Happy May!
Thanks for popping by. I’m the author of 16 books (half fiction, half nonfiction) published by Knopf, HarperCollins, and Sourcebooks, and I teach writing at the New York Society Library. On October 11, I’m leading a workshop in Provence, France. Apply here — I’d help you take your writing to the next level, and I promise you a fun and transformative week of writing sessions and relaxation too. Join me?
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. Wild, right? I never stopped writing for teens.
I write for adults too. Check out my VERY PERSONAL ESSAYS. I’ve 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? At the New York Society Library, I’ve been teaching writing for 12 years. Check out my HALL OF FAME photos. Recognize any famous people?
My novel SPEED OF LIFE came straight from the heart, as I say on this 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.” The critic said, “I laughed out loud and I teared up while reading this novel.” Guess what? 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 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. Go with Melanie and Matt the Brat as they travel to Italy, Spain, Holland, and NYC.
Click for How I got my start. Yale Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Writer Experience podcast, interview.
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. I’ve been a guest onToday, The View, Oprah, Squawk Box, NY1, Twin Cities Live, CNN Español…
Husband Rob Ackerman spent 25 years working at SNL and is a playwright, recently honored at Working Theater. The New Yorker reviewed Rob’s Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson. Daughter Lizzi and her husband started Birch Benders pancake mix (Today Show, Forbes) and E+Patrol! Daughter Emme just had a baby! Sweetness overload!
