Ultra-snobby Clara Frankofile has everything an eleven-year-old girl could want. She’s fabulously wealthy, she lives alone in a penthouse apartment with its own roller coaster, and all of New York City is afraid of her! Each night at the Pish Posh restaurant, she watches the glittery movie actresses and princesses, and decides who is important enough to stay and who she will kick to the sidewalk in disgrace. But Clara’s world is turned upside down when she discovers that a peculiar mystery is happening in the restaurant, right under her upturned nose.With the help of a whip-smart twelveyear- old jewel thief, Clara embarks on a wildly dangerous mission through the streets of New York to solve a 200-hundred-year-old secret.
Like my character, Olivia Kidney, I grew up in a high-rise apartment building in New York City's Upper West Side. I think I always wanted to be a writer, even as a young kid. After graduating from college, I began writing short stories and a novel (for grownups), while working many odd (sometimes very odd) jobs. I worked as a dog groomer, a construction worker, and a waitress. Having lots of different jobs is a terrific advantage for a writer. Because of them, I know all kinds of weird things, like how to remove bubble gum from dog fur (peanut butter). In fact, it was while I was addressing envelopes during a boring stint as a receptionist that a name caught my eye: Olivia Kidney. What a great name, I thought! I jotted it down in my journal. Years later, while thumbing through my old journals, I spotted the name and decided it was perfect for the twelve-year-old heroine of my first children's book.
