Good News and Good Poem!

Well, today I can finally let the cat out of the bag: I have a new book coming out! The title is (at least for now) Mercy's Bone, and it will be published in Fall 2012 by Arthur A. Levine Books! I am very excited and honored to have the opportunity to work with Arthur Levine who is, well, legendary. Mercy's Bone is for (approximately) grades six and up--although I think it will have "cross-over appeal" to adults as well. It takes place in Russia in the mid-1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was inspired by a true story of a young homeless boy who survived the winters and streets of Moscow because of a pack of feral street dogs.

And speaking of dogs, today's poem is from one of my favorite books of children's poetry, Once I Ate a Pie, by Patricia MacLachlan. You may remember, Patty and her dogs were featured last month in my Fido and Friends in Five spotlight! This is a warm, funny, and amazingly insightful book of poetry about dogs. Here's my favorite:

Lucy

I was adopted from a shelter.

I love the couch. It is mine.

The chairs and beds are mine, too.

And the house.

At night I sleep between my owners.

They gave me a pillow of my own.

Mine.