So happy and grateful for this excellent review of Permanent Record from Teen Literature Network. I’m telling you, I get all giddy when a librarian likes my work.

I love a good widget.

Wow! Permanent Record is in the Amazon Monthly Deal list. A mere $1.99 will get you the Kindle version. Or, if you’re feeling lucky, enter this Goodreads giveaway to win a free hardcover. The question is, do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

I wrote this piece for Forever Young Adult on the process of writing fiction cross-culturally.

Oh, what’s that? Why, yes, today IS my birthday! So many of you have asked what you can get me (no one has asked), and my answer is always the same: I want nothing (you can get Permanent Record for $4 on Kindle). I love aging!

I’m very excited to be hosting a workshop for teens (ages 12+) at Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Arlington Heights, IL, on Wed., August 7, from 1:00–3:00 pm. The event is part of their 2013 summer reading theme, “Make it: Read. Discover. Create.” In addition to reading from my YA novel, Permanent Record, and discussing the book, writing in general, and publishing, I will also conduct a hands-on DIY ‘zine workshop. As a founding editor of Lumpen magazine in Chicago, and a contributor to many ‘zines both local and national, I hope to bring my weird experience in the obsessive, frequently bizarre world of ‘zines to the teen attendees of the workshop. Teens can register for the workshop online here, by phone, or drop-in.

We’ll talk about how to get started making your own ‘zine, including culling material from both original and found sources (What goes in it? What can it be about? Answers: anything you want!), the nitty-gritty fun work of putting the thing together (Xerox? Tape? Staples? Color or B&W?), and distribution methods (selling vs. giving it away, and how to approach both angles).

We will have materials on hand so teens can get started making their own ‘zine to bring home, and I will also give away several copies of new and vintage ‘zines (some made by teens, others made for teens) for reference, many ordered from the best source of unusual publications, aberrant periodicals, saucy comics, and independent ‘zines in Chicago: Quimby’s Bookstore. And I’m so pleased and grateful that my friend, Kathy Moseley, creator of the wonderful personal ‘zine, SemiBold, has given me about a dozen back issues to give away. I always loved SemiBold, not only because of Kathy’s down-to-earth, intelligent writing style, but because she handles personal stories with a sensitive, deft hand. Simply put, when you read her ‘zine, you feel like a real person is sharing herself with you. And that’s what most of us wanted to do when we put out our own ‘zines: to share ourselves, our stories.

Do you work for a school or program that serves children in need? If so, please read on and click the link below to learn about a wonderful way that your organization can get great books for your kids, for free or at low cost.

First Book is able to make new, high-quality books available to schools and programs that serve children from low-income families. This is an outstanding program, and these people are hell-bent on ending illiteracy.

The Book Nerds force me to talk about my first kiss! First boyfriend! Humiliating jobs! Crying! And force me to pose in my Nerd Life t-shirt! And because Jean, the head book nerd of them all, is so nice, I was happy to do it. Interview, review, and signed book giveaway here.

Inspired by the discussion hosted by Liz Burns at the School Library Journal blog, “A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Teacozy,” I want to add my two cents in about Robert Cormier’s classic YA novel, The Chocolate War.

Let me start by saying if you haven’t read The Chocolate War before you’ve turned 25, there may be something seriously wrong with  you. This is one of the only books where I’ll make that kind of declaration. Jerry Renault is a normal kid, struggling through adolescence at his Catholic high school; for reasons both simple and complex, hinted at but never fully explained, he refuses to sell the school’s fundraising chocolate bars. He is then targeted by one of the teachers, Brother Leon, and a secret society within Trinity School, the Vigils, headed by the sinister sociopath Archie. An all-out war is waged on three fronts: between Jerry and his conscience, Jerry and the school at large, and Jerry specifically against the Vigils. The brutal ending outraged many readers (particularly parents and school administrators), but this book is a tragedy. Shakespeare wrote a few, ya know? Yes, it’s grim stuff, but it presents an eerily accurate portrayal of human cruelty and conformity within the confines of school. I think of the popularity of paranormal YA books, where an alternate reality is presented as deadly and frightening, but to me, nothing is more frightening than the regular world. Monsters, dystopian societies, zombies? God, high school is terrifying enough.

Archie’s untouchability is the book’s main lesson. And unless people stand up to him, he’ll no doubt go on to become a CEO, senator, or worse.

My Amazon Children’s editor, the wonderful Robin Benjamin, posted an interview with me on my Amazon author page.