What is your proudest career moment?
My proudest career moment? Being invited to the American Library Association’s mid-winter conference to introduce my new book. As a career librarian turned middle-grade novelist, it doesn’t get much better than that.
I was also honored to have my first novel, Glory Be, which takes place during Freedom Summer, chosen by several groups highlighting the fiftieth anniversary of that event. Como, Mississippi and Oxford, Ohio were both important to the Civil Rights movement, and both places invited me to their commemorative events.
What’s the first book you remember reading?
A green, oversized Better Homes and Gardens Storybook collection. Classic children’s books, poetry, a few original stories. I can still quote almost the entire poem that begins “The Goops they lick their fingers. The Goops they lick their knives…”
What TV show can’t you turn off?
Way too many to confess to. Breaking Bad would be at the top of that list.
What 3 children’s book authors or illustrators or editors would you like to invite to dinner?
Kirby Larson, Barbara O’Connor, and Susan Hill Long. Because I’ve had a couple of dinners with them and the fun never ended.
Were you most likely to visit the school office to deliver attendance/get supplies, visit the nurse, or meet with the principal?
Deliver attendance and get supplies while chatting with the principal.