Milestone Alert: a million books sold!

I remember sitting at a desk at Salisbury Central School as a kid and listening as our math teacher explained how much a million was—things like counting from 1 to a million would take 23 days. And I remember being completely overwhelmed, my face probably just one big NO WAY! Well, *several* years (OK, decades) later, I am overwhelmed again. I just received my latest royalty statement, and I did the math (I did occasionally pay attention in that class). It’s official, my books have now sold more than one million copies! Hooray!

I understand the concept and the number a lot better these days, but this time I am overwhelmed by gratitude (and maybe a little disbelief). So many people helped me reach this milestone, from my indomitable agent, to my editors and all the other hardworking, book-loving people working at my publisher. And outside of industry circles, I really want to thank all of the booksellers and teachers and librarians and parents, and of course the good folks at Scholastic Book Fairs and Clubs, where many of these books were sold. Most of all, though, I am grateful to all the young readers who have read and reread my books and even recommended them to their friends. You are all, well, one in a million!