At My Desk
Writing is the most difficult thing I have ever done, and after being a mom, it is also the most rewarding.
(Being a mom, at least so far, is not nearly as difficult as writing because I love being with my daughters
so much!) The hardest part of writing for me is the getting started part. I resist putting words on the page because I'm a
perfectionist and I hate the unavoidable fact that first drafts can never, by definition, be perfect!
To help myself when I'm starting a new project, I try to remember that what I'm doing when I write first
drafts is like sketching to an artist. A sketch is exactly what it sounds like — some brush strokes,
the outline of an image — not something an artist would ever present as a finished product. Writers
need to sketch, too, in words. I will fill in the details and strengthen my images later. But first, I need
to have an idea of where I'm going. I need to have material to work with before I can sculpt my piece. So I
keep putting the words on the page, even when those words sound horrible to me and I'm not sure they're getting
me anywhere. I try to remember Maya Angelou's wise words that creativity begets creativity, and to accept
myself and follow my voice — this is what will get me where I want to go.
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Below you can find the list of books and other writing I've done in recent years. Follow the links below
to learn more about each title, read excerpts, order books and more.
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Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Inc., 2017
Illustrations by Jennifer L. Meyer
Cleo works to persuade the glamorous, powerful Fortune A. Davies to endorse Cleo's latest enterprise and has the unexpected opportunity to meet one of her birth parents. Should she take it?
Read more about Cleo Edison Oliver in Persuasion Power |
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Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Inc., 2016
Illustrations by Jennifer L. Meyer
With her enterprising spirit and persuasion superpower, "kidpreneur" Cleopatra Edison Oliver, CEO, is determined to build a business empire, improve the world, and maybe find her birth family . . . all while she's in fifth grade.
Read more about Cleo Edison Oliver: Playground Millionaire |
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Delacorte Press/Random House, Inc., 2012
Middle school means a whole new set of adventures (and more big questions) for science kid and Tae Kwon Do purple belt Brendan Buckley!
Read more about Brendan Buckley's Sixth-Grade Experiment |
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Delacorte Press/Random House, Inc., 2010
The relationship between biracial twin sisters is tested when they go to the South to visit their black
grandmother and compete in a pageant for African American girls.
Read more about The Other Half of My Heart |
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Delacorte Press/Random House, Inc., 2007
Biracial Brendan Buckley builds a secret friendship with the white grandpa he's never known.
Read more about Brendan Buckley's Universe! |
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InterVarsity Press, 2002
A nonfiction book for mixed-race people of all ages that presents a message of hope and encouragement:
We have a place in this world.
Read more about Check All That Apply |
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Edited by George A. Yancey and Sherelyn Whittum Yancey
Judson Press, 2002
In my chapter, "What About the Children? I Am One," I take on the common objection to interracial marriage
that multiracial children are at a disadvantage because of their unique ethnic status.
Read more about Just Don't Marry One |
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Blooming Tree Press, 2008
"Sunflower Summer"
During Shelley's stay with her grandparents, she learns an ugly truth about their neighborhood and an
important lesson about standing one's ground.
"Are you going to make this into a novel, because I didn't want the story to end." —An avid 5th-grade reader |
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