Coo is out in the world!
Coo was officially published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins on March 3, 2020!
Two weeks have passed since then, and what strange weeks they have been. COVID-19 turned into a pandemic and the daily routines and structures of life have changed enormously.
I was lucky to be able to do the first two events planned for Coo before the infection became widespread. The first was at McNally Jackson in Williamsburg. It was lovely. My gratitude to Sam MacLaughlin and other employees of MJ—Miguel, Parrish, Sara, Yvonne—who made the evening so special, as well as my dear friends and colleagues who came out for the night.
My wonderful agent Katie Grimm, steadfast shepherd of COO for many years.
Kayla Ichikawa and me. She was working for my agent when I queried her with COO, and was the first in the office to read it. She loved it from the beginning. And she has had many uncanny links to the book and pigeons ever since!
It’s Sam MacLaughlin! Manager of McNally Jackson’s Williamsburg location and an old friend.
Cathleen Barnhart—fellow 2020 middle grade debut writer, and the author of That’s What Friends Do (HarperCollins).
Jasmine Lee and me!
Signing books, chatting with old friends like Sydney Shen about life and pigeons.
Jacquelynn Burke is my fantastic publicist at HarperCollins!
A few days later, on March 7, I did an event at Reads & Company bookstore in Phoenixville, PA. Such a lovely shop! The owner, Jason Hafer, did excellent outreach with the local schools and community, and it was a great audience full of both kids and grown-ups.
Erin Entrada Kelly, holding the side of Coo with her blurb on it!
And to make the afternoon even more magical, Erin Entrada Kelly (yes, THAT Erin Entrada Kelly—extraordinary middle grade author, lovely person, and winner of the Newbery Medal) came for it. I was able to thank her in person for the wonderful blurb she gave Coo.
It was a very special time, made even more so by what followed a few days later.
I’m now settling into this odd spring of social distancing, frantic refreshing of live news blogs on new cases, and new anxieties. Also, I’m at work on my next book. More soon!