I think I’ll just let the video speak for itself. Fed up with school book bans and school board meetings that look like day-time talk shows. Even more fed up with the resulting attacks on authors, librarians, and teachers. Beyond … Read more
In case you missed the ALA Youth Media Awards, here’s my big news: Out of Darkness received a Printz Honor!

I was already over the moon after having a New York Times Sunday book review of Out of Darkness and … Read more

It’s here! No, I’m not talking about Liam Miguel’s first day of kindergarten (that was yesterday) or Ethan Andrés’s first day of nursery school (that’s today). I’m talking about the official release of Out of Darkness, which has been … Read more

The Out of Darkness blog tour is underway! The September release of Out of Darkness is just a few weeks away, and I’m visiting some of my favorite blogs and online haunts. Here’s where I’ve been so far:
8/9: … Read more
I’ve been away from the blog for a good while now. I’ve gotten the occasional blogging fix over at www.latinosinkidlit.com, but I’ve missed having my own space for mulling over ideas big, little, and in between. The life of … Read more

While I’ve been indulging FAR TOO MUCH lately, it’s no holds barred today… on YA books that center on math, that is. YA Reading List is a fabulous librarian-run blog that features YA booklists around all sorts of themes… including … Read more

Butterflies keep turning up in my work, as you can see even from the cover art (and titles!) of What Can’t Wait and The Knife and the Butterfly. Recently I saw a beautiful photograph on Flickr* that got … Read more

A while back, a blog reader asked this question in response to a writing inspiration post:
I hear authors talk all the time about how awfull they used to be, and how they’re glad that first book they wrote won’t … Read more

It appears I have a new authorly addiction: Skyping with students. In the last month or so, I’ve been lucky enough to have a Skype author visit with students almost every Friday. Forget chicken soup for the writer’s soul–these chats … Read more
It’s a rare thing, maybe, for an author to celebrate her book being locked up. But in this case, going to lock-up means being freed to find a new audience–and getting my book into the Michigan Reformatory library.
I stumbled across … Read more