Hello!
Thanks for visiting. I’m the author of 16 books (half fiction, half nonfiction) published by Knopf, HarperCollins, and Sourcebooks. This October, I led another writing workshop in France.
My first book, GIRLTALK: All the Stuff Your Sister Never Told You came out in a dozen languages, and I’ve been the advice columnist at Girls’ Life since 1994.
I write for adults too, including VERY PERSONAL ESSAYS, and have been teaching at the New York Society Library for over a dozen years. I’ve been a guest on The View and Today and Oprah and have had 67 Letters to the Editor in the New York Times, on everything from reading to kids to A.I. to Gabriel García Márquez. I’m on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube… See?
My novel SPEED OF LIFE came straight from the heart, as I say on TikTok. Julia Alvarez wrote: “You won’t want to put it down.” Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm. May I read you the first page? The New York Times called it "perceptive, funny and moving,” and said, “I laughed out loud and I teared up while reading this novel.” (I teared up while reading that review!) Stars in Kirkus, School Library Journal, PW, and Booklist. YALSA. Speed of Life Discussion Guide.
AVA AND PIP, AVA AND TACO CAT, and AVA XOX are my funny diaries of a fifth grader who loves words, especially palindromes. Ideal for age 7 to 12. The New York Times called Ava and Pip "a love letter to language" that "perfectly captures the complexities of sisterhood." Order here. My Knopf series begins with The Diary of Melanie Martin. Melanie and Matt the Brat travel to Italy, Spain, Holland, and NYC.
Click for How I got my start. Yale Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Writer Experience podcast, interview. And enjoy my HALL OF FAME photos. (Recognize anyone?)
Bio? Byram Hills in Armonk, NY; 12th grade in France (SYA); French/Spanish comp lit major at Yale (summa cum laude); M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury. Here, I’ll speak Spanish on TV: CNN Español. Also Squawk Box, NY1, Twin Cities Live…
Husband Rob Ackerman spent 25 years working at SNL and is a playwright who was honored at Working Theater. The New Yorker reviewed his Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson. Daughter Lizzi and her husband started Birch Benders pancake mix (Today Show, Forbes) and E+Patrol! Daughter Emme is a new mom. Sweetness overload!
