I grew up, the middle of three sisters, in Hollywood, California. I didn't discover a book that I loved until age eight—but it made me an aspiring writer. I knew I needed a backup plan to support myself. As a librarian at the LA Public Library, I discovered children’s literature, learned how to tell stories, found out what kids like to read, and taught preschoolers how to make their fingers into eency weency spiders. My novel, "The Higher Power of Lucky," awarded the Newbery medal in 2007, took ten years to write, but once I found a key character the book wrote itself.