Posts Categorized: Misc

What Rosa Brought is out in the world!

My new picture book What Rosa Brought is now out in the world. I’m prouder of this book than any other one I’ve written.

Some years ago, there came a time when I felt my kids were ready to begin learning about the Holocaust, but not ready to face the full horror of it. As it happened, we had the perfect story in the family. My mom was a little girl in Vienna when the Nazis marched in. She was present for the first steps the they took against the Austrian Jews. But miraculously, she and her parents escaped in 1939. One of her most vivid memories of that time is from the day she left Vienna, when she discovered that her beloved grandmother had to stay behind. So it’s certainly not a happy story. But it is, at least, a story whose sadness a child can wrap their head around, as a very first step towards a painful but necessary understanding of the kind of horrors we must always be on guard against. I thought my mom’s story might help other families begin this conversation. What Rosa Brought is based on my mother’s memories, on stories passed on from my grandparents, and on my own historical research. As a little girl, my mom wasn’t taking contemporaneous notes, so I’ve had to imagine the dialogue and some details. But I’ve tried to portray the events of that time in her life as accurately as I can. If you’d like to read What Rosa Brought, I encourage you to buy it from your local bricks and mortar bookstore, if you have one. I know that’s not always possible, though, and Amazon is always an option.  Or, if you’d prefer, please consider asking your local library to get it.

What Rosa Brought

I’m very proud to announce that my picturebook What Rosa Brought will be coming out in 2023 from Harpercollins/Tegen, with art by Eliza Wheeler. It’s the true story of my mother’s experience as a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied Vienna.  I’m looking forward to sharing it with the world.

Why Ninjas Look After Their Sisters

I had another great afternoon at St. James COE Primary School last week. We talked about a crucial element of stories: goals and obstacles.

A cool thing about stories is that big, cosmic goals can often hinge on small actions. “A few friends have to destroy some jewelry” doesn’t sound like the plot of an epic — but if that jewelry happens to be Sauron’s One Ring, you’ve got the plot of Lord of the Rings.

The Kind And Horrible Butterfly

This term, I’m Patron of Reading for St. James Church of England Primary School. So far, I’ve done two workshops with the kids, and I’ve been having a blast.

Yesterday’s workshop was on characters. The kids came up with a bunch of Inside Traits (kindness, bravery) and Outside Traits (wearing a blue dress, having two tails.) Then we combined them and made up stories about the resulting characters.

More Reviews

Thank you to The Irish Times, which called me a “vivid and original voice”, and to The Guardian, which called The City of Secret Rivers “a harum-scarum ride through London’s sewer-land” and an “excellent thriller.”