My next book, All of a Sudden and Forever: Help and Healing After the Oklahoma City Bombing, comes out from Carolrhoda Books/Lerner Publishing on February 4.

It has received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal and has also been named a Junior Library Guild selection.

Just weeks after the publication date, we’ll arrive at the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. When I tell people it’s been that long, I’m typically met with surprise. The memory still seems fresh to many.

If you know someone who might appreciate a copy of All of a Sudden and Forever to help commemorate the occasion, my home city’s largest independent bookseller has signed, personalized copies available for pre-ordering.

Eugenia Vela and Meghan Goel from BookPeople also had some great questions for me, such as —

  • How was the story of the Oklahoma City bombing different from others you’ve covered?
  • Could you talk a little bit about how you came upon this story and why you wanted to tell it?
  • Did anything you heard or learned in your research surprise you or especially move you?
  • What were the biggest challenges in telling this story?
  • What is your goal in writing this book for kids now? What do you hope readers take away?

— and you can read our resulting conversation (and see samples from Nicole Xu’s beautiful, sensitive art) here.