I was born in Boston and am the oldest of three children in a family that has always treasured books. When I was very young, my parents and I moved to Seattle, where my brother was born. I had two great loves. The first was books. I liked Blueberries for Sal, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and all the Curious George books. My second great love was pets. (Today, I still cherish books and have a family that includes one dog, four cats and two turtles.) When I was five, my father got a job as a biochemist at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland. I grew up in Rockville, a suburb outside Washington, D.C. There, my little sister, Nancy, was born. My sister and I have always been very close. I think our relationship has been part of why I often write about friendships between girls, close as sisters.When I was 11, I wrote my first published work! My poem, "Camp," was printed in Camp May Flather's mimeographed handout, "The Laurel Leaf," August 17, 1959, Vol. 29, No. 4. This is how my poem went: At Camp May Flather you'll love your stay, You'll work and learn things every day. Yes, in your two weeks you'll have fun And learn to know everyone.Notice the rhyme and the snappy indentations! I experienced the joy of seeing my words in print for the first time. I wrote lots of poems at camp and that summer, when I was eleven, I decided I wanted to be a writer.Now I am surrounded by pets and my own family, who loves books, and it turns out, the dream I had when I was 11 came true. I am the writer I longed to be.