maybe readers–especially young readers–might enjoy discussing Hannah’s story of resilience right now. But, of course, we all need to practice social distancing! #flattenthecurve

So I’d like to host virtual video book club discussions for any interested readers–of all ages, including kids, educators, and parents–on Google Hangouts. Up to 9 readers* and I will discuss the book for a half hour, and there will be time for an open Q&A. The first is scheduled for Thursday, April 2, at 3:30 PM EST–but I’ll keep scheduling sessions if more readers are interested.

How to join? Send me an email and I’ll add you to the list. You’ll receive an email a few days beforehand to confirm. If you’d like to think up some questions or discussion ideas ahead of time, check out the book club discussion guide and other resources.

Hope to see you there, and be well!

*I think Hangouts can only handle 10 email addresses in one video chat. If I’m wrong and the max is higher, there can be more. And please feel free to attend as families, siblings–whoever is in your shelter-in-place pod!

2018 in Reading

Jan 1, 2019 | , , , , , , , , , ,

Thanks to Goodreads (which I tend to use as a booklog, pretty much just for this purpose), I’m taking a look back at my reading stats for 2018:

These books took me from Cameroon to Moscow to Fiji to Antarctica to Topsea, and from Ancient Greece to outer space. (Can I get airline miles for this?!)

In terms of category, I read 18 middle grade books, 4 YA, 4 nonfiction, and the rest were adult fiction. And I seem to have a thing for blue covers.

In 2019, I’m switching from reading goals to a reading thesis: read to discover, read diversely, read without time pressure, read joyfully. I’m debating whether to keep tracking online–it is handy for the year-end page and book count (although I cannot figure out why Goodreads insists these 59 books are 60), but it also adds a little pressure to add, add, add books. We’ll see what I decide . . .

What were your favorite books of the year, and what do you hope to read in 2019?

My 2016 in Books

Jan 1, 2017 | , , , , , , , ,

Happy New Year! 2016 brought a lot of good–and some not-so-good–so I’m looking forward to starting fresh today. But one good thing about 2016 was the wonderful books I read. Thanks to Goodreads (which makes a great book log), here are the titles that enriched, engaged, and entertained me over the past year:

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I read 28 kidlit titles, 7 nonfiction titles, and 31 grown-up fiction titles–for my personal reading. I didn’t track how much kidlit I read at my dayjob, but I’m guessing there’s another 30 or so there.

Here’s to a 2017 full of great books! What was your best read of last year?

What’s Up Wednesday, 1/8

Jan 8, 2014 | , , , , , ,

WUW7

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. If you’d like to join in, you can find the link widget on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts. I love this idea because it gives a structured, easy way for me to keep up with blogging. Also, the buttons are cute. Thanks for the idea, Jaime and Erin! 

What I’m Reading 
Escaping the Polar Vortex by reading Printz winner Nick Lake’s Hostage Three, a smart, addictive, and chilling-in-a-figurative-way contemporary thriller about a teen girl on a yacht boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

What I’m Writing   
After taking December off from writing (which was wonderful in the way that you start longing to write again and sneakily daydream about characters, but also really enjoy the time to watch movies and read and sleep), I’m back to revising a MG manuscript. I love this story, and since I’ve had a long time away from it, I’m full of fresh ideas.

What Inspires Me Right Now

The new year! Reading everyone’s words for 2014 has given me so many great ideas on what to focus on this year. My word is open–what’s yours?

What Else I’ve Been Up To 
Lots of yoga, lots of work on promo for When Audrey Met Alice, and lots of time Googling images of beaches and warm places to distract myself from the temperature outside.

So what have you been up to lately?

What’s Up Wednesday, 11/13

Nov 13, 2013 | , , , ,

 

WUWAutumn

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. If you’d like to join in, you can find the link widget on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts. I love this idea because it gives a structured, easy way for me to keep up with blogging. Also, the buttons are cute. Thanks for the idea, Jaime and Erin! 

What I’m Reading 
I just finished two great MG reads, Rachel Searles’s The Lost Planet and Jane Kelley’s The Desperate Adventures of Zeno & Alya. Now I’m reading South of Superior–I loved the author’s MG book, Prairie Evers, so I hope I’ll love this, too!

What I’m Writing   
See yesterday’s post about the project I’m kinda sorta NaNoing.

What Inspires Me Right Now   
This post from Natalia Sylvester on revising her approach to NaNo, and this one from Leila Austin at YA Highway about what isn’t failure. They’re great perspective for the craziness that is writing in November.

I was also super excited to read the Kirkus review for my friend Michelle’s debut, I Heart Band. They loved it!

What Else I’ve Been Up To 
Well, mostly writing and working. But I’m excited to head back to the Midwest to meet my new nephew this weekend.

So what have you been up to lately?

 

What’s Up Wednesday 10/16

Oct 16, 2013 | , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

WUWAutumn

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. If you’d like to join in, you can find the link widget on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts. I love this idea because it gives a structured, easy way for me to keep up with blogging. Also, the buttons are cute. Thanks for the idea, Jaime and Erin!

What I’m Reading 
Last week I read Just One Year in just one day. I loved getting to see the other side of the story; I’ll say nothing else because I don’t want to spoil anything. Then I lucked into an ARC of Nikki Loftin’s Nightingale’s Nest. It’s beautiful and unique and haunting, and I’m savoring every word.

What I’m Writing   
Still doing odds and ends for the business side of writing. When I’m not doing that, I am playing around with a new idea. This is a project I’d maybe like to work on for NaNo in some form. I guess for now I’m treating it more like a writing exercise and less like a WIP, if that makes sense. Sometimes you need space to play with words in order to work with them.

What Inspires Me Right Now   
I had the day off on Monday, so I went up to the Bronx Zoo. A lot of little kids were running around in their adorable Halloween costumes.  Dime-store capes and some face paint are all it takes to let them create adventures for themselves.  It’s always fun to see children being imaginative and playful, and I find the creativity surrounding Halloween really inspiring–that’s probably why it’s one of my favorite holidays. (Also the candy. Mmm, candy. I think I might actually get trick-or-treaters this year, so I have an excuse to stock up.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To
Last Friday I went to Alison Cherry’s launch party for her debut, Red! It was at the lovely BookCourt in Brooklyn, and it was a fabulous time.

And in other news, there’s a Goodreads ARC giveaway for When Audrey Met Alice going on right now. You can sign up here!

So what have you been up to lately?

 

What’s Up Wednesday, 10/9

Oct 9, 2013 | , , , , , ,

WUWAutumn

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. If you’d like to join in, you can find the link widget on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts. I love this idea because it gives a structured, easy way for me to keep up with blogging. Also, the buttons are cute. Thanks for the idea, Jaime and Erin!

What I’m Reading 
I’m still reading The Weird Sisters. I’m kind of lingering in the story, which is nice. I tend to read quickly, and sometimes I forget how satisfying it can be to take more time with a book.

What I’m Writing   
When Audrey Met Alice odds and ends, which are writing-related.  I’ve come to the realization that some of my writing time, going forward, needs to be allotted to the business-y side of publishing. And that’s okay! Otherwise, I’m still on a bit of a writing break. I did open a planning document on Sunday night and had fun brainstorming for an old new idea. I’m toying with the idea of doing a NaNo-inspired November writing marathon.

What Inspires Me Right Now   
I’m going to repeat last week’s inspiration: great weather and great books. I’ll also add the camaraderie and kindness in the kid lit writing and publishing community (see below).

What Else I’ve Been Up To
Revealing this new blog, and revealing the cover for When Audrey Met Alice! It was so fun to get to share the cover on Monday, and I am really grateful for the enthusiastic responses to it. (Mundie Kids is helping me give away an ARC, if you’d like to enter to win it!)

IRL: Making progress toward winning the title of Clumsiest Ever–I fractured my toe. By walking into my bathtub. But at least it’s an excuse to sit around and read, right?

So what have you been up to lately?

Around the Web

Sep 2, 2013 | , , , , ,

Happy Labor Day! I’m back from a trip to the Midwest and taking the day *off* before more revising starts tomorrow.

But in the meantime, I have two posts elsewhere online:

A OneFour Kid Lit interview with YA author (and agentmate) Sara Polsky about her debut, THIS IS HOW I FIND HER. It’s out now!

And Mad for Middle Grade’s September group post, on our favorite elements of writing MG. Mine is friendship.

Back to reading SECOND CHANCE SUMMER for me!

Bookanista Rec: Wonder

Aug 29, 2013 | , , , , ,

It’s time for another Bookanista recommendation: R. J. Palacio’s Wonder.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

August (Auggie) Pullman
was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a
mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher
Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that
can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an
extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s
just like them, despite appearances?

R. J. Palacio has written a
spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute
and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family
interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short
chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.

I have to admit that I put off reading Wonder, even though I’d heard such wonderful things about it. I worried that it might be too painful to read about some of the things that happen to Auggie, especially if I loved his character as much as I suspected I would. I got even more
fearful that this would be a tough read when I started reading and
immediately fell in love with Auggie’s sweet MG voice. I read it in a day.


And reading Wonder was sometimes painful–set the book down, close your eyes, and take a deep breath before continuing to read painful–but that, if anything, only enhanced the reading experience. Wonder‘s central message–choose kindness–is important for readers of all ages to hear. The multiple POV structure really builds on that message by creating so much empathy for all of the characters. This is a book that contains moments of heart-crushing sadness and disappointment, but many more of uplifting love and courage.

See what my fellow Bookanistas are recommending today:
 




Shari Arnold has chills for BY BLOOD, by Tracy E. Banghart
Christine Fonseca has all the feels for DARKEST MERCY, by Melissa Marr
Nikki Katz is gushing about BLYTHEWOOD, by Carol Goodman
Stasia Ward Kehoe has taken a shine to GOLDEN, by Jessi Kirby
Jessica Love has fond memories of ALL OUR YESTERDAYS, by Cristin Terrill
Lenore Appelhans swoons for THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

MMGM: Every Day After

Jun 10, 2013 | , , , , , , , ,

One of the many fun things about being part of OneFour KidLit is getting to interview debut 2013 authors about their great new books. Tomorrow, my interview with Laura Golden, author of Every Day After, will be up on the OneFour blog. But I couldn’t wait until then to post about this historical MG gem. Here’s a little about the book, from Goodreads:

Trouble has rained down
on Lizzie Hawkins. Her daddy has deserted the family, her mama is
silent with sadness, and the bank is after their house.
Daddy
always said Lizzie was born to succeed, but right now she can’t even
hold on to her top grades or her best friend, Ben. Bratty newcomer Erin
Sawyer has weaseled both away from Lizzie, but Erin won’t be satisfied
until Lizzie is out of her hair for good, packed off straight to the
nearest orphanage.

Still, Lizzie refuses to lose what’s left of
her family. With the bank deadline fast approaching, Erin causing strife
at every turn, and Mama and Ben slipping away from her, Lizzie finds
comfort writing in her journal and looking at Daddy’s face in the
heirloom locket he left her. She’s keeping her head high and holding
onto hope that Daddy returns on her twelfth birthday. Still, she can’t
help wondering: Why did Daddy have to leave? And can I save us if he
doesn’t come home?

Times may be tough in Bittersweet, Alabama,
but the unsinkable Lizzie Hawkins will inspire readers with her
resilience and determination.

Laura kindly lent an ARC to me so I could read Every Day After in advance of our interview–although I plan to buy a copy once it hits shelves, because this is one of those marvelous MG books that will be an instant classic. The character development is rich, the setting is so real that you start to feel like you have GooGoo Clusters stuck in your teeth (a candy that Lizzie longs for in the book), and the themes and message are timeless. It really struck me, while reading, how relevant a story about a young girl staying strong in the face of economic troubles is today. Lizzie’s determination and strength are a model to anyone, of any age, who is struggling.
But this is also a great MG story about community, friendship, and finding yourself, one with plenty of sweet humor. I highly recommend that tomorrow, you pick up a copy of Every Day After.

To see what other marvelous middle-grade books readers and writers are blogging about today, check out Shannon Whitney Messenger’s blog for the MMGM links!

MMGM: Will Sparrow’s Road

May 6, 2013 | , , , , , ,

As a reader, I have a strong pull toward girl heroines–if I were to break down the kid lit I read, probably 92% has a female MC or narrator. Also as a writer, I generally find inspiration in girl POVs. So I’ve been meaning to pick up more books that have boy voices. I’ve always loved reading Karen Cushman’s strong and interesting girl
protagonists, as well as her intricately researched historical fiction, so I was excited to read her first book with a male main
character: Will Sparrow’s Road.

“I care for no one but myself, and nothing but my belly,” says Will
Sparrow, the itinerant hero. He’s a tween boy making his way, alone, along a road and through the vibrant and sometimes dangerous world of 16th-century England. Will has good reason to care for his belly–he’s hungry and has to rely on cleverness and the occasional thievery for food. A plot summary from the Goodreads page:

In his thirteenth year, Will Sparrow, liar and thief, becomes a runaway. On the road, he encounters a series of con artists—a pickpocket, a tooth puller, a pig trainer, a conjurer—and learns that others are more adept than he at lying and thieving. Then he reluctantly joins a traveling troupe of “oddities,” including a dwarf and a cat-faced girl, holding himself apart from the “monsters” and resolving to be on guard against further deceptions. At last Will is forced to understand that appearances are misleading and that  he has been his own worst deceiver. The rowdy world of market fairs in Elizabethan England is the colorful backdrop for Newbery medalist Cushman’s new comic masterpiece.

I really loved how this book worked as a classic picaresque (Comp Lit Nerd Alert, I know), in that Will had to live by his wits to survive in a somewhat harsh world–sometimes to comic effect. The plot had a great balance of being episodic (neat little scenes in which Will has a struggle, or does something clever; characters who flow in and out in a way consistent with Will’s chaotic life and the time period) and having a rewarding character arc. I also loved how, in true picaresque style, Cushman didn’t pull her punches in terms of the difficulties all people–including children–experienced during that time. The stakes were high for Will, and it made his successes that much more rewarding.

To see what other marvelous middle-grade books readers and writers are blogging about today, check out Shannon Whitney Messenger’s blog for the MMGM links!

Mira’s Diary: Home Sweet Rome (MMGM!)

Apr 22, 2013 | , , , , ,

I really love time-travel books, and one of the things I’ve enjoyed about reading lots of them is that different authors tend to focus on distinct aspects of time travel. The Time Traveler’s Wife focuses on how it affected relationships; Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is about the greater what-ifs and how a time traveler can affect the whole world. Before I Fall was time travel-ish (in a Groundhog Day kind of way), and in it the protagonist experienced significant (and heartbreaking) personal growth through repeating time. There are lots of other examples (and if you have suggestions of other good time-travel books, let me know! I already have a copy of Time & Again waiting on my shelf, and Time Between Us is on my list of books to be bought), of course.

In the Mira’s Diary MG series, author Marissa Moss uses time travel for adventure and to educate readers: about history, art, tolerance, and some big ideas. It’s really a genius blend. Even as a non-MG reader, I feel like I know so much more about lesser-known historical figures, iconic places, and art after reading each book. The first was set in Paris, and the latest is set in Rome. From the jacket:

As if traveling to a new country in search of her missing mother weren’t difficult enough, Mira has to do it dressed as a boy. In a different century.


A new postcard from her time-traveling mother points Mira to 16th century Rome. But before she can rescue her mom, she must follow the clues left around the city to find Giordano Bruno, a famous thinker and mathematician, who discovered something so shocking that important Italian officials don’t want it revealed. All the while avoiding the Watchers–time-traveling police who want Mira back in her own time.


It’s another whirlwind adventure for Mira, and this time she is determined to bring her mother out of the past.

Back to how Mira’s Diary uses time travel to introduce some pretty cool ideas to its readers. This is one of my favorite passages in the book, coming after Mira encounters Giordano Bruno while trapped in a Roman prison:

“What I grasped was an impression of the world full of glinting lights, a million futures, a zillion possibilities, an infinite number of ways forward and back. It was all so perfectly beautiful, so incredibly ingenuous, like the way you can find math in nature–from the swirls of seashells to the spines of pinecones. When dawn streamed in the high window, I hadn’t moved at all, but I felt like I’d time-traveled in a totally different way.” (p.126)

Beautiful and really cool, right? I love how ideas are a form of time travel in the Mira books, along with the actual jumps in time Mira and her mom take while on their adventures.

The Mira books are smart, engrossing, and relatable for MG readers–and they have great spot illustrations, too. I can’t wait to see where time takes Mira next.

To see what other marvelous middle-grade books readers and writers are blogging about today, check out Shannon Whitney Messenger’s blog for the MMGM links!

Disclaimer: I am a Sourcebooks author, and Sourcebooks did provide me with a copy of Mira’s Diary: Home Sweet Rome to read. But as always, my opinions are my own!

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