I'm Kate Messner, author of middle grade novels THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. and SUGAR AND ICE with Walker/Bloomsbury, the MARTY MCGUIRE chapter book series with Scholastic (May '11), and SEA MONSTER'S FIRST DAY, a picture book coming from Chronicle Books in July 2011.
I'm also a National Board Certified middle school English teacher, frequent presenter at conferences and book festivals, and a lover of books. Please visit me at my website, too - www.katemessner.com