Some Photos from Monrovia & A Roundup of Robots

I was very pleased to hear from a librarian at the American International School in Monrovia — a new iteration of the school I attended back in the 1980s, and which Linus Tuttle would have attended in the book Mamba Point. I wanted my book to be read in Liberia, and now I know it has been — I even have proof!

These kids hale from the U.S.,  Zambia, Sweden, and Nigeria. The school formerly known as ACS and other international schools are real melting pots, and it made for an interesting childhood. I hope this book rings true for these kids, even though it is decades old and Liberia and the rest of the world has changed around it. Special thanks to Denise Burress, a librarian at the school, for the photos, to the kids for reading and posing with the book, and to their parents for letting me use these photos.

This is the coolest thing that’s happened this year in my book world, even cooler than knowing that Ron Gardenhire had one of the Topps League books on his desk, and that was pretty darn cool.

All right, meanwhile The Winter of the Robots has been out in the world. I use my Facebook page (go ahead and friend me) to link to reviews and events, and should do more of that here, because I do realize not everyone has been sucked into the Zuckerbergtronvoid. But here are a few notable ones, and I am sorry if I forgot any (the Booklist review is behind a paywall, sadly, because it’s great.)

The Star Tribune talks about me and some of my favorite local writers/favorite people. It was particularly fun to appear here with Anne Ursu, who was a key inspiration and connection in my pre-published days. Her book The Real Boy is my favorite middle grade novel of the year. I blogged about it here.

The Buffalo News includes The Winter of the Robots on this list of things for kids to read, do, and learn. Love that they combine it with Legos, where kids can begin their robot-building adventures (even programmable robots!)

And I am welcomed back to The Mixed Up Files blog by the great sciencey fiction writer (not a typo!) Jacqueline Houtman. Thanks, Jacqueline!