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What a magical day at the Princeton Children’s Book Festival! Thank you so much to the Princeton Library and Jazams Toys and Books for inviting me. It truly is a special event. As a pandemic debut, I haven't had an opportunity to connect with readers in quite this way and I loved every minute of it. Thanks to fellow Middle Grade Authorcade member @victorpineiro for keeping me company! Also, thank you to you, my wonderful readers. At the end of the event, they announced that The Gilded Girl was the third highest seller at the festival! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Also, I have to say a big thank you to my high school English teacher, Mr. O’Hara, for coming out to say hi! This man taught me how to write and was the first teacher to recognize that I loved storytelling. My books may not exist if I hadn’t been in his class. What a wonderful time!  This morning’s school visit was one for the history books. Thank you so much to the faculty, teachers, and students at Montgomery Middle School for making it such a special day. I went to this middle school and walked through these same halls—a fact that bowled the kids over when I pulled out my old yearbook. Not only had all the students finished The Gilded Girl, they had prepared art, cards, and letters for me. They even bought a bouquet of sunflowers since they’re such an important symbol In the story.
Their enthusiasm was contagious and I had so much fun answering their thought provoking questions about the book. To top it all off, they’d arranged for my middle school teacher, Mr. Cooper, to be there as a special surprise. He introduced me to the world of fantasy novels and was a catalyst for my love of history, so it was incredibly special to see him. I explained to the kids that this book would likely not have existed if he hadn’t been my teacher. I know there’s a picture of us on someone’s phone and I will get a copy! What a special day. Thank you again to everyone involved. I will treasure this memory.  I'm honored to announce that THE GILDED GIRL was selected by Bank Street College of Education as one of the Best Books of the Year! You can find it in the complete listing of books here, under Readers 9-12 and in the category of "Fantasy."
https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-childrens-books-of-the-year/edition/ I'm delighted to share this honor with several other 2021 middle grade debuts! I'm listing their books and categories below (in no particular order): Kate Albus - A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON - Historical Megan Freeman - ALONE B.B. Alston - AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS Reem Farqi - UNSETTLED Joanne Fritz - EVERYWHERE BLUE Jaime Berry - HOPE SPRINGS Chad Lucas - THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE Jimmy M Morris - MY EX IMAGINARY FRIEND Christina Li - ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Lisa Fipps - STARFISH Waka Brown - WHILE I WAS AWAY
 If you can't tell from our faces in this picture, Heather Kassner and I had so much fun during the virtual launch for THE TARNISHED GARDEN. Thank you to One More Page Books for hosting us! You can now watch the entire event on their YouTube channel!
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