Cover Reveal!

I love every part of the cover-making process, from seeing early sketches, to giving feedback, to my favorite part: sharing it with the world. Here's the cover for Stealing the Score, my World-Cup themed middle grade novel about three teens on a quest to find a missing soccer superstar, out from Scholastic on Feb. 3, 2026:

The cover artist is Lauren Dimaya and the designer is Stephanie Yang. They did such an amazing job! I love the dynamic composition, the excitement of the three main characters (Sasha, Ethan, and Mateo), and the details of the country flags and notable players' jerseys in the crowd (Messi and Son). It'll be so fun for kids to name all the countries represented on this cover (how many can you name?).

I'd be so grateful if you added this book to your Goodreads list and if you pre-ordered it from wherever you normally buy books.

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We Live in a Cyberpunk Future

When I wrote my middle grade sci-fi, Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation, I quickly learned that we're already living in a cyberpunk future of meshed brains, smart bees, cyborgs, and all-knowing corporate entities. Since its publication (4 years ago!), I've continued to collect more examples of our strange, wired, and scary world. Here's a small sampling: 

• How a "Deviant" Philosopher Built Palantir, A CIA-Funded Data Mining Juggernaut: a must-read about one of the strongest (and possibly most nefarious) data mining outfits that will upend all of our existing notions of privacy
• Bees Recognize Human Faces: I already had learned that bees can count and understand the concept of zero, but now scientists have learned that they can also distinguish human faces
• Internet is Disappearing and Experts are Shocked: Billions of Web Pages at Risk By a Strange Phenomenon: 39% of active webpages since 2013 have already disappeared. I fear that one day far in the future, our era will be considered a "dark age" where little record of our intellectual lives will be found. I've been re-reading letters that I received from my friends and family in the 80s and early 90s and realized how precious it is to have that snapshot of our lives. It makes me want to revive pen-and-paper correspondence.
• "We Can't Answer These Questions" Neuroscientist Kenneth Kosik on Whether Lab-Grown Brains Will Achieve Consciousness Scientists have already developed brain organoids, lab-grown "mini brains" made of stem cells turned into brain cells. This has led to the thorny question whether these mini-brains can achieve consciousness or help animals achieve human-like consciousness. (If you're on X/Twitter, here's a scary video about implications that we live in a simulation because organoids have learned to play pong)

Anyway. . . to change the futuristic dystopian vibe, here's one of my sketches of a cute steampunk plague doctor:

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Upcoming Events

My summer is busy with teaching and speaking events. Here's a round up of what I'll be up to:

July 12, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. A workshop on using graphics and visual aids like mind maps, sticky notes, charts, and more, to help plan, write, and revise a novel.

July 24 5 p.m. I'll be the banquet speaker at the Longwood University Summer Literacy Institute conference, talking about the power of the universal and particular story.

Aug. 16 10 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Submitting to Agents and Query Workshop I always enjoy sharing information about the agent query process. The class will include workshopping students' specific query letters.

July and August I'll be mentoring a middle grade writer through Inked Voices, a fabulous online community with amazing workshops and critique groups. I'll pick my mentee in the next week or so.

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A few days ago, my husband, daughter, and I kayaked and paddleboarded on the Chesapeake Bay at sunset. Hope you are enjoying your summer too!