As of this writing, _Notes_ will be published in Italian and Korean, which is really great news for me. Seeing a copy of one’s book in a language one can’t even read is an amazing feeling.
It’s hard to believe that something I typed up in my kitchen has travelled around the world . . .
Holy moley! _Notes from the Midnight Driver_ has received starred reviews in the following publications: Booklist, Horn Book, Kliatt, and Publishers Weekly. PW also ran a really nice interview with me.
Also, my best friend from high school called the other day to tell me that Muhammad Ali’s wife held up a copy of _Drums_ on national TV: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/eveningnews/main2207050.shtml
She was being interviewed by Katie Couric about a new literacy initiative that she and her husband are sponsoring with Scholastic, and — BAM! — she held _Drums_ up in a close-up shot. The other book she brandished about during the interview was the excellent _Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time_, by my friend Lisa Yee (www.lisayee.com), so I was in good company.
I’ve been super-lucky with the reception that _Drums_ has gotten out there in the world. It has been published in eleven languages (!!!), and was a BookSense pick for both fall 2004 and fall 2005, a Booklist Editors’ Choice for 2005, and a Borders Original Voices pick; it also placed fifth on the American Library Association’s Teens’ Top Ten list for 2005. So far (because state book award lists usually wait for a book to be out for a year or two), _Drums_ has made it onto the teen book award lists for the following states: TX, TN, UT, NE, SD, and PA. I keep waiting for somebody to pinch me!
