110 degrees. 110 degrees! I can't even. Maybe I should read a book that takes place in Antartica or Greenland. Would that help???

Fuck is not a word I use privately, let alone in company, polite or otherwise. But in light of every single solitary school shooting in America, my new definition of profanity is America's refusal to end accessibility to automatic rifles. Every dead child and teacher would agree.

A fave from My Man Blue: His Hands are a rough sculpture of thick fingers & thumbs tipped with work-proud callouses, his badges of tough, honest labor down on the docks. His hands are strong stories. He tells them sometimes when I let him hold mine. —Copyright Nikki Grimes 1999

Save the Date! October 15 Starting at 4:30pm ALL AGES INVITED! (Activity for kids) #booklaunch #booklaunchparty #abzuglutely I abzuglutely can't wait to share this book with you!!!

How is it that I managed to forget how much COVID booster shots knock me out? I don't mind the sore arm so much, but losing hours of work....Guess I'll call it a forced vacation. Sigh.

I'm with her.

Earthquakes. Fires. Never a dull moment out here in Sunny Southern California. Yikes. (Where's that chocolate? I need soothing.)

Why do the last few yards of a book's final revision always feel like a bridge too far? (She reaches for one more square of dark chocolate!)

Working on proofing my next adult poetry collection. Every now and then, I come across a poem I don't remember. "Wow!" I think. "I wrote that? Cool. I'm glad." You ever do the same?

STRANDED hits shelves today! I’ll be here and there and everywhere this fall, sharing book joy. If you’d like to book an author visit, the link is in my bio! #MG #teachers #librarians #schoolvisits

Always jazzed to add a new signed book to my shelves, and this one came right on time! Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman running for President, but she knew she wouldn’t be the last!

Good morning !

After scorching temps and smoky horizons, I'm happy or cooler whether and clear skies over Corona. Ahhh.

Teachers: Any interest in guides for Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice? Here are a few educators have developed:  adl.org/kamala-harris-… from Anti-Defamation League. TeachingBooks.net: school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=707… rif.org/literacy-centr… from Reading is Fundamental. Yay!

There's nothing quite so satisfying as hitting SEND! An epic project moves on to next steps. Ahhh!

Something to look forward to! Hope to see you there. forbes.com/sites/irenelev…

I'm dogged. I don't know that it's always a good thing. This morning, I spent three hours hunting for something I'd misplaced. Found it a few minutes ago, but my morning is gone, and I still have to take care of the list of things I was actually supposed to be doing these 3 hrs.

Looking forward to signing many of my books at the Chappaqua Children's Book Festival this weekend, but I'll be especially gleeful to sign those that have been banned or challenged! Hope to see you there.

Poets and authors, if a publisher offers you a raw deal, and you know it's a raw deal, understand that signing it anyway lowers the bar for everyone else in the field. Just say no. It is a complete sentence.