Chappaqua Author Barbara Dee Nominated for New York Library Award

Barbara Dee's life as a writer is in full swing. Her new book "This Is Me From Now On," is coming out in April. Her second book, "Solving Zoe" is a contender for theNew York State Library Association's 3 Apples book award.

"I was ecstatic," said Dee about her learning of the nomination. "This is a huge honor." She hopes that teens will cast their ballots in April.

Although Dee writes about middle school girls, her book was chosen in the teen category that is for ages 13+, and is one of 15 nominees.

"Solving Zoe" is Dee's second novel. Not only has it been nominated for the library award, but it caught the attention of Scholastic Books and its Arrow book club division. Scholastic named it one of two "Editor's Picks" alongside a book by recent Newbery award winner, Rebecca Stead.

Her new novel is "This Is Me From Now On." Like her previous books, it is character driven, and tells the story of a middle school girl named Evie. She is torn between her old friends and doing what is expected, and the new girl, Francesca, who is unconventional and draws Evie into her vortex.

"For me it was about telling the story of someone getting out of her comfort zone," said Dee. "I went through a similar phase at that age."

Dee has a daughter of her own who is in her last year of middle school. Despite what is now her trademark cover art – a girl's legs in motion- she would like people to know that her daughter is not the model. A Chappaqua resident, she and her husband also have two sons: one in college and another in high school.

The four family members also functioned as editors and sounding boards. "My kids helped with the language of the (teenage) characters; they gave me the right words that someone like that would say."

Her first book, "Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life" was published in 2006. Publishers Weekly gave this first effort a starred review. Encouraged, Dee continued thinking about new characters and plots for her next books. And even though "This Is Me from Now On" is not due out until April of this year, her publisher, Simon & Schuster, has already planned to release the fourth novel in April of 2011. It is currently titled "Trauma Queen" and will be published under Simon & Schuster's Aladdin/MIX imprint.

In the coming months, Dee will be making appearances in the tri-state area at local schools and libraries, including those in Chappaqua and Mount Kisco.

Readers can follow her schedule, her blogs and whether she likes chocolate (oh yes!) by clicking on the link to her Web site, barbaradeebooks.com.