I’m counting down to the publication of The Unbreakable Code with highlights from the past two years since Book Scavenger was published. So much has happened in such a short time, and I’ve been so busy trying to keep up, that I’ve neglected to share many of the big and small moments. So here we go, in no particular order . . .

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Last November I traveled to Atlanta for the NCTE conference to speak on a Notable Books panel about Book Scavenger and was one of ten authors/illustrators at a Macmillan dinner for educators. When I saw who else would be there, I freaked out to see Ann M. Martin on the list, there to promote her reboot of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, Missy Piggle-Wiggle.

I was an avid Babysitter’s Club fan as a kid. I wanted so badly for the characters and books to be real, so my friends and I formed our own babysitting club.

The flyer for our club. It amuses me that we designated two small time slots when people could call to hire us. Not surprisingly, parents didn’t follow our calling guidelines.

I brought my first four Babysitter’s Club books with me to Atlanta and Ann M. Martin was kind enough to sign them. It was wonderful to meet her in person. Sometimes when you love books and their characters so much, meeting their creator doesn’t always live up to your imagined idea of what they should be like, but that wasn’t the case this time. Ann M. Martin is a lovely person, and I could so easily picture her in her youth fitting right in with Kristy, MaryAnne, Claudia, and Stacey.

In case you missed it:

Looking Back #1: Re-visiting my alma maters!

Looking Back #2: Meeting my editor!