My blog

It abashes me to me a cliche, yet at every one of my kids’ milestones I think, “They grow up so fast.” Today is a Halloween for which I’ve been advised my services will [...]

In those years when one decides one’s identity – tall/short, funny/serious, book smart/street smart, etc. – I decided I was precocious. The evidence was there to support it.  I [...]

Hello there!  We’ve made it halfway through this week.  Here is some book news: 1.  Yesterday I posted about an upcoming talk I’ll be doing at William Paterson University on Thursday, [...]

I’m excited to have been invited to speak at the Living Writers program at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey on November 13th. Click on flyer below for details:  

It’s always gratifying when a book club decides to read my book. It was especially awesome (and, full disclosure: a bit nerve-wracking) when a group in my town invited me to come discuss [...]

Hello, loves! I’m back after sorely neglecting you last week. Apologies! I’m finding that it takes a few days to get back into my groove after a trip, particularly a crazy whirlwind [...]

How cool are the people of Southern California? Pretty darn cool. Thank you so much for everyone who turned out for the standing-room-only crowd on Sunday. And Barnes and Noble, thank you so much [...]

Saturday, October 18 Today is packed with two events plus lots of driving in between. I love handling the details of travel – packing and hauling my bags (and learning to pack lighter and [...]

The flight to LA is bumpy. I write my name in my notebook in case the plane goes down, so that my kids will have the last words I wrote. Because, yeah, that’s me. A glass half empty kinda [...]

Our second stop in one day made for some hectic SoCal freeway traffic (the 5 is my new best friend) but it was worth the trek when we got to Oceanside and got treated like queens by the wonderful [...]

Wonderful panel at the Orange, CA Barnes and Noble! Great to meet all the young people there. If you didn’t get a chance to come out, there are still signed copies of all the [...]

I was so honored to be part of the Teen Reads Week program at the LA Library along with these fabulous authors: Charlotte Huang, Stephanie Diaz, Ava Dellaria, Tracy Holczer, Annabel Monaghan and, [...]

I had the privilege of being a part of the great Author Festival at Perry High School (which actually included high schools from all around the Cleveland area). There were panels and lots of [...]

If you’re in LA or San Diego, please come out and say hi. I will be joining several of my favorite YA authors for a whirlwind tour. Click here for details and locations.

October 15th 5:00 pm – Oh my god. I am on a propeller plane. Spoiled as I am living within an hour of three major airports, from where I can fly direct just about anywhere, I haven’t [...]

I have entered the aisle seat phase of my life. There was a two-year period of my childhood, between ages six and eight, that I took a flurry of long international flights. Just like exposing a [...]

Yesterday I had the honor of being invited to the Kean University’s Spanish Speaking Program to talk to students about THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY and my experiences of growing up undocumented [...]

As some of you may know, I was an undocumented immigrant.  In 1988 I got put on a path to U.S. citizenship by the Immigration Reform and Control Act… basically an amnesty.  So, as you can [...]

I always love it when I get to do one of my favorite things on Earth: hang out with fellow writers.  My colleague and best bud from the Hillsborough Children’s Book Festival, Yvonne [...]

This past weekend I joined millions of my fellow Americans and went to check out Gone Girl. I was not disappointed. Finally, a writer with a darker view on marriage than I have. The movie, [...]

Today I have a post out on YA Interrobang (best name for a website ever) on how I feel about the label “diverse books.”  (Spoiler: it’s complicated). Click here to check it out.

This brand-new list is on Stacked and it’s got a very interesting and comprehensive array of young adult books by Hispanic authors or about Hispanic characters. And, lucky me, THE SECRET [...]

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) put out their list books books for Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) and guess who is on it! THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY is in some [...]