Just read a charming book entitled FRANNY LOVES FLEABRAIN by Joanne Rocklin. The book takes place in 1952, the year that a polio vaccine was discovered and the year that CHARLOTTE'S WEB was first published. In this story, a young girl named Franny contracts polio and is paralyzed from the waist down. While she is in the hospital, one of the nurses reads CHARLOTTE'S WEB to her and Franny is enchanted with Charlotte - so much so that she wants a Charlotte of her own. Enter Fleabrain, a well-read and very tiny flea who lives on the tail of Franny's dog. Fleabrain takes Franny on many imaginary journeys and helps her to convalesce. He also turns out to be "some flea" . This is a lovely book about disabilities and friendship, not to be missed!

Happy Day! EGGS OVER EVIE just hit the 12,000 mark (meaning it has sold 12,000 copies). This is good news because it means there is a much better chance that Henry Holt will publish my sequel, NEW YEAR'S EVIE. I am currently writing the manuscript, with only one more chapter to go!

Just finished reading RAIN REIGN by Anne Martin (yes, the Babysitter's Club author). It is a very touching story about an autistic girl who is obsessed with prime numbers and homonyms. When her father gives her a stray puppy, she names him Rain Reign. But she eventually discovers that the dog's previous owners are looking for him, and she must make a very difficult decision. The book reminded me very much of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME, especially in addressing the bravery needed for kids like that to venture out into the world and deal with other people. I highly recommend it!

Almost finished with my rewrite of NEW YEAR'S EVIE. In the meantime, my agent in New York is busy sending out my revised versions of HOLES ALL AROUND and BOXES BOXES. Hoping to hear some good news soon!

Some sad developments with HOLES ALL AROUND! Blue Apple seems to be having some financial and organizational troubles, so the book has been cancelled. I have, however, rewritten its companion piece, EVERYWHERE HOLES. My agent, Christine LeBlonde at the Schulman agency in New York is planning to shop them around to a number of publishers and feels confident that she will be successful.

I have totally rewritten EVERYWHERE HOLES for my editors at Blue Apple Press. The book is now entitled HOLES ALL AROUND, and it is more of a guessing game of all of the different types of holes all around us. One part is even like a "Where's Waldo" book, in which the young reader must find all of the holes described in the text. The book should be out sometime next spring.

At the suggestion of my editor at Henry Holt, Christy Ottaviano, I am completely rewriting my sequel to EGGS OVER EVIE. Still entitled NEW YEAR'S EVIE, the plot will now center around a cooking competition that Evie and Corey have both entered. Their rivalry becomes the focus of their relationship, as Evie must deal with her mother's new boyfriend, her father's growing family, and  her increasingly cantakerous neighbor, Mrs. Hamilton.