News

The Spirit of the Cheetah a Picture Book Co-authored with Khadra Mohammed will be published by Wisdom Tales.  In this tale of Somalia,  Roblay learns from the Cheetah how to win a race and prove his manhood. Three other titles coming soon: A Thousand White Butterflies with Charlesbridge Publishers.  Coauthored with Jessica Betancourt-Perez.  A Picture book about a Colombian child who is new to the US.  Isabella can't wait for school to begin where she hopes to make friends.  Imagine her disappointment when the school is canceled on her first day because the snow is [...]

Many of my readers want to know if Lina and Feroza from Four Feet Two Sandals find a home and if they ever meet again. In my imagination I hope they have found a place like this town in Riace, Italy.   Riace is located in the southern province of Reggio Calabria.  A number of years ago the mayor of Riace came up with an idea to keep his town alive.  Young Italians were leaving to find work in the north, schools had to close, homes were abandoned and the town was failing. [...]

I am sure you have seen them in your neighborhood.   Those brightly colored little "houses"  filled with books.  Did you know that Little Free Libraries is a non- profit with a mission to increase book access for everyone  and to forage community connections?  There are over 70,000 of these little book exchanges in 85 countries. My books are in some of them!  This young woman has built and organized and filled little libraries in underserved communities in the US.My books are in two of those libraries.  Or they were.  I am hoping [...]

  In Pittsburgh we are lucky to have a City of Asylum program.   The program provides a sanctuary for endangered literary writers from around the world.  This unique program provides  a rich experience of literature, poetry, art and music for the neighboring community as well as a place where writers and artists can continue to create where their voices will not be silenced. Take a look at all that this program provides for the artists and the community: http://cityofasylum.org/about/ The City of Asylum Bookstore Alphabet City is an independent bookstore that specializes [...]

New books coming in 2018-19.  Stay tuned for update on four new books coming soon.

I was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Pittsburgh Regional Scholastic Awards ceremony this week. The event sponsored by The Western Pennsylvania Writing Project recognized the exceptional writing of students in Middle school and High school with awards in poetry, fiction, essays and memoir. We are lucky to have these new voices, ideas, and passion in our writing community and in the world today. For me a motivation and an inspiration!