Anastasia was born in 1979, at the age of ten.She's been around ever since, and she's only thirteen now. I never get tired of writing about her and her family. Katherine Krupnik, her mother, reminds me of myself.
Sam was born when Anastasia was ten, and for a long time he existed only in the books about her. But kids liked him. Maybe he reminded them of their own little brothers. So at the request of young readers, I gave Sam his own series.
Caroline and J.P. Tate are so much like real kids in real families: a bickering sister-and-brother pair, with a long-suffering single mom. They live in New York City, but in one book they spend a summer with their dad in Iowa. In truth, the Tates could exist anywhere.
Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade has one student who is, shall we say, somewhat unusual. New to the school in October, by Thanksgiving she has completely entranced the entire class. And there's a whole school year yet to come
Each of these is an all-by-itself book, not part of a series. They take you from Denmark to West Virginia to Boston, - and many other places - and three of them come from my own life. (See if you can figure out which three!)
Thirteen-year-old Meg envies her sister Molly's beauty and popularity, and these feelings make it difficult for her to cope with Molly's illness and death.
Sam's adventures, some of which also occur in the books about Anastasia, are warm and life-affirming; they are related with humorous affection, without a trace of condescension.
Anastasia finds herself in another embarrassing mess when she accidentally puts the bag of her dog's droppings instead of her mother's packages in the mailbox, and things get worse when the police investigate the mailbox.
Twelve-year-old Anastasia is horrified at her family's decision to move from their city apartment to a house in the suburbs.
Anastasia Krupnik answers a personal ad, and by stretching the truth, finds herself in quite a predicament when the special "he" wants to meet her.
Chronically short of cash, twelve-year-old Anastasia looks for a job and finds more than she bargained for.
Anastasia continues the perilous process of growing up, as her thirteenth year involves conquering the art of rope climbing, playing Cupid for a recently widowed uncle, and surviving a crush on her gym teacher.
Anastasia's tenth year has some good things, like falling in love and really getting to know her grandmother, and some bad things, like finding out about an impending baby brother.