John Scalzi kindly allowed me to blather on (at length) about how I came about the ideas that led me to writing Come Fall. You can find my essay here, as part of his ongoing The Big Idea columns.

I also posted a much shorter piece for Write Up Our Alley about book birthdays — what they are and aren’t.

Today is the official release date of Come Fall. Happy birthday! You can now order it at your favorite bookstore or online outlet.

I’ll be throwing a book party on Saturday August 28, at The Alphabet Garden Bookstore in Cheshire, Connecticut to celebrate its release. Come join us!

On July 12, Publishers Weekly gave Come Fall a starred review!

“[T]he power of true friendship prevails in this magical yet realistic tale that, quite rightly, makes middle school feel like a trip through a dark and scary forest populated by not-so-friendly creatures.”

A delicious brrr! You can read the full review here. Thank you Publishers Weekly.

The Horn Book Magazine had some very nice things to say about Come Fall in its July/August issue.

Noting that the book is a take on A Midsummer’s Night Dream, the reviewer, Susan Dove Lempke, thought that “the interweaving of magical and realistic elements works surprisingly smoothly,” and “[d]espite its Shakespearean roots, this is a very accessible story.” She found the characters “distinctly and sympathetically drawn, and some of the most heart-wrenching and beautifully written passages are in the form of . . . language arts assignments.” She concluded, “[t]he book is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare’s play, and initiates will enjoy picking up little references such as Blos’s name (a riff on Peaseblossom), but this is, on its own, a compelling story about friendship and trust.”

Thank you Horn Book!