Kirkus & Booklist reviews!

Department of Lost Dogs book cover featuring a dog in a sparkly red outfit, with glowing reviews from Kirkus and Booklist.

It’s almost time for The Department of Lost Dogs to hit the shelves (April 11th!) and I am so elated to see these wonderful reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist. A good review always makes me breathe a sigh of relief: someone out there understood what I was trying to do, someone thought I did a good job, someone thought it was hilarious! My mom always used to tell us: all you need in the world is one good friend. I’m happy that The Department of Lost Dogs has at least two. 😉 Phew! And HOORAY!

“A tight time frame of less than a week, an observant first-person narrator, and a large cast of family members and suspects make for an entertaining whodunit perfect for animal lovers… A fun, fast-paced mystery.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“The hilarious whodunit works splendidly on its own, and fans of A Dog-Friendly Town (2020) will be thrilled to reunite with familiar characters from a different child’s perspective. Brisk pacing, interspersed podcast transcripts, and dog puns aplenty keep the proceedings compelling for younger readers. Supersleuths and dog lovers will lap up this clever caper.” ―Booklist

A Dog-Friendly Paperback!

A Dog-Friendly Town paperback with Saint Bernard close up

A Dog-Friendly Town is out in paperback today with a fresh new cover design by the talented Xindi Yan! I love that Sir Bentley, canine celebrity (and owner of the missing jewels!) is front and center on the new cover. It makes me smile every time I look at it. As a kid, I loved the feel of a new paperback in my hands (still do!) and I’m so excited for readers to experience that with my pup-filled mystery!

3 starred reviews for A Dog-Friendly Town

The Week Jr: Summer of Reading

The Week Jr. has announced their picks for this year’s Summer of Reading program, and I’m so excited to see A Dog-Friendly Town listed in the mystery section! If you’d like to participate in the Summer of Reading (and enter to win a prize-pack of books) you can learn more at The Week Jr: Summer of Reading. Have fun!

The Week Jr. Summer of Reading

A Kirkus Star for HEROES!

Not All Heroes Zinnia

I was floored to see that Not All Heroes received a star from Kirkus Reviews this week! Of course, I always tell myself that if I’ve put my heart into it and if I wrote the book I wanted to write, it doesn’t matter what the reviews say. Still, I have to admit it’s super gratifying when a reader really gets what you were trying to accomplish with a piece of fiction! I feel so lucky that this reviewer connected with Zinnia’s journey and felt like all the threads worked AND that it was fun!

“With its clear, accessible writing, this suspenseful story masterfully juggles many topics: grief; self-assurance; the need for individual, collective, and systemic approaches to ableism, poverty, and other social ills; and the fine line between ‘extreme altruism’ and self-aggrandizement. Never preachy, the story includes a suspenseful and satisfying climax involving a ring of coffee shop thieves, with every thread satisfyingly resolved.”

I’ve printed this one and taped it up to my wall so I can look at it on days when I’m not feeling up to the task. 😉

Read the full Kirkus review of NOT ALL HEROES