11.13.2018: Free Chapter Books for Schools in Need

This fall, I'm hoping to donate the two newest books in the Anna, Banana chapter-book series (Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster and Anna, Banana, and the Sleepover Secret) to high-poverty public elementary schools* (meaning either Title I or schools where more than 70% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals). If that's your school, please be in touch! You can request the books by filling in this form.

If you know of a school in need, please share this post or link and encourage a teacher, librarian, or administrator there to make the request. You can also find shareable posts about the giveaway on my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. Thanks for helping spread the word!

2018 donation photo (leaves).JPG

*U.S. schools only, due to shipping costs. Giveaway ends November 30, 2018.

The Anna, Banana chapter books are best for students in grades 1-4. For more information about the series, please click here. 

3.27.2018: Sleepover Secret Cover Reveal (and New Illustrator Reveal!)

Now there are six! ...and here comes the seventh. 

Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster (book six in the Anna, Banana chapter-book series) came out last week in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. The book is full of sweet treats (and snickerdoodle secrets, friendship messes, and kitchen disasters), so I took it out for ice cream to celebrate. 

When I started writing the first story about Anna, her dog, and her two best friends, I never dreamed there would someday be six of them (let alone with the seventh and eighth soon to follow—more on that below). I am grateful to each and every one of you who has helped make this happen and/or cheered me on along the way. Thank you.

If you haven't picked up a copy of Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster yet, please ask for it at your local bookstore or library, or find it online using one of these links: B&N | Indiebound | Amazon | BAM | iBooks | Indigo | Target | S&S | Goodreads

And speaking of book seven... I'm thrilled to share the cover for Anna, Banana, and the Sleepover Secret, which comes out on October 2, 2018. This is the first Anna, Banana cover by new illustrator Cassey Kuo, who is coming on board for the next books in the series, and I absolutely love it. (To see more of Cassey's fabulous artwork, check out her Instagram page.) 

What's it about? A sleepover! Secrets! Older sisters! Surprises! Truth or Dare! Supersparkly nail polish! And Isabel's enormous tabby cat, Mewsic. To learn more about the plot and read a brief excerpt, click here.

If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you!) or add it to your Goodreads TBR, here are the links: Indiebound | B&N | BAM | Amazon (paperback | hardcover) | Indigo | S&S | Goodreads

3.16.18: Love, Sophia on the Moon

New book news! 

I'm over the moon to share this news about my third(!) picture book. Love, Sophia on the Moon is an epistolary story near and dear to my heart, and I'm thrilled to be creating it with the talented Mika Song (if you're not already familiar with Mika's amazing illustrations, please check out the cuteness on her website), super editrix Rotem Moscovich, and the whole wonderful team at Disney-Hyperion. 

There's lots of mischief and make-believe in this one, and some tugging at heart strings too. I hope you'll like it.

Here's the official announcement* from Publishers Weekly (plus a photo I took of a balloon last week in Tampa after AWP):

Love, Sophia on the Moon doesn't come out until summer 2020, but I have three new books coming out this year to tide you over in the meantime, and all of them are available for pre-order now: 

Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster (#6) comes out March 20 (next week!) in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. It contains baking disasters, friendship messes, snickerdoodle secrets, and, of course, a cute dog.

Always Forever Maybe, my YA debut, releases on June 5 in hardcover, ebook, and audio. I am really excited for you to read this one. I spent six years working on it, and it makes me nervous and giddy just thinking about it being real. It's about obsessive love, toxic masculinity, enduring friendship, and the risks we take with our hearts.

Anna, Banana, and the Sleepover Secret (#7) comes out October 2 in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. Cover reveal coming soon! This one includes a sleepover and many secrets (of course), not to mention Truth or Dare surprises and an enormous cat named Mewsic.

Click on any of the above titles for further information, including pre-order links. Thanks for your interest and support!

(*Photo text: Rotem Moscovich at Disney-Hyperion has bought Love, Sophia on the Moon, a picture book by Anica Mrose Rissi, author of the Anna, Banana series and The Teacher's Pet. In the story, Sophia writes letters threatening to run away to "the moon" to avoid being in trouble on Earth, and her mother writes back. Tea with Oliver author-illustrator Mika Song will illustrate; publication is set for 2020. Meredith Kaffel Simonoff at DeFiore and Company represented the author, and Erica Rand Silverman at Stimola Literary Studio represented the artist.)

7.20.2017: The Recipe for Disaster Cover Reveal

Get ready to make some messes....

Anna and her friends stir up some sweet treats—and a scoop of trouble—in the kitchen in Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster. This sixth book in the Anna, Banana series isn't out until March 2018, but I'm delighted to share Meg Park's adorable cover art and a peek inside today. 

First, here's the cover!

And here's what it's about:

Anna, Sadie, and Isabel love sharing sweet treats, and they're ready to put their baking skills to the test. The plan? To make the best-ever cookies for the library bake sale! Even Anna's dog, Banana, feels certain the girls can win.

There's only one problem: Monica, Sadie and Isabel's new friend who keeps stirring up trouble. Monica, who might be trying to steal Anna's best friends away from her. Can Anna's special new recipe help win them back, or will an unexpected ingredient turn things from sweet to sour?

Would you like a peek inside? Here's a brief excerpt from Chapter Nine: Take a Bite.

Sadie perked right up. “Do you want to bake with us on Saturday morning?” she asked Monica. 

Say no, say no, say no, say no, I thought. I didn’t want to be mean, but I also didn’t want to bake cookies with her. I barely knew this girl, yet somehow she and my best friends had a secret handshake and inside jokes. I didn’t want to include someone who made me feel so left out.

I knew that friendship, like the bake sale, wasn’t really a competition. But I couldn’t help it: I wanted to win.

—From Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster

Hooray for cookies and messes! And, as always, for friendship and dogs. If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you) or add the book on Goodreads, here are the links: Indiebound | Amazon | B&N | BAM | Goodreads. The hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions will all be released on March 20th.  

Also: When I wrote that first story about a girl and her dog and a fight with a best friend, I never imagined that a few years later, I'd have written six books about that girl, her dog, and her friends, and be about to start writing the seventh. THANK YOU to all the friends and strangers who have read one of my books; bought one of my books; shared it with a kid; spread the word amongst readers, teachers, booksellers, parents, or librarians; come to one of my book events; invited me to visit your library or school; or even just clicked a supportive "like" on a writing-related Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram post. Your support has meant the world.

Chapter One: Batter Up