Thanks! Let’s hope Marley thinks so—I’m so sending an advanced reading copy as soon as I have one.

I’m going to shamelessly plug my new MG series, THE MIGHTY ODDS, coming out this September from Amulet Books. One of the four main protagonists is a 12 year-old black girl. We need diverse books.

“Motherly” means making sure your kids are wearing seventeen layers in the winter and using your own saliva to clean smudges off their faces, dammit.

Oh man, Leo wanted to be Ledgerman! Guess he has to be the Arbiter. You snooze, you lose.

Ladies, you seem to have forgotten something.

Backup kidneys.

Valid.

Valid.

By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged.

Yours is an all-too-familiar story. You deserve more respect and a lot more money.

We’re almost agreeing. Low income schools have some of the best, most dedicated, and innovative teachers around. Many teachers go into the profession for that challenge of instilling a love of learning into kids who won’t get it anywhere else. But these teachers shouldn’t be treated like martyrs. It’s a frikking…

The class sizes are large, and therefor it’s easy to see how noticing the abuse of a quieter student might be difficult.

I emphatically disagree. Respect and monetary compensation would attract and keep the best people in the field.

“...a teacher at the school noticed the girl was having trouble staying awake in class, and saw fresh bruising on her legs.”

Maybe if we respected and paid our teachers more they’d have the time, energy, and resources to help sooner. Francis Lewis High School is overcrowded with huge class sizes—I’m sure the teachers there are stretched thin as it is, as are teachers in every lower income neighborhood in the U.S.

We. Need. To. Pay. And. Respect. Our. Teachers. More.

I am, I really am.

This was totally like my wedding, only we were inspired by CarTalk. Our performance artists wore vintage muscle car transmissions on their heads and in retrospect the whole thing would have been far less tragic had we not insisted that they get in the pool.

Oh man. Poor Michelle.

I mean, I’m just spitballing here, but I guess they could read the literally thousands of other wonderous and magical books that won’t make them feel like they’re being watched by a creepy little a-hole snitch? Maybe Christmas can be saved after all?