I Wrote a Book About Refugees and No One Noticed

Dear Twitter: I lied. This morning, on social media, I admitted to being the White Privileged American granddaughter of a refugee twice over. My papou’s mother fled (with four small children) to Greece from the Catastrophe of Smyrna. Papou himself later fled to America* after the Nazi occupation of Greece. He served in both the Greek Merchant Marines and…

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Dammit, Josh

My eulogy for Josh, posted by special request from my family. Dammit, Josh It’s a phrase that everyone in this room has said at least once in the last 25 years. I yelled it quite frequently throughout the writing of this essay. And I cried every time. Joshua…

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Joshua George Jarvis (1989-2014)

From the Burlington Free Press: JOSHUA GEORGE JARVIS – MORRISVILLE – Joshua Jarvis passed away unexpectedly in Tennessee on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014. Josh’s life began on March 17, 1989. He was the youngest of three children to loving parents, William and Cherie Jarvis. Prankster Josh spent his childhood with a smile on his face and laughter in his…

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S. O. C. K. S.

I get it from my mother. You know, that thing we do as writers, where a word like “concinnity” gets stuck in your head, and when you’re reading through the manuscript six months later, the copy editor has wondered why anyone would use concinnity once, never mind thirteen times in one chapter. My first live, on-air TV interview was…

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In Which The Brute Squad Saves The Princess

A few months ago, I got a very sad letter. It was from Candlewick Press, informing me that my very first picture book, AlphaOops: The Day Z Went First, would be going out of print in hardcover. My life has been pretty horrible since December, but I’ve managed to hold it together. This time, I totally lost it. I…

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