I decided I wanted to be a novelist when I was 12 years old, but it took years of freelancing, editing, and just living to make that dream a reality. It came true with my debut novel, Zebra Forest, published by Candlewick Press. Now I get to spend my days thinking about stories, and I can’t think of any better job in the world!
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adina rishe gewirtz 
I’m 70% through with Zebra Forest and am enjoying it quite a bit. Are you on Twitter, by any chance?
I’m so glad to hear that! I am on Twitter — @AdinaGewirtz. And I saw your blog — I so agree that to get kids interested in reading, you have to love to read too. I spent years reading to my kids and every one turned into a reader. Talking about books is one of our favorite family activities.
Yes! I’d love to talk about Zebra right now… But they’re all running out the back door into the Zebra and I’m on the edge of my seat!!! Hang on…
Wow. Powerful ending.
I’m a little stuck on the conversation between Rew and Annie on p 166-167. What is Rew talking about, “you could have told her” and,” You could have made her promise.” It’s about Gran, but in not sure what he means. Am I daft?
He means Adele Parks. He’s angry that Annie didn’t tell her about Andrew Snow when they talked privately. Even if she wasn’t going to put the note in the mail, he expected her to tell Adele, so Andrew Snow would be taken that way.
And thanks about the ending!
I am a 7th grade student and have read your book. I am now completing a project about you and “Zebra Forest.” I would like to know more about you. Could you please tell me more about where you went to college and what other events led you to writing?
Hi Gracie!
I went to college at the University of Maryland in College Park, where I learned from some really wonderful writing teachers. One was Jon Franklin, whose book Writing for Story made a tremendous impact on me. Another was Judith Hillman Paterson, who is a beautifully poetic writer. Her book, Sweet Mystery, is about growing up in the south. I had some other fabulous teachers — Carl Sessions Stepp, a long-time newspaper editor, and also Joyce Reiser Kornblatt, who was the first novelist I ever met. Another big influence on me was my father, who read everything I wrote from the time I started trying to write my own stories in the seventh grade. He always believed his kids could do whatever we set our mind to, and he made us believe it too, with his incredible enthusiasm. When I was your age, I had just read my favorite book ever — To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I decided I needed to be a novelist too, and so I had a black marble notebook that I started writing in. My first novel was about a girl with two annoying brothers. At the time, that was very much drawn from my own life. 🙂 My father, I’m sure, got a few laughs from reading that, but he kept encouraging me, always, and that gave me the confidence to keep going. Later I went to the Journalism school at the University of Maryland, and worked for the student paper there, the Diamondback. While there I also met another wonderful writer, Katie McCabe, one of my closest friends and a terrific writer. Her book, written with civil rights icon Dovey Johnson Roundtree, was one I got to see taking shape, which was also a real education. It’s called Justice Older Than the Law. Getting to know other writers and learning from such great people was and is an incredible experience, and I continue to learn from great writers to this day — either by knowing them, reading their work, or both! Hope that helps with your project! All the best –Adina
Dear Mrs. Gewritz,
You recently visited my school a few days ago, and I thought you were amazing. You my perspective on writing! I’m writing a personal narrative in LA and I would love you to help me with it! I’m totally struggling with the ending. Do you have any tips?
Most definitely. Endings can be very hard. Is the narrative about a specific incident that happened, or is it an overview of your life?