The first book I ever wrote, Finding Fairies, just got a face lift. The publisher, Beyond Words, added new art and text and did a full redesign, to give the book a much-needed freshening. This is one of my favorite books—a collection of stories about fairies from around the world, plus details on what you can do to attract them. Foods they like, gifts you can tempt them with, songs, crafts and more! The artwork is stunning and the text is super fun and fascinating. Perfect for the young fairy-lover in your family!
I co-wrote a book with my son!
Creating my newest book was one of the most fun and rewarding experiences of my life. First, the book came to be as the culmination of an 11-year book group I was in with my son Ronan and four other families: his friends and mine. We started the group when our kids were in first grade and it didn’t end until they left for college. Together we read 100 books and had 100 meetings. Honestly, one of the most fun and meaningful things I’ve done as a parent. Before the book group ended, we decided to write about our experience and see if we could get a book published. And we did! We quickly found an interested publisher, the amazing Chronicle Books, and began co-writing the book together. 10 of us! Including 5 teenagers. Just before Covid hit! Now the book is out and I could not be more proud of it. It details our experience, but is mostly the nuts and bolts of how to start a book club of your own with your kids. Plus hundreds of recommended books. The 100 we read, plus lots more lists (for reluctant readers, for fantasy-lovers, graphic novels). I am so excited to see this book in the world and watch our young co-writers have their first publishing experience. They were amazing writers (and I would know because I was their editor)!
Enough is Enough Book Launch Events!
Please join me to celebrate the launch of my new book Enough is Enough: How Students Can Join the Fight for Gun Safety.
You’ll get to meet the real celebs who will be there with me:
-The 15-year-old Portland teen who did all the beautiful artwork in the book!
-The incredible Oregon teen activists profiled in the book.
-Oregon Representative Jennifer Williamson, a courageous gun sense politician profiled in the book who gives insider tips to activists on how to make political change happen.
Bring your kids. Bring your partners. Bring your parents and your friends. But most of all, bring your outrage. There is a gun violence epidemic happening in America and it has to stop. We will also take some political action together. It’s going to be fun!
Learn more about the book at https://www.enoughisenoughbk.com.
My new book is coming out October 10th!
My newest book, Enough is Enough: How Students Can Join the Fight for Gun Safety, hits bookstores across America on October 10, 2019. Today it got its own dedicated website: https://www.enoughisenoughbk.com
Go there to find out everything you need to know about the history and politics of America’s guns and what you can do to help fix our gun violence epidemic. Enough is enough!
Girls Who Rocked Hits the UK
Squee! I just got copies from UK Simon & Schuster of the British version of Girls Who Rocked the World. Their cover is very, very cool. And I got to co-write an article about it in a British magazine, Female First.
Feeling pretty chuffed today!
(US translation: feelin' good)
Girls Who Rock on TV!
So today I was on Portland TV with four of the girl co-authors who wrote essays in More Girls Who Rocked the World. I've been on TV a few times before, but it was their first time. Very exciting stuff! We had a blast eating free candy in green room, doing make-up under the dressing room lights, watching the show from back stage... Having the girls there with me-- with their girlish enthusiasm and happiness-- changed the whole experience from entirely stressful to totally awesome! Girls can do that. And they completely stole the show! Girls rock!
Check out our clip:
http://katu.com/afternoon-live/books-authors/girls-who-rocked-the-world
In the green room... under the dressing room lights... me and the girls on stage getting interviewed.
Upcoming Bookstore Events
Sun. Oct. 29th, 1-3pm @ A Children's Place Bookstore
Sat. Nov. 4th, 3-5pm @ Barnes & Noble Lloyd Center
Girls Rock! You know it, I know it.
Come celebrate that fact, and discover the amazing stories of girls throughout history, around the world, who have made their mark before the age of 20. Short biographies of 45 girls: from historic heroines like Eleanor Roosevelt and Josephine Baker, to today's world-rocking ladies like Beyonce and Malala.
You will also meet 13 Portland girls who contributed inspiring essays to the book. Nothing is more inspiring to real girls than meeting real girl authors just like them.
Last but not least, there will be a Girls Who Rocked Costume Contest--come dressed as your favorite heroine and win a prize!
My newest book is born...
Welcome to the world!
Many writers say that each book is like a new baby. I agree. Today I welcome my newest book baby into the world. Say hello to More Girls Who Rocked the World! Like any new parent, I'm blind to any ugliness and only see the book's beauty. I'm pretty proud of this one. It's a collection of 45 short biographies of girls and women who did something amazing, something to change the world, before hitting their 20s. These are stories of girls going after their dreams and achieving greatness. While researching, I learned some amazing things.
Did you know...
- African-American dancer Josephine Baker was also a high-level spy against the Nazis during WWII. After the war, her adopted homeland of France awarded her their top honor, the Legion d'Honneur.
- At age 5, Annie Oakley began hunting for game to feed her family and by age 15 she supported her entire clan with her sharpshooting earnings, even buying the family a house!
- Nellie Bly, one of the first female journalists, pretended to be crazy to get herself locked in a mental institution, after which she wrote a blistering exposé for the paper. Then she traveled around the world by train and steamship, with nothing but one dress and a few pairs of underwear. She did it in a world record-setting 72 days!
- Beverly Cleary, beloved writer of the Ramona and Beezus series (among others), won her first writing contest when she was a 4th grader.
- 12-year-old Beyoncé competed on Star Search, a national TV show like today's American Idol. Beyonce's singing group, called "Girl's Tyme," lost to a bunch of old white dudes! Clearly, she didn't let that setback stop her.
- 12-year-old Nadia Nadim escaped from Taliban-occupied Afghanistan, where it was illegal for girls to play soccer. She went on to become a soccer star on the Danish national team and the Portland Thorns.
Starting October 3, More Girls Who Rocked the World will be available on Amazon and at your local bookstore. I hope you enjoy reading about these amazing girls as much as I enjoyed writing about them. Girls really do rock!