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My wonderful editor, Anjali Bisaria of Scholastic, sent me an early copy of Stealing the Score with a lovely note, so I'm thrilled to share my "unboxing" (opening an envelope) video (also on Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube Shorts). I can't believe the book will be out on in just over a month, on February 3!  Fall 2025 HighlightsI am grateful for these Fall experiences, both personal and authorial: BRAZIL TRIP. In September, my husband and I went on amazing trip to Brazil: Rio, Sao Paolo, and 10 days in the Pantanal, the wetlands area in central Brazil where we saw jaguars, capybaras, and so many birds and animals. We went at the end of the dry season, so the landscape was starting to green up, but animals were still concentrated by the rivers. David is an amazing wildlife photographer; check out more of his Brazil photos at David Jacobs Photography.  NCTE CONFERENCE. In November, I went to the National Council of Teachers of English conference in Denver, where I participated in a panel discussion on middle grade science fiction with bestselling authors (and friends) Megan E. Freeman(Alone, Away), J.E. Thomas (The AI Incident, Control Freaks), and educator Erin Bedell. I got to connect with author friends (new and old), some of the Scholastic team, and people I've known forever but never met in person (like author-illustrator Dow Phumiruk).  ROAD RACES. About a decade ago, my friend Janet and I ran local races for fun (anywhere from 5ks to our longest, a half-marathon). Last year, we started up again, and this fall we did the Wicked 10k and the Santa 5-miler in Virginia Beach. For someone who trained minimally (jogging 2-3 miles a couple times of week), I was happy with my 11:42 min mile, and it's always fun to wear wacky costumes for a race. Our next race will be the Shamrock Half Marathon in March.  STEALING THE SCORE REVIEWS. Stealing the Score is getting some great reviews! The book is available for preorders (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Scholastic, Indiebound, more), and free to add it to your Goodreads "to Read" list.  Local friends: stay tuned for a book launch party in early February! 2025 TV & Book PicksTime for my yearly media roundup. This year, I watched a lot of soccer, fluff and guilty pleasures (Gossip Girl rewatch, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Gilmore Girls), fun sci-fi (Murderbot, Upload), and new seasons of old favorites (Severance, Slow Horses, The Diplomat). My next watch is the highly recommended Pluribus. My top TV picks:  Dept. Q (Netflix) My family just binged this last week, and it's so good: a dark and twisty cold case detective mystery set in Scotland, written and directed by Scott Frank (Queen's Gambit). The main characters are compelling, flawed, and quirky, and the construction of the story quite ingenious. You could see the twists coming, but the appeal wasn't so much trying to figure out the story, but going along for the ride and enjoying how the detectives uncover the secrets.  Dark (Netflix) Both people and algorithms have recommend this show for awhile, but I didn't get into it until this year. This moody German sci-fi series has mind bending time travel, nonlinear storytelling, interesting characters with twisted family dynamics, and even a website dedicated to helping fans keep track of the family trees and plot lines.  Murderbot (Apple TV) I've loved Martha Wells' Murderbot novellas since they first came out, so I was excited to see the TV adaptation. An initial shock was seeing the male-presenting main character as I always pictured Murderbot as female-presenting, but Alexander Skarsgard has been one of my favorite actors since True Blood, so I got over that quickly. The TV show is sillier than the book, but the premise of a rogue security bot with ADHD/autism trying to do its best, deadpan humor, found family vibes, and smart storylines remain.  Severance S.2 (Apple TV) I loved the first season so it would always be hard for the second season to match that standard (especially the season 1 finale, which is probably one of my all time favorite episodes of any TV show), but I was still drawn back into the world and characters. Two episodes stand out (Woe's Hollow, the outdoor bonding episode) and the finale (another great cliffhanger). Movie Choices: Of the few movies I saw this year, I enjoyed K Pop Demon Hunters and Wake Up Dead Man the most. Book Picks: I've read 86 books so far this year, including many MG/YA graphic novels (some that stood out: Wish I Was a Baller by Amar Shah, Sea Legs by Jules Bakker, A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat, Almost American Girl by Robin Ha); sci-fi (reread Martha Wells' Murderbot stories, Six Wakes and Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kindby Molly McGhee, Rosemary Kirsten's Steersman series, Artificial Truth by J.M. Lee, more); and others. A couple highlights:  Revenge of the Tipping Point (2024). Malcolm Gladwell always provides fascinating insights into how people and society functions. This book covers the darker side of social contagions, including Covid superspreaders, contagious suicides in overachieving neighborhoods, the world's most successful bank robbers, and the hidden levers behind the opioid crisis.  Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003) A harrowing and powerful memoir of a girl growing up in revolutionary Iran in the 1970s. The juxtaposition of preteen and teenage fears and dreams and extrajudicial torture and killings is shocking and thought provoking. Thank You!As the year comes to a close, thank you for continuing to follow my author journey. I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season and new year. What are you looking forward to in 2026?  My daughter and I recently did a Christmas Day cold plunge (~45 degrees!) in the Chesapeake Bay. Brrrrr.
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