Greetings! I’ve come to announce the release of my debut children’s novel, Latasha and the Little Red Tornado, which came out earlier this week. It tells the story of Latasha Gandy, a precocious eight-year-old who cannot wait to grow up, and her mischievous puppy, Ella Fitzgerald, who absolutely refuses to. (Appropriately, with her no-guff attitude and pocket dictionary, I would describe Latasha as both fierce and nerdy.) In honor of my debut, here are a few book-y things that I’ve got on my radar. FIERCELY ANTICIPATING 2012 Newbery Medal I normally don’t get all wrapped up in awards. I mean, I fill out my Oscar predictions every year, but I don’t invest emotionally. This, however — this year, this award — it feels different. I’ve read so many awesome kids’ books in 2011 (and also witnessed the train wreck that was this year’s National Book Awards). I really feel like I have a dog in this race, maybe for the first time. There are a lot of worthy contenders on a lot of shortlists, but for me, I’ll be very sad if Laurel Snyder’s Bigger Than a Bread Box doesn’t come away with at least a Newbery Honor. KINDA WANNA See the herd of dystopian YA thin out After the past couple trade shows I’ve attended, it seems like in the young adult world, dystopian novels are supplanting vampires and werewolves as the new Big Thing. Don’t get me wrong — I love dystopian novels. As a kid, I really dug The Girl Who Owned a City, for example (Rand-ian ickyness aside). But…I also love turtle cheesecake. I don’t want every single day of the week, though. >In 2011 alone, I can think of over 20 dystopian teen books that came out, such as...