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!)
It's Future Job Day at Sam's nursery school, and Sam, who has zookeeping aspirations, is thrilled when his teacher says he can tell the other children about a series of zoo animals: "For six weeks he could stand in front of the circle and feel that feeling of being the most interesting person in the room."
A sequel to "The One Hundredth Thing about Caroline" and "Switcharound", the book presents a good case for the danger of mixing lies and love and is just as lively and entertaining as the earlier two.
Eleven-year-old Louise Cunningham watches with wonder as a visit from her unusual uncle gives her ordinary small town a glow of something mysterious and magical.
Tim, Jane, and the twins, Barnaby A and Barnaby B, are four rather ordinary children. They just happen to have extraordinarily horrible parents. And that requires some extraordinary scheming.
A sensitive and moving story of a wide-eyed young girl growing up at the beginning of the twentieth century and the influence of the farm community around her.
When their mother starts to date the mystery man on the fifth floor, who has been instructed by his agent to "eliminate the children" by the first of May, eleven-year-old Caroline and her older brother figure they're targeted to be the victims of a savage crime.
At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life.
Oh, it is so boring to be royalty! And unnerving, too, because in just a few days Princess Patircia Priscilla will turn sixteen, the age at which she must choose her husband-to-be! And all of the contenders are soooo disgusting!