It's launch day! STAND ON THE SKY is out!

Today is the day. My first true middle grade, STAND ON THE SKY, is out today, from HMH Kids Books in the US, and from Scholastic here in Canada. It should be in bookstores coast to coast to coast!

This is the book of my heart. I have always wanted to write a book about brothers and sisters -- I was very close to my late sister, to whom this book is dedicated.

I've always wanted to write a book about falconry -- the art of hunting in partnership with falcons, hawks, or eagles. I've been obsessed with it ever since came across a hawk caught by its jesses in the woods behind my house, when I was only eight or so.

Also, I really, really, really wanted to write a version of Where The Red Fern Grows (or Sounder, or Old Yeller) that had a happy ending.

So here you go. Where the Red Fern Grows, but in Mongolia, with a sister, a brother, an eagle, and a happy ending.