Why You Should Read Wuthering Heights

June 20, 2017June 17, 2019 Essays

I was an American sixteen-year-old the first time I read Wuthering Heights. Miss Warren, my English teacher during my junior year, assigned the book. I remember sitting at my desk ... Read more

Never Close Your Eyes

July 1, 2016June 17, 2019 Essays

A few years ago, I was asked by Penguin UK to write a foreword to a volume of Washington Irving’s work. Insanely honored by the request, I immediately said yes ... Read more

The Raven King

January 10, 2016June 17, 2019 Essays

I was fifteen when I saw David Bowie perform on Saturday Night Live and what I saw that night changed my life. In one song, he was a pale, unsmiling ... Read more

How I Got My First Sale

November 19, 2011June 12, 2019 Essays

If there’s one question I get asked more than any other, it’s “how do I get published?” A few years ago, I wrote a piece about how it happened for ... Read more

Let’s Tell FOX That Books Matter!

September 23, 2011August 13, 2018 Essays, News

Dear Reader: I have just launched Just Add Books – a campaign to include a books category in FOX-TV’s Teen Choice Awards. I started this campaign after looking at the recent TCA’s ... Read more

Why I Write

December 15, 2010June 17, 2019 Essays

I’d like to share one of the high points of my recent Revolution book tour. I was giving a reading at the University Bookstore in Seattle, and a very dedicated English teacher ... Read more

Playlist: Sounds of Revolution

December 7, 2010June 17, 2019 Essays

Revolution is about a lot of things: love, loss, hope, redemption, forgiveness — and the life-altering power of music. The book’s main character, Andi Alpers, is a gifted musician, and very ... Read more

Life is Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom

February 19, 2010June 17, 2019 Essays

Epiphany time. Are you ready? Here it is…. Life is too short to stuff a mushroom. That little Zen gem was sent in by a reader named Kelly M. in ... Read more

Charlotte Award Speech for A Northern Light

December 10, 2006June 17, 2019 Essays

I’m so excited! I received an early Christmas present this year – actually, I received 14,000 of them! Last month, New York State’s school kids voted A Northern Light their pick for ... Read more

Defy It

July 5, 2005June 17, 2019 Essays

I woke up this morning not to the sounds of songbirds in the trees of Brooklyn, or soft summer rain on my skylight, but to the reporters on 1010 WINS ... Read more