A number of changes are taking place in fifth-grader Aaron's life: business at the family pet shop is declining, forcing his parents to consider selling the store; luxury condominiums are going up on the land that houses a community garden, displacing the homeless woman who lives there; and Aaron gets to know his seemingly perfect classmate Sharon when she begins to tutor him in math.
Kelly Easton grew up in Los Angeles, California. From the time she can first remember, she was obsessed with the destruction of the beauty of the area, orange groves and strawberry fields and charming downtowns, by the suburban sprawl of the seventies. Her search for the perfect place has sent her all over the place, most recently North Carolina and now New England.
Kelly has an MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego. She teaches in a low residency MFA program in writing for children and young adults at Hamline University, and lives on islands in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She also teaches creative writing to kids in summer workshops, and helps other writers edit their books. Kelly lives with her husband, Michael Ruben, and their children: Isaac, Isabelle, Mollie and Rebecca (plus their dog Garfield). She has just finished her first adult novel, Dreams in the Land of Photographs. You can reach her through her website: www.kellyeaston.com
Kelly's novels have won many awards, among them, the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award, the ASTAL Middle School Book of the Year Award, NYPL Book For the Teen Age, Kentucky Bluegrass Masterlist (Hiroshima Dreams); an ALA Quick Pick listing, and nomination for the ABE award, 2010 (Aftershock); Atlanta parents Best Book, and NYPL Book for the Teen Age (White Magic); a Boston Author's Club Award, Westcherster's Choice Best Book, CCBC Best Books selection (Walking on Air); and a Golden Kite Honor, Booksense Top Ten (The Life History of a Star). Her newest book, The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes, is a Jr. Library Guild selection.
She loves to hear from readers!
