Jacqueline Woodson

“I used to say I’d be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing,” says Jacqueline Woodson. “I wrote on everything and everywhere. … I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.” Woodson is still surprised when she sees her name on a book when she goes to a bookstore. “Beneath a Meth Moon” (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books) is her new novel.

Previous National Book Festival Appearances

• 2012
• 2009 Book Festival Webcast