Welcome to the world of my books!
I write stories kids love. They often tell me that they crack up laughing as they read.
I write in simple language about children and the challenges of their lives, large and small. I explore characters living with courage and imagination, in search of love and joy. Over four million copies of my books have been sold. |  * April 2013. News! Spunky Tells All is a Candidate for the 2014 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Awards. |
Ten of my children’s books follow the adventures of children in middle-class African-American families. Two are set in the mountains of Guatemala. The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods, about an eleven-year-old growing up in Wisconsin, was a finalist for the National Book Award. The Kidnapped Prince presents in simpler language the classic autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, an African prince kidnapped into slavery in 1763.
Other news: * February 2013. News! Gloria Rising rises high--recommended to teachers attending the Space Education Educators' Conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, as part of the presentation "A Woman's Place is in Outer Space." * The Stories Julian Tells is recommended on Oprah’s 2012 Summer Children's Reading List. * Texas's Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District--Spunky Tells All has won inclusion in Houston schools' 2013-2014 "Horned Toad Tales" reading list. In the coming year, 110,000 young Houston readers will have the chance to choose their favorite book from the twenty on the list. |
Ann appearing at the Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vermont, October 2011