I haven’t done a lot of nonfiction in my career. I was so immensely proud to work on Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews and Rethinking Normal by Katie Rain Hill. Ada’s Violin by Susan Hood with art by Sally Wern Comport was a joy to edit. Way back when, I edited Don’t Pigeonhole Me, an adult coffee table book by Mo Willems. And most recently, I partnered with Melissa de la Cruz on Because I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages.
I’m a big fan of books like Little Leaders and Women in Science, and it’s exciting to see the wealth of titles coming out in comparable formats. I was eager to see what I could bring to the table and came up with the idea for Firsts, a series that profiles people who were the first to accomplish something.
Lately, I’ve been hungry for true stories, often on topics—full disclosure—that I don’t really understand. That’s true of Whose Right Is It Anyway? The Second Amendment and the Fight Over Guns by Hana Bajramovic. I knew only the basics of the Second Amendment, which seemed wrong in an era where gun violence and conversations about gun rights were ubiquitous. After Whose Right Is It Anyway?, Hana will do a deep dive on the Fourteenth Amendment.
I’ve never in my life done an alphabet book, but Kate Farrell’s text for V Is for Voting was just too good and too timely (voting is always timely) to pass up.
Finally, I’ve long been a fan of Venus and Serena Williams. What these two women, these SISTERS, have accomplished is truly remarkable. What has always stood out to me about the Williams sisters is how close they are. The two of them have been through some things! Through it all, they’ve not only stood by one another, but they have celebrated each other’s accomplishments, while simultaneously making the world better for female professional athletes. Jamie and Ebony are a match made in heaven.
