Jedi Academy: Revenge of the Sis

‪A “subtle” hint for my most favorite scene from JEDI: ACADEMY: REVENGE OF THE SIS, out March 26th. ‬

‪I had an absolute blast collaborating with the brilliant Amy Ignatow on this book. ‬

This will never get old—opening a box or my books for the first time.

Hey, Kiddo News

Thank you to the entire Cybils Awards commitee and participants for helping raise awareness of literature for young readers via your online community! So honored to have HEY, KIDDO amongst the list of winning titles.

‪Huge news for HEY,‬ KIDDO. My book is a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Young Adult category!

Happy Birthday, LeVar Burton!

‪Happy birthday, LeVar Burton! I will never forget the opportunity I had to sing the Reading Rainbow theme song on stage with you in 2011. ‬

Out of the Box: The Graphic Novel Comes of Age

It has long been a dream of mine to have my work shown at The Eric Carle Museum. But to be in an exhibit that is also The Carle’s inaugural showing of art from graphic novels? No words to be had.

 Honored to be a part of this crew. All of the graphic novels selected by Leonard Marcus are about coming of age, just as the format has come of age for young readers in the last decade.

If you can get to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art before this exhibit closes at the end of May, GET THERE! And if not, here is a brief look at this wonderful exhibit. I am so proud to be a part of this show and the grander tradition of telling stories with words and pictures—and word balloons.

At home with cartoonists and pugs.

After a weekend of events at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Raina Telgemeier and Vera Brosgol came over for dinner and they brought along their friends—and our new friends— Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline. What an incredibly fun evening!

Meeting Justice Sotomayor

When I met Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the SCBWI gala, I mentioned that we had both been finalists for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. She was remiss to miss ALA but her “day job” prevented her from the travel to Seattle.

Justice Sotomayor offered remarks at the event, and wow. She is inspiring beyond words.

One Town One Book

‪Thank you again to the incredible library teams in Waupaca and Wisconsin Rapids! You really made my inaugural One Town One Book events something I’ll never forget! Nor will the young readers—which is why I know you all work so hard to make these moments happen.

Visiting Waupaca, WI

Today, I spoke to nearly 2,000 K-12 students. Thank you to the librarians, teachers, and students of Waupaca, WI, for such an inspiring day!‬

‪At another recent event, a woman came up to me and said, “I wanted you to meet an octogenarian who wasn’t allowed to read comics as a kid but I finally read a graphic novel and it was yours and I loved it.”

At that same event? A teenager who told me they felt seen in HEY, KIDDO.

Hey, Kiddo at Shea Theater Arts Center

Last night was truly remarkable—we had a group reading of HEY, KIDDO in front of a packed house. What a performance by all of the readers, including my brother who came up at the end to read our father’s lines. Like true theater, you needed to be in the room to experience it. The chemistry between everyone as we brought the lines to life, accompanied by the panels flashing on the screen, was an unparalleled experience.

(For those wondering, the production was a little over two hours including intermission.)

Thank you so much to Shea Theater Arts Center for hosting!