More recently I’d read Lauren Myracle’s Winnie books, and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Alice series–but certainly there was room on the library shelves for other takes on this subject. As I kid, I’d devoured Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret, which felt important and personal in a way other books didn’t. This topic was definitely for me: girl-centric, angsty, exploring the main character’s relationships with her peers as well as her mom. Why weren’t there more humorous, tween-appropriate books about girls going through puberty? And if Aladdin/S&S were willing to publish such a book, would I be interested in writing it? She told me that she’d had a casual conversation with my publisher about the First Moon Party video, which they both thought had touched a collective nerve. One day in the spring of that year, my agent called me at the hospital. Also, I’m a humorous writer, but it won’t surprise you to hear that I wasn’t feeling especially funny. You need to get into the “zone”–you can’t be typing in a noisy Pediatrics waiting area. To write a book, you can’t have your child’s health crowding out everything else in your brain. My oldest son was battling cancer (osteosarcoma), and I was overwhelmed, spending long, draining days with him at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. Everyone was chatting about it, charmed by its mischievous humor and its empathy for the mom and daughter going through that most sensitive time, a girl’s first period.Īt the time the video appeared online, I wasn’t writing. Remember this one, titled First Moon Party? A few years ago, it went viral.
My sixth novel had the unlikeliest inspiration: a YouTube video.
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