Writing

When I first read The New Jim Crow, a book about how drug laws actually serve many of the same uses as Jim Crow laws, I was absolutely electrified, but frustrated that most people who don’t [...]

Since the U.S. presidential election, I have been bombarded by Facebook messages and emails from friends and family overseas. Their question is simple: “What the hell is going on over [...]

As my grief about last week’s election settles into something resembling normalcy, I find myself of two minds. You’ve seen a lot of my first reaction: fight. I continue try to [...]

I woke up at 4:00 for an early flight today. I’m not a “spring out of bed” kind of girl, so I checked out my Facebook feed while I tried to shake my groggy head awake. What I [...]

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I do not hold Trump in high esteem, but I do have to hand him this: he does propaganda better than anyone I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. He [...]

I know how frustrating it is to watch events unfold and feel powerless, especially if you’re not eligible to vote. This presidential election made a lot of people feel that way. But you are [...]

Last night I went into Manhattan to support a dear friend at her book panel. I hadn’t felt too much energy to go, because this week had been sad and devastating. But I’d promised [...]

Many of us spent the better part of this week reeling. The shock and pain have had their use. We can continue to grieve for the America we thought we lived in – more inclusive, tolerant and [...]

This was originally posted by a novelist with whom I’m friends on Facebook. I found it so powerful I asked if I could share with full attribution. This person requested I post it [...]

I have a busy mind, and I don’t do well with just keeping it idle. I don’t mean to make that sound super high brow. I have watched and read a lot of fluff in my life, whatever is [...]

I continue to ache at what happened in this election. Oh, sure, I’ve been disappointed by election results before (2000 comes to mind), but I’ve never been genuinely afraid for our [...]

Here is just one shot of the thousands of people turning out to protest the election of this thoroughly unqualified man. I am far away and ache to join them. Protests are happening in San [...]

It was, perhaps, the most appropriate if grotesque place to mourn the 2016 presidential election: an old Louisiana plantation. I’d been long planning to use my last day in New Orleans to [...]

I have had my share of devastation. I have had those moments in which life changes forever. You try to hold on and tell yourself it won’t, but even as it’s unfolding you feel a [...]

I thought I’d cry, but I am numb. Scared to my bones. I went to sleep close to 3:00 local (4:00 am Eastern), with a list of results to check in the morning. Michigan, Wisconsin, [...]

Sweet ones: It is 2:30 on the East Coast, and this presidential race seems all but called for the candidate I never seriously imagined might win. For millions of people like me who believe he is [...]

I was twelve years old the first time I got groped. If you’re a regular reader, you’ve read this story before, because I’ve written about it at least twice. I was walking home [...]

I don’t think if you’re on here I really need to explain this to you, because you probably wouldn’t be on the website of the author of a book about an undocumented immigrant if [...]

There’s a word for it! Tsundoku is the Japanese word for buying books you don’t read. Now… I read a lot. But it’s unquestionable that buying books is a pleasurable [...]

So, it looks like Billy Bush is losing his job for his sick egging on of Donald Trump eleven years ago as Trump bragged about being able to do whatever he wanted to women due to his celebrity. [...]

Have you ever known one of those old couples that each grumble about each other, caught in a spiral of bickering and mutual criticism? One of them dies, and, inevitably, someone says, “He [...]

New show recommendation: Divorce on HBO, starring Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) and Thomas Haden Church (Sideways). Now, yes, I know I write a lot about divorce. Here’s why: [...]

I know… can you really love someone you didn’t know a month ago? Most people would say no. But then most people don’t know this kitten. Boo is the sweetest, lovingest, [...]

I was an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi books when I was a teenager, and well into my adulthood as well. I find that my reading tends to come in waves, though, and some time in my twenties I [...]

As if your to-read pile wasn’t high enough, here’s a complete rundown of all the awesome YA books being released by trad publishers this fall. Don’t chide me that this [...]

Or at least the good ones. Yes, one more (brief!) hijab post. Because as I was researching the My Stealthy Freedom post, I found out that some Iranian men are posting pictures of themselves in [...]

When the Iranian revolution happened in 1979, one of the things that changed for women was that they were forced to wear a head covering. Until then, Iran had been a progressive country, where [...]

Yesterday the young adult author community banded together to express their support of Hillary Clinton under the #YA4Hillary hashtag. It was an inspiring list of endorsements, 140 characters at a [...]

Hey, how cool is this? My post about the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt made the YA Book News this edition! Check it out. Lots of other interesting info on there as well (including a blurb on the [...]